The Aberdeen IronBirds face an uncertain future. But the ballpark that the club calls home recently took a step toward receiving state-funded improvements.

Ripken Stadium — which has needed renovations for years, according to Aberdeen city leadership — will soon undergo a preliminary analysis for upgrades. That marks important progress for the ballpark. While other minor league stadiums in the state have begun renovations, Ripken Stadium has lagged behind.

Five ballparks in the state have been able to benefit from a $200 million improvement fund created by legislation that passed overwhelmingly in 2022, before Annapolis was in a budget crisis.

The fund is intended to address a move made a year earlier by Major League Baseball. The league downsized its entire minor league system, including stripping Frederick and Hagerstown of affiliates and mandating that remaining teams play in stadiums that met certain “player development league” standards.

Those standards focus upon aspects of a ballpark that affect players, rather than fans, such as clubhouses and batting cages.

Teams that do not play in an up-to-snuff ballpark could be fined or, in a worst-case scenario, lose their coveted affiliation with MLB.

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The IronBirds were fined last year for not meeting those standards, Aberdeen Mayor Patrick McGrady said in a City Council meeting last month.

Major League Baseball declined to comment.

MLB’s ballpark edict launched unprecedented spending on minor league ballparks, according to Sports Business Journal, which found that since 2021, at least $2.3 billion has been spent or committed toward minor league parks nationwide.

Renovations of Ripken Stadium are months behind schedule.

This week, the Maryland Stadium Authority — which is tasked with overseeing state-funded improvement projects — agreed to a memorandum with Aberdeen that would allow the authority to conduct preliminary design activity at the ballpark.

Aberdeen has not approved the memorandum, but a review of it is on the City Council’s Monday meeting agenda.

Aberdeen’s situation is unique, though, given the uncertain of the future of its tenant.

Ripken Stadium has been home to the IronBirds since hometown hero and baseball Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. moved a minor league team to Aberdeen in 2002. But after years of tension between the Ripken family and city leadership, the Ripkens sold their majority stake in the team last fall.

It is unclear whether the new, Virginia-based ownership group, Attain Sports, will keep the team in Aberdeen.

Attain CEO Greg Baroni has said he and local government leaders are committed to keeping “affordable, family-friendly baseball” at Ripken Stadium. He has not specified, however, that the team in Aberdeen will remain the Orioles-affiliated IronBirds.

Attain also owns independent league teams in Frederick, which had a minor league team before MLB restructuring.

Baroni has said he would like to bring minor league baseball back to Frederick. Whether that team would come from Aberdeen or elsewhere remains to be seen.

If the IronBirds were to leave town, an independent league club could move to Aberdeen. Although the city of 18,000 is smaller than other pro baseball locales, it may still be a desirable landing spot. (Independent leagues are similar to minor leagues, but don’t have partnerships with specific big league clubs.)

Independent leagues that operate in the region include the MLB Draft League, the Frontier League and the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

The Atlantic League, often considered the premier independent league, includes two active teams in Waldorf and Hagerstown. Attain also owns an Atlantic League team in Frederick that has been on hiatus for more than a year.

Frank Boulton, Atlantic’s founder, said his league could be a fit for Aberdeen, should the city seek a new tenant.

“If invited, we would definitely go speak to them,” he said, noting that his league also would like to see improvements to Ripken Stadium.

Completed renovations would likely be a few years away. Preliminary design services, including ascertaining what kind of work is required at the stadium, will cost the state roughly $225,000.

Other ballparks are further along with their renovation projects. Upgrades to Frederick’s stadium, for example, will cost roughly $40 million and are expected to be completed next summer, said Gary McGugian, the stadium authority’s vice president of capital projects.

The IronBirds begin the 2025 season at Ripken Stadium on April 4 against the Hub City Spartanburgers.