Yuma moving to Mexicali this week?

While this news doesn't surprise me, it also catches me off guard. According to a TV news station in Yuma, the Scorpions could be moving to Mexicali within a week, meaning the Flyers road trip to the desert June 21-24 could have a different destination. Here's the story, word for word from KSWT 13 News:

Yuma Scorpions Moving To Mexicali
Posted: June 6, 2010 09:58 PM

Yuma, AZ June 6 - At Saturdays game, the Yuma Scorpions manager told KSWT News 13 the team is moving.

He says between having the highest payroll in the Golden Baseball league and the poorest fan attendance in the league, it is time to move on. As for their new home, he has decided to move the team to Mexicali and the move could come as early as next week.

The owner of the team, Rickey Smith says next week he will give KSWT News 13 an exclusive interview with all the details.

So that'd be a shakeup. Yuma hasn't drawn well in the last couple of seasons as unemployment has hit that city/county worse than many other markets. And unlike Orange County - where there are at least plenty of people in the community, it's just a matter of reach them - there are only so many folks in Yuma, and if 1/3 of them are unemployed, it's tough for a ball club to succeed.

Desert Sun Stadium 7,500 and potentially up to 10,000 as an old spring training facility for the Padres, but that's in the past now.

As for the Mexicali market, it's located on the other side of the border almost due south of El Centro, Calif., which is about 50 miles west of Yuma. The Scorps did play a few games in El Centro in 2008 to test the waters of the area, but that field was rough to say the least.

Could we see a two-team set up south of the border before this season is out? Heck, it's entirely possible. And it's still closer than/less expensive of a trip than flying to Canada. No GBL team has ever moved before in mid-season, but the team is on the road from now until June 15, so if there are going to do something, they would have to do it quickly.

The Scorpions schedule has a pair of longer road trips, a Canada swing (July 15-25) and a Maui/OC trip (Aug 11-21), if they wanted the most time to make a move, but moving in August would almost be a "why bother?" unless they wanted to play in Mexicali for a long-term future. If they are going to move this season, it'd almost have to be done before the GBL's All-Star break, and even then, I wonder if/how the team would be able to get out of the lease at Desert Sun. Then again, we've already seen the league get screwed out of a lease in one market, so who knows how that will work.