The minor league baseball team scheduled to play ball in Bowling Green in 2009 is likely to be the franchise now known as the Columbus (Ga.) Catfish.

An official in the South Atlantic League, in which Columbus plays, identified the Catfish as the team that will relocate to Bowling Green, to play in the downtown ballpark that is a focal point of $250 million in redevelopment.

“(Columbus) was the team we heard is coming as well,” Mayor Elaine Walker said Saturday.

A lease approved Friday by the Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority with Art Solomon, the investor who has pledged to relocate a team to play in the downtown ballpark, specifies that the stadium be ready for the 2009 South Atlantic League season.

Solomon, who owns the AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats did not return calls for comment; current Catfish owner David Heller of Washington, D.C., declined to comment.

The South Atlantic League features 16 Class A teams - the second-lowest rung of the Major League Baseball affiliates - primarily in the Southeast. It includes the Lexington Legends, which means Bowling Green could play host to an intrastate rivalry.

Heller moved his Albany, Ga.-based South Georgia Waves to Columbus for the 2003 season as a minor-league affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers; last year, the Catfish switched affiliations to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and won the South Atlantic League championship.

Off the field, however, the Columbus team has struggled with low attendance and other issues.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer has reported that the team has been near the bottom in SAL attendance, and that the team once withheld $32,000 in rent payments to the city because of concerns about the condition of city-owned Golden Park, where the Catfish play. Heller has attempted to move the franchise from Columbus several times since 2003, according to published reports.

The Catfish’s lease with the city of Columbus expires after the 2008 season; it’s unclear whether Heller would retain any ownership interests in the Bowling Green team.

The 4,000-seat Bowling Green baseball stadium is among the first projects slated for the $250 million downtown redevelopment plan, which retained life last week after city commissioners agreed to issue $25 million in bonds for the project. Along with private investments and government bonds, the project will be funded by Tax Increment Financing district revenues. The project as currently outlined includes at least one hotel, the ballpark, a parking garage, mixed-use developments and the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center - all on more than 100 acres roughly between Sixth Avenue and the Western Kentucky University campus.

Officials rushed to approve lease agreements Friday to meet a deadline Solomon had to exercise an option to purchase a team. Solomon has committed to keeping a team in Bowling Green for at least 20 years, with play slated to begin in the 2009 season at the stadium on the block between Kentucky and Center streets and Seventh and Eighth avenues.

The lease agreement approved Friday caps the cost of building the ballpark at $23 million.

“For minor league baseball, what’s critical is the owner - someone who will invest in the team,” Walker said. “It’s exciting because we’re getting a good team and a good owner.”

A team’s move must be formally approved by both the South Atlantic League and Major League Baseball, a process which could take several months.

South Atlantic teams

Columbus (Ga.) Catfish (will play in Bowling Green in 2009)

Lexington Legends

Delmarva (Md.) Shorebirds

Greensboro (N.C.) Grasshoppers

Hagerstown (Md.) Suns

Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads

Lake County (Ohio) Captains

Lakewood (N.J.) BlueClaws

(Charleston) W.Va. Power

Asheville (N.C.) Tourists

Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets

Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs

Greenville (S.C.) Drive

Kannapolis (N.C.) Intimidators

Rome (Ga.) Braves

Savannah (Ga.) Sand Gnats