Mets Triple-A affiliate coming to Syracuse in 2019!

[Fman99]

They had a one night "rebranding" this past season that was very popular (we were there that day). For one game they were named after a local side dish known as "salt potatoes," basically, russets cooked in water liberally salted and served with melted butter.

They made some pretty cool hats, jerseys, and swag to go along with it.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: Recent changes, most of them courtesy of 'Brandiose', the California based rebranding company.

So, not only are all minor league team's using the same logo designers, but they're being renamed by the same closet of yukks as well.

And the same one or two firms seem to get most of the architecture contracts, too. Let's get some variety, baby.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Dang, salt potatoes with an ice-cold old-man beer on tap at The Fair.

[RealityChuck]

Actually, I'm disappointed that Washington didn't change the team name to the Syracuse Nationals.

[G-Fafif]

If the Mets are going to own the Syracuse franchise, call it the Syracuse Franchise.

[Centerfield]

I don't think it's possible for me to love anything more than I love this picture.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Don't mention that to your wife and kids.

[Edgy MD]

Mets haven't been affiliated with Syracuse since their introductory year of 1962, and even then, they shared the Chiefs with another organization. I think they might have had players parked on the Chiefs in 1961 also.

Only living Mets who came up through the Chiefs include Joe Christopher, Cliff Cook, Ray Daviault, Rick Herrscher, Ed Kranepool, and Lefty Bob Miller.

[Vic Sage]

majestic and Hellenic... how about the Syracuse Butt-Fuckers (NTTAWWT!)

[Guest d'Kong76]

Ass Jammers! Ok, maybe a little too graphic.

[Edgy MD]

And the very next day, The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announces a new stadium for the 51s.

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Build a team of sluggers and call them the A-Salt.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Mike Puma, The New York Post wrote: The Mets officially announced their purchase of the Syracuse minor league franchise, which eventually will become their Triple-A team. Though team officials expect the move from Las Vegas to occur in 2019, a source said there is an “outside chance” the relocation to Syracuse will occur next season. The Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate is under contract for Syracuse in 2018.

I guess for that "outside chance" to come to fruition, the Nationals would have to agree to some kind of terms. Since there are no Triple-A openings coming up in an even-numbered year, their only alternative, I assume, would be Las Vegas. Would the Mets be able to incent the Nationals to move their affiliate to Vegas for a year? It seems unlikely.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Fman99 wrote: They had a one night "rebranding" this past season that was very popular (we were there that day). For one game they were named after a local side dish known as "salt potatoes," basically, russets cooked in water liberally salted and served with melted butter. They made some pretty cool hats, jerseys, and swag to go along with it.

Gotta be the same office that turned us from the Isotopes into the Green Chile Cheeseburgers for one night.

[Edgy MD]

Way to go, Guv.

[tweet:368rqok4]

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[Guest 86-Dreamer]

I am sure Sandy will say that no actual harm was done to our prospect development and evaluation over the last 5 years, but I sure as hell won't miss watching guys drop 300 points of OPS on the way from Vegas to Flushing.

[Frayed Knot]

Or y'know they could just change the name to the Syracuse [u:3fa4ujfu]Mets[/u:3fa4ujfu]

Turns out that this purchase will make it four clubs who will own, or partially own, their AAA franchise. Only the Yanx, who partly own the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders (that's a lotta letters for the
front of a uniform), don't have the team named after the parent.
Elsewhere there's the Gwinnett County Braves and the recently renamed Oklahoma City Dodgers who changed the long time Red Hawks nickname when they partially bought in three years ago.
Would have been much better had they left it at Red Hawks

[Edgy MD]

Reverse the parent team's colors and call them the Syracuse Orangemets.

[ashie62]

The Syracuse NorEasters.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

G-Fafif wrote: If the Mets are going to own the Syracuse franchise, call it the Syracuse Franchise.

I like this more than I can meta-express.

[seawolf17]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Fman99 wrote: They had a one night "rebranding" this past season that was very popular (we were there that day). For one game they were named after a local side dish known as "salt potatoes," basically, russets cooked in water liberally salted and served with melted butter. They made some pretty cool hats, jerseys, and swag to go along with it. Gotta be the same office that turned us from the Isotopes into the Green Chile Cheeseburgers for one night.

And the Rochester Garbage Plates.

Edgy MD wrote: Reverse the parent team's colors and call them the Syracuse Orangemets.

I actually think that might be neat, if a little gimmicky. Maybe as a one-off.

Also, yes, it's awesome when worlds collide.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This deal isn't official until the shareholders vote on November 17. They need two-thirds approval, which they're expected to get. (I know longer believe any "expected" voting results, however.)

The Mets have said they'll promise to keep the team in Syracuse at least through 2025, when the current stadium deal expires. At that point, if the Mets leave Syracuse, they'll presumably take the team with them, maybe to somewhere closer to New York City.

The Mets plan to talk to the Nationals about the 2018 season after the Nationals are done playing. I doubt anything will come of that.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The Mets plan to talk to the Nationals about the 2018 season after the Nationals are done playing. I doubt anything will come of that.

I dunno, the Nats are broke and cheap. You might be able to toss 'em a few bucks and make them go to Vegas.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: This deal isn't official until the shareholders vote on November 17. They need two-thirds approval, which they're expected to get.

Chiefs shareholders or some kind of Sterling shareholders that I'm not fully aware of?

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The Mets have said they'll promise to keep the team in Syracuse at least through 2025, when the current stadium deal expires. At that point, if the Mets leave Syracuse, they'll presumably take the team with them, maybe to somewhere closer to New York City.

Essentially what you're buying when you buy a minor league team -- in addition to the lease with the city and other tangible stuff -- is the working agreement with the particular league.
If they were to want to leave after the stadium deal is up they'd have to find an area which would be approved by the league which has various population and stadium minimums the new place would
have to meet. And then of course there are the territorial restrictions and veto powers that other ML clubs have surrounding "their" cities.
I bring those conditions up just in case anyone wants to revert to a favorite demand of Mets fans from back when the agreement with Tidewater was ending that the Mets should simply "move their AAA
team to their Coney Island location" -- as if the team was theirs to move in the first place, or as if the Yanx wouldn't object, or as if the CI stadium comes even close to IL standards.

When they moved to Buffalo a decade or so back they reportedly chose that over Syracuse because they liked the stadium better. So now that that park has aged another decade (although it only dates
back to 1997) I suspect that as the years on this current lease starts to tick down the usual pressure on the city to cough up at least some of the money to either spruce up the existing place or replace it
altogether will start to ratchet up.
Not sure where else they could threaten to move to though. Ideally they'd want to keep it in the north east but you'd need a decent sized city without a team there now. Are there really that many of
those they could find bigger/better/closer than Syracuse yet far away enough from NYC, Boston, Philly, Baltimore, DC, etc.?

[Ceetar]

I don't know what the flights are like from Syracuse or if it matters, but I'd imagine there are more from Buffalo giving you a little more flexibility in getting players here. That's minor though but perhaps you could find another place with a better flight schedule if you really wanted.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Airplanes? Let 'em take the bus, it's the minors!

[Benjamin Grimm]

d'Kong76 wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: This deal isn't official until the shareholders vote on November 17. They need two-thirds approval, which they're expected to get. Chiefs shareholders or some kind of Sterling shareholders that I'm not fully aware of?

The Chiefs shareholders have to vote to approve the sale.

[Ceetar]

d'Kong76 wrote: Airplanes? Let 'em take the bus, it's the minors!

they can take the bus back to AAA, but I'd like the call-ups to get to Queens pronto!

You know, I wonder if there's tangible value in how close Citi is to LaGuardia.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Frayed Knot wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: Not sure where else they could threaten to move to though. Ideally they'd want to keep it in the north east but you'd need a decent sized city without a team there now. Are there really that many of those they could find bigger/better/closer than Syracuse yet far away enough from NYC, Boston, Philly, Baltimore, DC, etc.?

Yeah, I don't know, either. I read that Syracuse is the fifth-largest city in New York State, so it would be hard to find a better market without leaving the state. Newark, New Jersey would be ideal, but the Yankees would never allow it.

But are we sure that Brooklyn is off the table? If the Mets were to expand the ballpark at Coney Island, would they be able to trade their New York-Penn League rights for similar rights in the International League? Maybe, but I'm not at all sure of that, especially since the NY-Penn League plays a short-season schedule and the IL plays a full season. That could be a key difference. It might be allowed if, in exchange, the Yankees were allowed to do the same in Staten Island.