A larger Frontier League?

There's a hot rumor making its way around the independent baseball circuit that the Northern League will be no more by as early as next week.

What does that have to do with the Frontier League? Well, several scenarios have Northern League teams joining the FL.

The background on the situation:

The Northern League consists of eight teams, including five in the Chicago area: Gary in Indiana and Lake County, Joliet, Schaumburg and Rockford in Illinois. The others are Winnipeg, Fargo-Moorhead and Kansas City (Kan.). At least four of those teams are mulling jumping to the American Association, which was formed in 2005 when several Northern League teams left that circuit.

If the four teams that are rumored to be defecting do indeed leave, then Joliet, Schaumburg, Lake County and our old friends in Rockford will be without a league to call home.

According to ballparkdigest.com, there are two realignment possibilities that could result from the Northern League's meetings Sunday and Monday in Chicago:

1. The Chicagoland teams -- Lake County, Rockford, Joliet and Schaumburg -- going to the Frontier League. The remaining teams -- Winnipeg, Fargo-Moorhead, Gary-SouthShore and Kansas City -- would go to the Northern League.

2. Under the second, the four Chicagoland teams go to the Frontier League, where they'll join with other Frontier League teams, including Gateway, Southern Illinois, River City and potentially more. (One variation of this has the four teams remaining as the Northern League and playing an inter-league schedule against the Frontier League without formally joining that circuit.) Potentially this could be called the new Northern League, though there's also talk of selling naming rights to the circuit. That would make for a very compact little league, to be sure, while also trimming the Frontier League footprint.

If four NL teams join the Frontier, several would come with financial baggage. According to several reports, the Joliet Jackhammers are up for sale and owe $150,000 to vendors and $220,000 to the city for use of Silver Cross Field. Construction of the permanent stadium of the expansion Lake County Fielders in Zion, Ill., – co-owned by actor Kevin Costner – has endured several delays.

Schaumburg also is up for sale. According to the website of Brian Costin, who is running for mayor of Schaumburg, the town agreed to settle with the Flyers over delinquent unpaid rent for 2007-2009, for $580,000 at the time of a sale of the club. An investigation by Costin showed the Flyers actually owed taxpayers more than double the settlement amount, almost $1.2 million.

If the Frontier League takes the four Northern teams, that would give the FL 16 teams. It appears, at least at this point, that Oakland County will be back in 2011. We should know more about Kalamazoo's future when the Frontier League holds its owners meetings (I think they're also this week in Chicago).

Whatever happens with the Northern shakedown, you have to like the Frontier League's position. There will be four teams out there that need a place to play and you're their best option. You can take two, four or even none. There have been rumors for years about some Northern League teams shifting to the Frontier, but the stumbling block has always been the FL's age-limitation. There is no such rule in the Northern League. Now, it seems those teams would have to play by the Frontier's rules or not play at all.