The Tao of Stieb has a post up on the possibility of the Jays severing their ties with the Syracuse Chiefs, the only Triple-A affiliate they have ever known.
The need-to-know seems to be that the other two International League cities in western New York, Buffalo and Rochester, could also be coming open within the next year. Major-league teams seem to want a conveniently located Triple-A affiliate (i.e., like the Philadelphia Phillies will with Allentown, Pa.). The Cleveland Indians apparently are going to end their relationship with Buffalo after next season, while Rochester and Syracuse are both angling to get the New York Mets affiliate. The Mets ended up in New Orleans, which is way too far away for their liking.
(Granted, they have nothing on the Pittsburgh Pirates, who once had a Triple-A team in Honululu -- 4,650 miles away.)
So really, the Jays should be striking while the iron's hot if they want to keep their top farm club close to Toronto.
Related:
Could the Mets come to CNY? (Syracuse.com, Oct. 7)
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2 comments:
Sweet.
Buffalo's AAA park was awesome back when it was Pilot Field in the early 1990's. Just a tremendous place to watch a game.
I hope they've kept the place up, it's been like 10 years since I was last there.
I think I could make 8-10 trips per summer to Buffalo to catch the baby Jays there.
Best Regards
John
I think affiliations are important to fans. I admit, I liked AAA more here when it was the Expos. Having said that, I was no less interested when it was O's and Phils but I'm pretty hardcore.
Good article on the Chiefs situation, thanks for the link, it's easy to understand why they want a change in affiliates after 22 out of 30 losing seasons with the Jays. I can understand why they want the Mets, the change in affiliates in Scranton this past season - from Phils to Yanks - resulted in boffo business for Scranton.
Would many Jays fans, a la John, make the trek to Buffalo to check out Jays AAA? I've never been to ball in Buffalo but I've been to Rogers Centre ( it was Skydome then ) many times and I don't like it, never did even when the Jays were great. I suspect I'd rather sit outside in a real baseball stadium in Buffalo as long as the hassle getting across the border was ok.
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