The Modesto Nuts aren’t going anywhere… for one more year, at least.

On Tuesday evening, the Modesto City Council voted unanimously to authorize City Manager Joe Lopez to finalize a short-term lease extension with the Nuts and their parent club, the Seattle Mariners, for the Single-A club to continue playing at city-owned John Thurman Field through the 2025 season. The vote comes just over a month after the City of Modesto and the Nuts announced in a joint press release that the 2024 season would be the organization’s last in the city after failing to come to a long-term lease agreement with the M’s.

Among the preliminary terms of the agreement is that the Mariners will pay an annual lease of $600,000 for the 2025 season, though the team can withhold up to $75,000 for capital improvements required by Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and the MLB and MiLB Players Associations. Any amount not used for capital improvements would then be paid to the city. The team will be responsible for paying for all ongoing repairs and maintenance expenses for the ballpark that was built in 1955. Additionally, at the end of the 2025 season, the club will need to submit an accounting to the City of Modesto showing how those withheld funds were used.  

John Thurman Field was at the center of lease negotiations over the past year. Major League Baseball had been requiring renovations of roughly $32,054,611 to get the facility up to professional standards, per a memo provided to the Modesto City Council. Those renovations included larger clubhouses for both teams with improved lockers; nutrition, food-prep and dining areas for home and visiting teams; better training facilities for players including weight rooms and multiple pitching and batting tunnels; separate spaces for female staffers and brighter stadium lights.

According to the memo, the city has paid $1.3 million for capital improvements at John Thurman Field since 2017. An additional $3 million in operating costs for the stadium have also been provided by the city since 2018.

Not only will the amended lease allow for more, necessary renovations to get underway, but it also leaves the window open longer for both sides to reach a long-term lease extension.

The preliminary terms also state that the Mariners agree to not engage any other city or entity within Stanislaus County to negotiate the development or redevelopment of a baseball or multipurpose sports facility through December 2026. Nevertheless, if a new, long-term lease agreement for John Thurman Field is not finalized by April 1, unless otherwise agreed in writing, negotiations between the two sides will end, and the team would be out of town by Oct. 1, 2025.

All sides are remaining mum on as to why the July 12 press release that announced the Nuts would be leaving Modesto was issued, considering the amended agreement proved that not all efforts were exhausted at that point in time.

The Modesto Bee first reported that the two sides held closed-door meetings starting on Aug. 13. It has since been learned that those talks were sparked by former Riverbank Mayor Virginia Madueno, who served as communications consultant for the Mariners. Madueno reached out to council members to see if they were open to re-engaging in negotiations. 

The July announcement was met with overwhelming sadness from the community. Those emotions were expressed during the public comment section of Tuesday’s meeting, prior to the vote.

Many speakers, like Nut General Manager Veronica ​​Hernandez, highlighted the organization's community engagement when speaking about the importance of keeping the team in town. She mentioned collaborations with local nonprofits to support veterans, food pantries and their promotion of education through annual reading programs.

Speakers also included children, like brother-sister duo Gabriel and Nike Wooten, who spoke about their love of baseball to the city council, and shared how the Nuts and their players inspire them to chase their big league dreams. 

Homero Mejia of Modesto added that he has attended games with his son for many years and had signed him up for the team’s annual youth baseball camps on several occasions. Recently, his son participated in the annual Modesto Nuts High School Showcase, which has featured Turlock and Hilmar high schools in recent years, which “meant the world to him,” and that other children would lose out on similar opportunities if the team were to leave.

Others focused on the Nuts being an affordable entertainment option. Hernandez said that a family of four could attend a game and buy parking and concessions for under $40.

Diane Kroeze of Modesto said she was impressed with the dozens of community members who shared memories of going to John Thurman Field, and urged council members to vote in favor of the amended lease. “I think anything that brings people together like this is good, (and) you should keep it,” she said.

That message was evidently received.

Nuts superfan Anthony Corona of Turlock, a longtime season ticket holder, reacted to social media following the unanimous approval of the amended lease, saying, “I’m very happy my beloved @ModestoNuts are here for at least one more season! I’m hoping the city and Mariners organization saw the reaction and know people care about a great tradition we have here!”

The Modesto organization, originally named the Reds, first became a professional team in 1946, when they joined the California League as an independent club. With 77 years under its belt, they are the longest tenured team in the league. The Seattle Mariners became partial owners of the Modesto Nuts in October of 2017 alongside private ownership group HWS. The Mariners fully acquired the organization in November 2020.