Baseball Club v. SDL Baseball Partners, LLC

¶1 After purchasing the Tacoma Rainiers minor league baseball team from SDL Baseball Partners LLC,1 The Baseball Club of Tacoma (TBCOT) filed a complaint alleging, among other things, breach of contract and fraud. SDL filed several counterclaims and third party *523claims. TBCOT responded with a special motion to strike these claims under Washington’s anti-SLAPP statute.2 The trial court granted the motion, concluding that the counterclaims and third party claims “tread” on TBCOT’s complaint. But because the thrust or gravamen of SDL’s counterclaims and third party claims relies primarily on…