Minor League Barracuda in Power Struggle

The Long Beach Barracuda will play the Palm Springs Suns tonight at Blair Field, despite confusion over control of the Western Baseball League franchise for the remainder of the season.

All but a few members of the front office staff resigned Monday, including General Manager Paula Pyers and Senior Vice President Pat Elster. They cited financial and organizational problems within the minor league club under the guidance of team President Chris Gibbs.

Elster said that the franchise is more than $500,000 in debt, a figure Gibbs said is closer to $250,000.

Pyers and Elster have organized an ownership group that could purchase the Barracuda. But Gibbs and the company he created, 643 Inc., are trying to raise funds to retain ownership.

“When, and I stress when all of this is resolved, it will be with my concurrence,” Gibbs said. “We worked too hard to create it to destroy it.”

Gibbs said he expects a resolution by Thursday.

Gibbs will meet with the team’s other owners today and Thursday, when a teleconference with league officials is scheduled for noon.

The new independent minor league will then determine if the existing ownership has ample funds to continue or if new ownership should be sought.

It is possible that the league will take control of the team, a decision league President Bruce Engel will make Thursday.

Gibbs said that he and Robert Bedrossian own more than 65% of the franchise. The rest of the team is owned by a group including William Scripps and Jim Agate.