Melbourne's premier baseball team, the Aces, are homeless just three months before the first pitch is thrown in what officials hope will be the rebirth of the sport on local shores.

Come November, the relaunched Australian Baseball League - complete with teams from Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra - will replace the old Claxton Shield format, adopted once the original ABL folded a decade ago. But, this time, the sport's powerbrokers are confident of claiming a long-term foot-hold in an already congested sports market.

The key plank officials hope will garner success is a unique partnership between the ABL and Major League Baseball that will feature the US league, buoyed by its fruitful joint venture Australian academy on the Gold Coast, bankrolling 75 per cent of the competition for at least 10 years, with the ABL taking minority ownership.

MLB international development manager Peter Wermuth has shifted to Australia to become the league's chief executive, with the competition set to become not just a nursery for aspiring local talent but a place MLB stars, more than likely those in the minor leagues, and their Asian counterparts can come and prepare for their home season.

Teething problems, however, still abound. The Aces, for example, are confident of fielding a strong team but they have set to settle on their own field of dreams - a home ground.

The Aces last season staged home matches at the Geelong Baseball Centre but are keen - obviously - to shift matches to a central Melbourne location.

While softball-baseball have a purpose-built, 4000-seat stadium in Altona, on the western outskirts of Melbourne, fans have never warmed to what some in the industry privately describe as a "white elephant". Some baseball insiders even believe the 20-year-old venue does not encourage the sport's key attraction - home runs - because a strong southerly breeze can curtail lusty hitting.

Aces chief executive Stephen Nash, a former football manager of AFL club the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne-based manager of West Coast, said he was in discussions with the state government and local councils about a suitable venue for the coming season.

"It might sound silly but we haven't finalised it yet. We have a couple of irons in the fire," he said.

"We are talking to the government and local councils in relation to the ground.

"From our point of view we would love to get a venue more centrally located in Melbourne but, at this stage, we don't have one.

"This is an issue that baseball folk in this state have debated, discussed, argued and have produced many differing opinions on for over 20 years. This is the most singular issue facing the ABL."

Nash said baseball could one day be staged at a mooted new AFL venue in the Docklands region, should one be built and be able to be converted in summers to suit a sport once described as "one of the three most beautiful things Americans have ever created".

"That's years away," Nash said.

While the Aces claimed the Claxton Shield last season, attendances had been disappointing at times, a point not lost on the MLB.

"Success is measured on a number of indicators but the most important and visual measurement is crowd numbers. This is the key according to MLB," Nash wrote in a letter to club supporters.

"In all our discussions with MLB it revolved around ‘bums on seats'. Even though attendances figures increased as (last) season progressed, I believe MLB were probably disappointed overall with our crowd numbers and, in particular, the attendance figures for the final.

"This will be a focus for the Melbourne franchise moving forward as we'll only get one chance to establish a successful ABL. Without spectators the ABL will suffer."

Spectators, of course, want good facilities, and Wermuth admitted during a tour of the stadiums last season that even he was surprised with how much work needed to be done.

"The lack of facilities is kind of surprising considering the standard of the game here," he said.

"The baseball facilities are definitely inferior to places like Italy and Holland."

To attract new fans, league bosses are also espousing a fan-friendly atmosphere, with ticket prices just $10 per adult and $5 children.

What Wermuth is confident in, however, is the standard of play the ABL will boast. After all, Australia has more than 100 players involved professionally in the US and Asia, and Wermuth says this was a major reason for the MLB's commitment.

The Australian men's team finished fifth at last year's world championships, while this season the likes of Grant Balfour (pitcher, Tampa Bay), Peter Moylan (pitcher, Atlanta Braves), Ryan Rowland-Smith (pitcher, Seattle Mariners) and Brad Thomas (pitcher, Detroit Tigers) have all graced the MLB.

"I think we'll get more of the Australian pros to come back and you will also see a few American signings, potentially some Asian signings, and with that you will see the level of play increase even more," Wermuth has said.

MLB officials are in discussions with Channel Ten's digital sports station, One HD, and Fox Sports - both show live MLB matches - to at least initially provide a weekly highlights package of the ABL.

As one baseball insider said: "We'll walk before we run".

For administrators and fans alike, it's hoped that walk eventually becomes a home run.