Are Dodgers Moving Farm to Las Vegas?

The Las Vegas Stars are angling to become the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate beginning next season, baseball sources said.

The Stars today will file their intention to seek reaffiliation that could lead to a break from the San Diego Padre chain.

Meantime, Dodger officials are scheduled to meet today with a Portland, Ore., ownership group that is moving the Dodgers’ longtime triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Dukes, to Portland.

Because of tampering rules, team officials from neither the Stars nor the Dodgers can comment on the possible Las Vegas-Los Angeles affiliation.

The Stars, owned by Mandalay Sports Entertainment, have been the Padres’ triple-A affiliate since 1983.

Star President and General Manager Don Logan said this is the third time since 1996 that the affiliation contract has expired and that Las Vegas has filed such an intent in order to test the waters.

“I call it filing for free agency,” Logan said. “And in doing so we’re saying we want to explore all of our options. Now that doesn’t mean that we won’t reaffiliate with the Padres, it means that we want to take a look.”

Padre General Manager Kevin Towers was not surprised.

“It’s not really a shock or a surprise because this happens all the time,” said Towers, a pitcher for the Stars’ 1988 Pacific Coast League title-winning team. “It’s really out of our control. Las Vegas is still our first choice [for a triple-A city], but we’re not in panic mode here in San Diego. We’ve gone through it before.”

Derrick Hall, the Dodgers’ senior vice president of communications, said today’s meeting in Portland would go a long way in determining the Dodgers’ triple-A future, which they must decide by Sunday.

“We’re still trying to determine if we should continue a partnership with the Portland group or see what’s out there,” Hall said. “We have not made that decision yet.”

The Dodgers did, however, announce Monday that they were severing ties with the Class-A San Bernardino Stampede of the California League in favor of the Class-A Vero Beach Dodgers of the Florida State League.

Major league baseball has ruled that clubs can operate only one “high” Class-A team and one “low” Class-A team. The expansion Wilmington, N.C., Waves of the South Atlantic League will probably be the Dodgers’ “low” A affiliate after the parent club bought into the Waves earlier this summer.

The Dodgers have also committed to staying with the San Antonio Missions as a double-A team, seemingly leaving them without an affiliate on the West Coast.

“It’s certainly understandable to see how Las Vegas can be so attractive to a West Coast team like the Angels or Dodgers,” Towers said. “It’s nice when you have some place close where you can move your players.”