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….
10 comments:
Very welcome changes indeed. It is tiring to try to figure out the "Vegas Effect" on Met prospect hitters and pitchers.
I guess because of the WASH affiliation, I thought they were the Syracuse Nats. That of course was just a latent print from the days when Rochester (Royals) was in the WEST and the NBA Nats became Phil 76'ers.
Will they stay "Chiefs?"
You know whats really funny about this whole situation.
Since the Nationals have a Player Development Contract signed with Syracuse through 2018......essentially the Nats are going to be paying the Mets to develop the players that will be playing against them in the future.
Bizarre....lol
Well, with Jenrry Mejia eligible to apply for reinstatement could they be the Syracuse Syringes?
I don't want to be a Debbie Downer here, but the weather in Syracuse is worse than it is in Buffalo.
People sometimes have snow on their lawns well into June.
Don't expect many home games played here in April.
When the Mets' AAA team moves there in 2019, they will change their name from the Chiefs to the Griefs.
Mack, the snow there will give a whole new meaning to shoveling the ball over to the second baseman.
Anybody know if the purchase contained some commitment to stay in Syracuse?
Only the lousy players will get to stay in Syracuse, Hobie.
Um, I meant have the Mets agreed not to move the team (to warmer climes---like Utica)
@Hobie
Yes....the purchase contract states that the Mets will keep the Sky Chiefs in Syracuse through (at least) the 2025 season.
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