Minor League Assets Too

[Edgy MD]

According to Jon Heyman, the pending sale of the Metropolitan Baseball Club of New York would include the Syracuse Mets, the St. Lucie Mets, and the Brooklyn Cyclones operations.



The first two were always likelihoods, as the AAA and High-A clubs were Mets subsidiaries, but the Clones were a separate entity under Sterling Equities.

[Frayed Knot]

And remember that Brooklyn is expected to be a AA franchise if things go according to plans.

[vtmet7]

Frayed Knot wrote: And remember that Brooklyn is expected to be a AA franchise if things go according to plans.

I was a little surprised that the Mets could move their AA team to NYC without having to gain the Yankees approval...didn't the Mets block the Yankees from having the Newark Bears play closer when their stadium had some construction issues?



I'm a little disappointed in seeing the end of the Binghamton Mets...I was living in the area and going to SUNY Binghamton when the Mets first moved their AA team there...



I originally thought that a short-season A ball ballpark would be big enough to be a AA ballpark, but from the looks of it, Brooklyn has a little more seating capacity, and similar OF dimensions to Binghamton's...



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NYSEG_Stadiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NYSEG_Stadium

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCU_Parkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCU_Park



side question...With Fred leaving, do the Mets move some of the Brooklyn Dodgers tribute from Citi Field to MCU, while focusing a little more on the Mets? I have never been to MCU/Keyspan, so I don't know how much of the Dodgers nostalgia that they already have.

[vtmet7]

How long is Cohen forced to use St Lucie for Spring Training?

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, I imagine there's a good chance of Brooklyn being the most profitable minor league franchise.



When the Mets and Yanks made a deal to allow both franchises to establish NY-Penn league teams in the area, the Mets (and the Wilpons) got the better of that deal coming and going.

[Fman99]

=vtmet7 post_id=47346 time=1600970245 user_id=80]
side question...With Fred leaving, do the Mets move some of the Brooklyn Dodgers tribute from Citi Field to MCU, while focusing a little more on the Mets? I have never been to MCU/Keyspan, so I don't know how much of the Dodgers nostalgia that they already have.

[vtmet7]

speaking of stadiums paying homage to other teams...has anyone seen the Mets mural at the Rays' Tropicana Field? I took my daughters and their friend to a Mets game in Tampa several years back...Mets had played several years in St Pete (which is where the stadium is, even if they call themselves Tampa) for spring training...they had a section of a wall in the stadium with Mets nostalgia painted into the concrete & I got a pic of us posing in front of it

[Edgy MD]

They call themselves "Tampa Bay" which is a geographical designation representing both cities.



It drives residents of both cities crazy — St. Petersburgers because they aren't specifically referenced even though the stadiums usually end up on their side of the bay, and Tampeños, because outsiders continually think the name of the city is "Tampa Bay."

[Frayed Knot]

=vtmet7 post_id=47346 time=1600970245 user_id=80]I was a little surprised that the Mets could move their AA team to NYC without having to gain the Yankees approval...didn't the Mets block the Yankees from having the Newark Bears play closer when their stadium had some construction issues?

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Lots of baseball history in Binghamton I never knew about till exploring the 19th century. They had successful minor league clubs there going back to the 1870s known as the "Bingos" or the "Triplets" (not sure what that club nickname referred to). Hometown of screwballing lefty Dennis Casey, 1886 NL ERA champion who bullshitted his way into being recognized as the "subject" of Casey at the Bat, even though that was never true.

[Benjamin Grimm]

=vtmet7 post_id=47346 time=1600970245 user_id=80]I have never been to MCU/Keyspan, so I don't know how much of the Dodgers nostalgia that they already have.

[Edgy MD]

Binghamton, Endicott, and Johnson City (where the ballpark was located) were for a time referred to as "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binghamton_metropolitan_area#Triple_CitiesThe Triple Cities."



Their cap insignia (at least in the 1960s) was clearly a knockoff of the intertwined T and C of the original Twins hat.



https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/1114/12/1965-binghamton-triplets-cap-hat_1_02fd364079dbccac8f4bbdb7ef724c5d.jpg>



Hey, look who was a fan:



https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4cJkkqWAAAESzx.jpg>

[vtmet7]

Kingsport is now officially no longer part of the minor league system:

http://metsminors.net/kingsport-franchise-officially-leaves-mets-organizationhttp://metsminors.net/kingsport-franchise-officially-leaves-mets-organization

[Benjamin Grimm]

It was inevitable.

[Edgy MD]

I hate affiliation, but that's a filthy shame that they are going amateur instead of indy pro.



I wonder if college baseball is going to get measurably better with fewer affiliated jobs available. Probably, I think.

[Frayed Knot]

I think it's questionable whether the lowest levels of minor league baseball can survive as independent pro leagues.

As it was they were kept afloat by being subsidized by their parent club who in turn were permitted to underpay the labor. So now

that MLB is scrambling to distance themselves from part two of that equation it's not surprising that part one is going away as well.



I suspect there will be some attempts at forming new indy ball leagues once the fallout from all this reshuffling settles down, but I

think that's more likely to occur in areas with metropolises larger than those found in Appalachia.

[G-Fafif]

[Edgy MD]

Impressive.



Strange that somehow 20-35% of affiliates can be eliminated and the Florida State League finds themselves downgraded, at least nominally.



Also, it's interesting where draftees will be assigned to, with the GCL the only domestic short-season league. Presumably, college students be joining St. Loo and Brooklyn players already halfway through their season.

[Fman99]

Good news for us upstate folks, anyway.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I like the idea of better-caliber play at Brooklyn.



I would hope they also "grow up" in terms of the over-the-top "family friendly" brand of shitshow irritating promos they do there -- too loud and cheesy even for bush-league team in Coney Island.



Games there ought to be a chill, fun experience on a hot summer night (ocean breezes, the ocean, the boardwalk, the rides, the future Mets). Fun but needn't be forced fun

[Frayed Knot]

So Binghamton survives which is contrary to the rumors over the last year and a half.

As far as Pt St Lucie goes, did the entire Florida State League get demoted from High-A to Low or did they join the Sally League

And what League is Coney Island playing in?





oe: so the official site of Minor League Baseball is listing all the new (and existing) affiliations by their level but none by the league - so this sounds like a complete revamping

of the leagues which is unlikely to resemble anything like the structure of the recent past.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Guest

[Benjamin Grimm]

I was wondering about that too, about what leagues are what.



I just hope that we have a minor league season in 2021. I think we will, since the vaccines are going to start to roll out very soon. But nothing is at all certain, of course.

[Frayed Knot]

The 'High-A' teams line up as:



VANCOUVER BC (TOR)

BOWLING GREEN KY (TBR)

ROME, GA (ATL)

ABERDEEN MD (BAL)

GREENVILLE SC (BOS)

HUDSON VALLEY (WAPPINGERS FALLS) NY (NYY)

LAKE COUNTY OH (CLE)

QUAD CITIES IA (KCR)

WEST MICHIGAN (DET)

CEDAR RAPIDS IA (MIN)

WINSTON-SALEM NC (CHW)

LANSING MI (OAK)

TRI-CITY WAS (LAA)

EVERETT WA (SEA)

BELOIT WI (MIA)

WILMINGTON DE (WAS)

JERSEY SHORE (PHI)

APPLETON WI (MIL)

PEORIA IL (STL)

GREENSBORO NC (PIT)

SOUTH BEND IN (CHC)

DAYTON OH (CIN)

HILLSBORO OR (ARZ)

FORT WAYNE IN (SDP)

GREAT LAKES (LAD)

EUGENE OR (SFG)

HICKORY NC (TEX)



Rockies TBA ... Spokane WA

Astros TBA ... Asheville NC



I'm guessing that there will be three High-A leagues, maybe four.

If so pick out the eastern squads and those are likely Brooklyn's opponents, but even then that league

will probably be further broken into a north & south split because nobody is going to want to fly A-ball

players from the northeast down to Florida and it's too far to bus.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Guest

[Frayed Knot]

AA & AAA look to be more or less intact.

A little musical chairs in changing affiliates and the always constant name change thing going on,

but most of the cities active in 2019 will still be there in 2021

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, the only other squads out of the NY-Penn League I'm seeing there are Aberdeen and Hudson Valley (who had previously been a Tampa Bay affiliate).



The really impressive news is that The Staten Island Yankees are folding and suing MLB, which really opens up territory for the Mets at just the right time.

[kcmets]

Frayed Knot wrote: HUDSON VALLEY (WAPPINGERS FALLS) NY (NYY)

Dutchess Stadium is in Fishkill NY, sad the Renegades went NYY.

[Edgy MD]

I look at it as a strategic retreat, much like the president giving up on expanding his coalition and instead retreating to his base.



If there wasn't a plague going on, I'd suggest the Mets should have a Staten Island Fanfest this year on the campus of Wagner.

[MFS62]

Still nothing definite about the Hartford Yard Goats. They're still listed as "reportedly" alive.

https://www.mlb.com/news/new-minor-league-affiliates-for-2021https://www.mlb.com/news/new-minor-league-affiliates-for-2021

They were announced as the host team for the 2021 Eastern League All Star Game.

https://www.milb.com/news/hartford-yard-goats-to-host-2021-eastern-league-all-star-game-311257516https://www.milb.com/news/hartford-yard-goats-to-host-2021-eastern-league-all-star-game-311257516



But I wonder if they will push all those things back a year once baseball re-starts in full, or just reschedule the ones missed last year.

Later

[Methead]

Still nothing definite about the Hartford Yard Goats. They're still listed as "reportedly" alive.

Jeez, they just built the stadium 3 years ago.

[MFS62]

Speaking of the minor leagues, just got a call from my local Barnes and Noble telling the copy of the 2021 Baseball America Almanac I reserved is in.

........

If nothing else, it fills what would have been a hole in my collection.

Later



That is about all it is good for - very thin, fewer stats than usual (no minor leagues, ,but lots of international and Indie stuff)) but a nice summary of the impact COVID-19 made on MLB.



And my daughter is already checking out the schedule to se when Binghamton visits Hartford this year. It wasn't until very recently that we found that there will be AA baseball in Hartford this year.

Go Yard Goats!



Later