Gary McDonald - Viva Las Vegas, No More

About 260 miles ,north of Citi Field sits the town of Syracuse New York.  In 2019 this town will become the Triple A affiliate of the NY Mets.  Yes, the Mets have finally found their way back East after wandering around the desert of Nevada,  the Mets will finally have a Triple A team reasonably nearby.

This from Syracuse.com

The New York Mets have reached an agreement to buy the Syracuse Chiefs and make the International League baseball team its top minor league affiliate, according to two sources briefed about the deal.

Under terms of the agreement, the Mets will acquire ownership of the Triple-A Chiefs from the Community Baseball Club of Central New York Inc., and continue to play its games at NBT Bank Stadium starting in 2019, the sources said.

The Mets would own and operate the Syracuse Chiefs, the sources said, bringing in the resources necessary to build a franchise that struggled in recent years with its finances.

The deal would end almost six decades of community ownership of the Syracuse Chiefs, dating back to 1961, and cut off the team's nine-year affiliation with the World Series-contending Washington Nationals.

This is great news for the Amazin’s as they have been trying to get more “local” for a number of years.  The Mets have a bit of history as well, with the Syracuse Chiefs as it served as a Triple A affiliate (shared with the Washington Senators) in 1962.  Players such as Ed Kranepool, Larry Bearnarth, Choo Choo Coleman, Joe Christopher all spent time with the Chiefs in the beginning of the Mets franchise. And now the circle will become complete with the Mets returning and they will own and operate the franchise which gives them full control over the operation.  Now the trick is to develop a winner to bring in the fans, and feed the parent club with talent.

I guess Sandy Alderson wasn’t kidding when he said there was going to be “major changes” on the Triple A level.  And we thought it was just going to be new coaches.

And speaking of changes according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports,

“The Mets have hired Tony DeFrancesco as the manager for Triple-A Las Vegas. 

DeFrancesco has managed in Triple-A for 13 seasons. His first stint was in 2003 with the Sacremento River Cats. He spent six seasons there before heading to Houston to manage their Triple-A Oklahoma City Redhawks. 

DeFrancesco was called up in 2012 to manage the Astros as interim manager. He went 16-25 in his 41 games in the major leagues. 

Last year he coached Houston's Triple-A Fresno affiliate in 2016.

There has been no official announcement on this but the rumors are Pedro Lopez will be reassigned in the organization and DeFrancesco is in as skipper.

I guess Bob Dylan was right “The Times They Are A Changin’”

Until next time….