Parks and Recreation staff to recommend against an agreement with the Monterey Amberjacks.

The Monterey Amberjacks are down to their final at bat. But like the Mighty Casey, Pecos League owner Andrew Dunn has one swing remaining to save the 2026 season.

In a letter sent to Dunn via email, Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Banks informed him that the department will not recommend approval of a new agreement when its board meets on Wednesday, March 11. 

“The Pecos League wants to play in Monterey,” he says. “I’m going to fight this.”

Despite the staff recommendation, the Parks and Rec Commission could vote in favor of the league’s proposal, which would limit the Amberjacks’ Sollecito Ballpark schedule to Sundays, playing the remaining games on the road. If so, the plan would go before the Monterey City Council in April.

Should the Parks and Rec board agree with the staff recommendation, the team would be forced to find a new home.

Banks cites repeated problems during the 2025 season for the staff’s recommendation to voting board commissioners. According to the letter dated Feb. 20, the department was forced to commit staff to oversight of the league’s use of the ballpark in 2025 due to a “failure to meet agreement requirements.” 

“They accused our manager of not taking out the trash,” Dunn says.

The letter also notes time committed to “extensive contract development.” The additional staff time and related expenses cost the department over $19,000.

“We don’t have the staff,” Banks says, summing up the decision on the city's part.

The league took to social media to inform fans of the predicament. Acknowledging the staffing concern and pressure on resources, a Feb. 23 post on the Amberjacks’ account asserted that the several members of the department simply oppose the agreement.

“I was willing to play once a week. It solves all the problems,” Dunn says. “They fought us on that.”

Sollecito Ballpark has always put a crimp in the Pecos League schedule. Since the Amberjacks were established in 2017, the team has been limited to a weekend home schedule, with practices often held elsewhere. The city-owned facility also hosts a number of recreational and youth leagues, as well as other events.

After the initial multi-year agreement between Monterey and the Pecos League ended following the 2023 season, the two sides could not come to terms for 2024 due to the city’s insurance requirements. The Amberjacts returned for 2025, but on a one-year deal.

“On again, off again—it’s a joke,” Dunn says. “We worked so hard.”

The Feb. 20 letter also listed concerns over the level of competition of minor league baseball considering the ballpark’s recreational purpose, as well as possible maintenance issues due to “high-intensity use” of the facility—the latter a prospect Dunn hoped to mitigate through a Sunday-only schedule.

“We all love baseball,” Banks says. “Our staff had recurring issues.”

Dunn believes that the presence of the Amberjacks is a benefit for Monterey. He points out that data collected from ticket sales show that a majority of fans came to the downtown ballpark from the county’s other communities.

Should a vote go against the Pecos League, he plans to propose a single game at Sollecito Ballpark, pitting the league’s traveling team—the Austin Weirdos—against a Pacific Division squad.

Dunn admits that, as in the famous poem, he might not connect with his final swing. The schedule has to be completed, player accommodations lined up and many other details wrapped up. And opening day is approaching in late May.

“We may have run out of time for this year,” he says. “But all we want to do is play ball.”