Could the Portland Red Claws Be Moving to Worcester?

An article from NBCBoston.com suggests that officials in Worcester have been discussing an effort to take the Maine Red Claws south.

They've already taken the Pawtucket Red Sox at a cost of $85 million and have begun building Polar Park, the new baseball stadium where the recently relocated team will play. The name of the team will change to the Worcester Red Sox and should be playing by 2021. The new ball park will run about $100 million.

Now Worcester City Councilor Sean Rose, a self described life long Celtics fan, has his sights set on stealing our Red Claws and moving them to Worcester, the article reports.

Last week he ordered Edward Augustus Jr., the Worcester City Manager to look at a proposal to send the Red Claws south.

However Portland City Manager Jon Jennings, who was an assistant coach for the Celtics and manager of the Red Claws, thinks the Claws will stay put adding "I'm quite confident the Red Claws will stay in Portland for the foreseeable future" the article reports.

Even our own Bill Green from News Center Maine thinks the Red Claws will stay put saying, "When I first heard, I thought, 'They spent $85 million on the PawSox, and now this guy thinks they ought to do this?'" Although he does admit it wouldn't hurt as much as losing our beloved Portland Sea Dogs.

According to the story, Sean Rose knows they are still in the "embryonic stages" of this whole thing. The Celtics haven't responded to the idea as of yet, and neither has anyone from the Red Claws, who still have a lease in Portland for a few more years.