Derek Franks, the longtime president and general manager of the Fresno Grizzlies professional baseball team, will leave the team Friday, he told GV Wire on Wednesday morning.

He said despite picturing himself with the team much longer, an opportunity arose for him and his family that he could not pass up. The team will announce a new general manager next week, he said.

“You just never know when an opportunity is going to fall your way that ends up being the right opportunity,” Franks said.

He said he will remain in Fresno.

Fresno Tacos Takes Off in MiLB and MLB

Franks began his career with the baseball team in 2004 as an intern in the sales office. It wasn’t until 2015 that the team named him general manager. He said he remembers making sales calls using index cards. That’s now changed into customer resource management software and artificial intelligence. He recalls that the Grizzlies were one of the first sports teams to have a Twitter handle.

While minor league general managers don’t make decisions about players or coaches — that falls to the MLB affiliate — they do oversee everything else around the team.

One of the more visible aspects of that is promotions. Despite having future World Series champions playing at Chukchansi Park — think Tim Lincecum and Buster Posey — the team can’t rely on those prospects being there very long.

“The way it was put to me, we’re not going to market the players a lot because they’re here today and gone tomorrow. That’s the whole idea of the minor leagues,” Franks said. “So you have to rely on the sights and the smells and the sounds and making it fun every single night.”

One of the Grizzlies promotional ideas permeated throughout all of professional baseball, including the big leagues.

When he was executive vice president, two members of the staff — Sam Hansen and Mike Osegueda — came up with the idea for Taco Truck Throwdown, an event that would win multiple awards. That event drew a record number of fans, Franks said. As most fans were up sampling the different trucks, though, that did not translate into fans in the seats.

They took it back and thought about how to keep fans watching the game. An idea arose: For one night a year, the Grizzlies transformed into the Fresno Tacos.

“Every team in Minor League Baseball has a food alternative identity now,” Franks said. “There’s an entire theme night program that Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball organize with each team so they can order their merchandise and create these alternate identities.”

Grizzlies Stadium Changed Over the Years

Franks also navigated multiple ownership changes and stadium contracts. Since taking over, the Grizzlies have added a splash park, bar area, major lighting enhancements, and safety net.

In 2018, Fresno Sports and Events purchased the Grizzlies. Five years later, the team went to Diamond Baseball Holdings. With ownership of 48 teams, Franks said that Diamond Baseball Holdings provides expertise the Grizzlies wouldn’t otherwise have and a greater collaboration amongst teams.

“There’s a lot of things behind the scenes that people won’t see that just make this a better experience for the fans,” Franks said.

Major changes in minor league baseball also occurred during Franks’ stint with the club. In 2020, Major League Baseball reduced the number of minor league teams, demoting the Grizzlies from Triple-A to a Low Single-A affiliation in the California League with the Colorado Rockies, where it has remained.

Following both COVID-19 and the demotion from the Pacific Coast League, attendance at Grizzlies games has fallen over the years.

Where 2015 attendance totaled 458,431 people, averaging 6,412 people a game, 10 years later, that total halved, bringing in only 241,709, according to Baseball Cube. That breaks down to an average of 3,662 a game.

Despite that, Franks said attendance is climbing back.

“I don’t know how many cities there are in America, but only 120 of them have Minor League Baseball,” Franks said. “This thing is precious and special, and so I really hope that the people of this community continue to keep coming back and come out and enjoy something that so few communities get to have. We’ve got some really diehard, awesome fans and we draw some really great crowds. I hope that people will continue to keep coming back.”