Outlaws ousted

The Chico Outlaws baseball club will not be playing the 2012 season after negotiations between the North American Baseball League and Chico State fell apart.

Chico State offered a one-year lease similar to the terms agreed upon for the past two seasons, while Brian MacInnes, CEO of league ownership group Diamond Sports and Entertainment was seeking a three-year pact, according to Ballpark Digest. Chico State and MacInnes were negotiating through February, shockingly late when considering the logistics of scheduling a nearly 90-game baseball season.

The team’s future was in question all winter, as their Chico office has been closed since shortly after the 2011 season concluded.

Though the organization stumbled financially in recent years, the Outlaws’ seven-season tenure at Nettleton Stadium included two league championships, in 2007 and 2010.