The contract delay is simply a matter of timing, says Bruce Baldwin, general manager of Richmond’s Triple-A baseball club, which is the top farm team of the Atlanta Braves. The teams are both owned by Turner Broadcasting Inc., a Time Warner company that recently underwent personnel changes, leading to the delay.

Stan Kasten, formerly president of the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers, stepped down in mid-November. Turner is in the process of selling the Hawks and Thrashers. Baldwin says a meeting with the new management team in Atlanta will take place in early January.

“It has not hit a snag in the road,” Baldwin says. “It has been delayed because of changes in Atlanta.”

Also, Baldwin says the delays have nothing to do with a proposal for a new $50 million stadium in Shockoe Bottom. The new ballpark initiative will have to overcome numerous obstacles, such as funding, before it can receive serious consideration anyhow. As for the Richmond Braves, the Atlanta parent is still expected to sign at least another 10-year lease to keep the team here, Baldwin says.

“We’re moving forward,” he says. –Scott Bass