Down On The Farm: August 19, 2012

This week we’ll break from tradition once again and discuss a hot topic involving the Mets and the Minor Leagues…

Well we’ve all been hearing the rumblings and rumors throughout the course of the season but it is slowly becoming a reality that the Buffalo Bisons will no longer be the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets past the 2012 season.

A big misconception about the affiliation system is that teams (Major League and Triple-A) can agree on either two or four year contracts that can either be renewed or with the most likely in the case with the Mets and Bisons, will be rejected by at least one of the parties which in this case seems to be Buffalo. However, the contracts are all structured after even numbered seasons (2010, 2012 etc.) so there isn’t any overlap and team’s can change affiliates easier.

Teams can reject for a series of reasons, for example Buffalo feels the Mets don’t provide the fans and city of Buffalo with a solid product for their team. Let’s face it the Mets haven’t had their Triple-A affiliate reach the playoffs since the 2005 season which was their first year in New Orleans, and haven’t won an International League crown since back in 1985 with the now-known-as Norfolk Tides.

What seems to be the most likely scenario of what will eventually happen is that the Mets will end up with their Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas Nevada with the Las Vegas 51’s which is in the final year of a four-year with the Toronto Blue Jays after nearly a decade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Toronto had a presence in upstate New York for 30 seasons when their Triple-A affiliate was with the Syracuse Chiefs until the Washington Nationals took that franchise over in what was a very big year for movement which tends to happen every 8-10 years or so.

After the 2008 season the Mets moved from New Orleans to Buffalo, the Indians moved from Buffalo to Columbus, the Nationals moved from Columbus to Syracuse, the Blue Jays moved from Syracuse to Las Vegas, the Dodgers moved from Las Vegas to Albuquerque, and the Marlins moved from Albuquerque to New Orleans in a domino effect of moves in 2008.

So as always here at the Daily Stache we have come up with what should be the most ideal site for every team based primarily on location and proximity to affiliates. This is by no means what will happen since not every team has expiring contracts, and most teams (that aren’t named the Mets) have solid relationships with their Triple-A clubs.

After the break, find out who the Mets Triple-A affiliate should be according to the Daily Stache.

It turns out that Syracuse makes the best sense for the Mets AAA team.