The recent revelation that the Bakersfield Blaze could be relocated to the Carolina League is all about one thing: professional baseball not wanting to lose the Richmond, Va., market.

Richmond has been the long-time home of the Atlanta Braves Triple-A franchise, but the Braves are relocating that club to Gwinnett County (Condors fans might recall that name: Gwinnett also has a club in the ECHL), an Atlanta suburb.

So professional baseball people are concerned because that could leave Richmond (with more than 1 million in the city and nearby unincorporated area) without a minor league team. And Richmond has a beautiful playing facility.

The problem is that two teams need to move to the Carolina League to make this work. The Cal League has 10 teams and the Carolina League has eight. You won't see two 9-team leagues because that would leave at least one team with an idle date every day of the season in both leagues.

The Blaze was linked to Fayetteville, N.C., in the Baseball America article that broke the story 1-1/2 weeks ago. But Fayetteville does not have a stadium that meets professional baseball's standards, and it also has a signed deal with an independent league team that doesn't expire until around 2011 or 2012.

If the Carolina League can't come up with a suitable second stadium, wouldn't you think that moving a second team from the Cal League wouldn't happen?

Well, yes and no. If pro baseball wants the Richmond market badly enough (and I'm sure it does), some back-room dealing could lead to the Blaze departure. High Desert is evidently the other team in the Cal League mix and that club would move to Richmond, Baseball America reported.

High Desert is on the outs in the Cal League because the city of Adelanto, where the club plays, is talking about tripling its rent. The High Desert owners (two brothers of Hall of Famer George Brett) are squawking and want out before that increase hits.

The loss the Blaze is likely to happen, but it isn't as much of a slam dunk as it initially appeared.

One thing is certain: The Blaze is on borrowed time without a new stadium in Bakersfield, because sooner or later someone will spring for a new stadium and the Blaze would flee this town faster than you can blink. D.G. Elmore, the team owner, has no ties to this area. He'll go where the money is. And with small crowds, an antiquated ball park and greener pastures eventually elsewhere, the money isn't here.