El Paso Diablos General Manager Matt LaBranche was enthusiastic about the prospect of moving his independent baseball team to Joplin following the presentation at Monday night's City Council meeting.
"The City of Joplin expressed interest a while back, and they jumped ahead of other prospective cities," LaBranche told ABC-7 Monday night.
According to LaBranche, he estimated that the cost to the city for the renovations to the city's stadium would be about $6 million. The Diablos ownership group has talked with an architect on the potential renovations for Joe Becker Stadium, and the stadium is in need of concession space, seats, and an update.
"When we were in El Paso we were kind of on an island as far as teams go in the American Association of Independent Baseball, " LaBranche explained. "Joplin is centrally located for this league which would mean less travel expenses and is a city that really wants pro baseball."
The city of Joplin may build a plaza to help accommodate the growth and modernization of the city around the ballpark.
According to LaBranche the entire city showed their enthusiasm about the potential move by being present at the City Council meeting Monday.
"It was overwhelming the community presence we got at that meeting," LaBranche said.
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