Photo via Diamond Baseball Holdings | DBH executives (from left) CEO Peter Freund and Executive Chairman Pat Battle. The new owners of the Fresno Grizzlies have represented a level up for the team, according to the general manager.

Over the past several years, Minor League Baseball (MiLB) has undergone multiple changes, including 42 teams losing major league affiliation and the remaining 120 teams bouncing from affiliate to affiliate.

The Fresno Grizzlies exemplify these changes better than almost any other team.

From 2014 to 2021, the Grizzlies were affiliated with four different teams across two different levels. From 1998 to 2014, they were the Triple-A affiliate for the San Francisco Giants. From 2015 to 2018, they spent four seasons with the Houston Astros. Following their time with the Astros, the Grizzlies were with the Washington Nationals for two seasons, the second of which, in 2020, was entirely wiped out due to COVID-19.

In 2021, the Grizzlies finally had stability, signing a 10-year deal with the Colorado Rockies. However, it was in Single-A, the lowest affiliated level of MiLB. The Grizzlies have been with the Rockies since.

Two years after the Grizzlies became affiliated with the Rockies, the team was sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH), a company formed in 2021 to operate MiLB teams.

In 2020, MLB’s office of the commissioner hired Peter Freund, the CEO and founder of DBH, to help advise on new strategies across MiLB.

One year later, Freund and Pat Battle, the executive chairman, founded DBH. Nearly half a decade later, DBH operates 41 teams.

They set out to acquire, manage and revitalize minor league teams, focusing on high-potential franchises in prime markets.

Freund said in an interview with The Business Journal that Fresno “certainly checks all those boxes.”

He said that one of the factors that attract DBH to a team is if that team is a “great operator.” He said he has known Grizzlies President Derek Franks for more than a decade.

Franks spoke about operating with a new ownership team.

“DBH is so supportive and really made the transition easy for us,” Franks said. “Most of the transition is behind the scenes, things that help us operate better.

“You go from more of a mom-and-pop type ownership group from the past two groups that have owned the team over the last 15 years, and have really leveled up with DBH,” Franks added. “I think that the fans come in and hopefully notice that there’s a high standard for having an amazing facility here with DBH.”

The team has changed ownership only a handful of times since it was acquired by John Carbrary and the Fresno Diamond Group in 1998, becoming the Fresno Grizzlies. In 2005 the Fresno Baseball Club purchased the team, which included the late Chris Cummings and Brian Glover. Fresno Sports & Events, LLC, took over in 2018. That Colorado-based organization sold the team to DBH.

Outside of his prior working relationship with Franks, Freund said that Chukchansi Park is a “spectacular ballpark” and an excellent venue for all of the other non-baseball events they host, citing Taco Truck Throwdown and Tequila Fest.

DBH operates four other California franchises besides the Grizzlies: the San Jose Giants, Modesto Nuts, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, and the Inland Empire 66ers. DBH isn’t looking to add any of the other California teams at this time.

Freund said the most important thing is to keep the game evolving and keep communities engaged.

“We want to continue to grow the game,” Freund said. “We want to continue to give back to local communities that we operate in.”