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Minor League Assets Too

Edgy MD Sep 24 2020 08:30 AM

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 Sep 24 2020 09:52 AM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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

vtmet7 Sep 24 2020 11:57 AM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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_Stadium https://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 Sep 24 2020 12:00 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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

Edgy MD Sep 24 2020 12:02 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Sep 24 2020 12:54 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

=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.

We should be so lucky.

vtmet7 Sep 24 2020 01:04 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Sep 24 2020 01:10 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Sep 24 2020 01:42 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

=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?

Well I'm not sure they CAN move w/o MFY approval, that's why I said it's only a plan right now.

But moving forward I could see MLB changing the policy as the affiliated minor leagues contract. The contraction is largely the result of trying to make the whole major/minor association

less archaic (read: more legal) and the whole idea of territorial veto power is about as archaic as it comes.

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...

Bingo & the Mets are one of the longest ongoing affiliations of any minor & major league clubs across all the leagues so, yeah, there's going to be a downside to this if it happens.

And I'm sure you're right about most short-season stadiums having not enough seating capacity to be attractive to a AA league. But of course, Brooklyn NY has just a bit more of a population

base than your typical location for a low-A franchise.

Johnny Lunchbucket Sep 24 2020 03:20 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Sep 24 2020 03:35 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

=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.

I was there once, in 2009. There's a statue of Pee Wee Reese with Jackie Robinson outside the ballpark.

Edgy MD Sep 24 2020 03:35 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Binghamton, Endicott, and Johnson City (where the ballpark was located) were for a time referred to as "The 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 Sep 29 2020 02:11 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Kingsport is now officially no longer part of the minor league system: http://metsminors.net/kingsport-franchise-officially-leaves-mets-organization

Benjamin Grimm Sep 29 2020 05:35 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

It was inevitable.

Edgy MD Sep 29 2020 10:21 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Sep 30 2020 05:23 AM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Dec 09 2020 12:40 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

https://twitter.com/anthonydicomo/status/1336756631527448578?s=21

Edgy MD Dec 09 2020 12:48 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Dec 09 2020 12:48 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Good news for us upstate folks, anyway.

Johnny Lunchbucket Dec 09 2020 01:33 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Dec 09 2020 01:44 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 09 2020 02:32 PM

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.

Benjamin Grimm Dec 09 2020 02:05 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Dec 09 2020 02:25 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too Edited 3 time(s), most recently on Dec 09 2020 07:20 PM

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.

Frayed Knot Dec 09 2020 07:18 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Dec 09 2020 07:40 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Dec 09 2020 08:05 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Frayed Knot wrote: HUDSON VALLEY (WAPPINGERS FALLS) NY (NYY) Dutchess Stadium is in Fishkill NY, sad the Renegades went NYY.

Edgy MD Dec 09 2020 10:22 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Dec 10 2020 09:31 AM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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-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-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 Dec 10 2020 10:22 AM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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 Feb 12 2021 12:17 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

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

MFS62 Feb 18 2021 12:18 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

My daughter is already checking out the schedule to see 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

Edgy MD Feb 18 2021 07:37 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

I don't know how permanent the realignment of the minors is supposed to be, but they really have something close to an ideal setup, with the top three minor league teams all within the state, and within driving distance if you're willing to go that route. The two teams operating out of St. Lucie are now adjacent to one another in levels, as the St. Lucie Mets are now representing A, or Low A, instead of High A, and low A is going to mean something considerably lower now that there aren't two Short Season A teams in between that level and Rookie ball. This really works in one way because teams prefer their spring training facilities for rehab assignments, especially initial ones for players coming off a long layoff, allowing them to get game action but stay close to the rehab trainers and facilities. They've often spent a couple of weeks playing with the FSL league St. Lucie Mets when they're at home, and the Gulf Coast League GCL Mets when they're at home. That allows them to stay off of buses and under observation, but it forces them to jump up and down across several levels of competition. Now, not so much. The big downside — and I'd ask Sandy about his plan for this if I was in on a press conference — is how they're going to manage debuting twice as many first-year pros this season with 25% fewer slots to fill.

Willets Point Feb 19 2021 12:01 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

I made a list of cities and towns in New England that had minor league baseball teams in fairly recent years and still have ballparks and I want someone entrepreneurial enough to make an independent league out of them. I'd have put Bridgeport on the list too, but the city is converting their ballpark into an amphitheatre. Brockton, MA Burlington, VT Lowell, MA Norwich, CT Old Orchard Beach, ME Pawtucket, RI Pittsfield, MA

Johnny Lunchbucket Feb 19 2021 12:18 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

I just wanna go on record that it sucks they're also retiring the league names under descriptive bullshit names that you know will soon have a sponsor stapled to: Triple A East Brough To You By Taco Bell

Willets Point Feb 19 2021 12:32 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I just wanna go on record that it sucks they're also retiring the league names under descriptive bullshit names that you know will soon have a sponsor stapled to: Triple A East Brough To You By Taco Bell I did not know this! The International League and the Pacific Coast League have over a century of history. That's tragic.

MFS62 Feb 19 2021 12:34 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Willets Point wrote: I made a list of cities and towns in New England that had minor league baseball teams in fairly recent years and still have ballparks and I want someone entrepreneurial enough to make an independent league out of them. I'd have put Bridgeport on the list too, but the city is converting their ballpark into an amphitheatre. Brockton, MA Burlington, VT Lowell, MA Norwich, CT Old Orchard Beach, ME Pawtucket, RI Pittsfield, MA Will there be a team in New Britain, CT this year? Later

Willets Point Feb 19 2021 01:11 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

There's a collegiate league team. I'm thinking New Britain is too close to the Hartford Yard Goats to support their own pro team.

Frayed Knot Feb 19 2021 01:29 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Willets Point wrote: I did not know this! The International League and the Pacific Coast League have over a century of history. That's tragic. To some degree, sure. On the other hand, the International League hasn't has a team outside the US borders in years and the Pacific Coast Lg, in recent years, has hosted teams from sites such as New Orleans and Memphis ... kind of making it not really a PCL anymore. And part of this re-org is to regionalize things a bit better. So the new set-up is: AAA East - consisting of: - Northeast: Buffalo, Lehigh Valley, Rochester, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Syracuse, Worcester - Midwest: Columbus, Indianapolis, Iowa, Louisville, Omaha, St Paul (new), Toledo - Southeast: Charlotte, Durham, Gwinnett, Jacksonville, Memphis, Nashville, Norfolk AAA West - East: Albuquerque, El Paso, Oklahoma City, Round Rock, Sugarland (TX, new) - West: Las Vegas, Reno, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Tacoma AA North - Northeast: Binghamton, Hartford, New Hampshire, Portland, Reading, Somerset - Southwest: Akron, Altoona, Bowie, Erie, Harrisburg, Richmond AA Central - North: Arkansas, Northwest Arkansas, Springfield, Tulsa, Wichita - South: Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Frisco, Midland, San Antonio AA South - North: Birmingham, Chattanooga, Rocket City, Tennessee - South: Biloxi, Mississippi, Montgomery, Pensacola High-A East - North: Aberdeen, Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, Jersey Shore, Wilmington - South: Asheville, Bowling Green, Greensboro, Greenville, Hickory, Rome, Winston-Salem High-A Central - East: Dayton, Fort Wayne, Great Lakes, Lake Country, Lansing, West Michigan - West: Beloit, Cedar Rapids, Peoria, Quad Cities, South Bend, Wisconsin High-A West Eugene, Everett, Hillsboro, Spokane, Tri-City, Vancouver Low-A East - Central: Carolina, Down East, Fayetteville, Kannapolis - North: Delmarva, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, Salem - South - Augusta, Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach Low-A Southeast - East: Daytona, Jupiter, Palm Beach, St. Lucie - West: Bradenton, Clearwater, Dunedin, Fort Myers, Lakeland, Tampa Low-A West - North: Fresno, Modesto, San Jose, Stockton - South: Inland Empire, Lake Elsinore, Ranch Cucamonga, Visalia

seawolf17 Feb 19 2021 01:55 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Edgy MD wrote: The big downside — and I'd ask Sandy about his plan for this if I was in on a press conference — is how they're going to manage debuting twice as many first-year pros this season with 25% fewer slots to fill. There were only five rounds in the draft last year, so the influx might not be as large.

Frayed Knot Feb 19 2021 02:40 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

The other thing new to the minors this year -- in order to cut down on travel and to guard against too much Covid exposure (and, oh yeah, to save $$$$) -- is playing Six Game series. So Brooklyn, for instance, opens on the road (May 4th) with six straight in Asheville, NC followed by six more a 50 or so mile bus ride south in Greenville, SC . They'll then go home (after a day off) to host the hated Hudson Valley Renegades (the new MFY franchise at that level so they're hated even though they've never met to this point) for six consecutive days and then get a visit for six straight from Aberdeen. In the case of out-of-division games such as Asheville & Greenville, there will be no return visit from that team. Presumably the next year Asheville would go to Brooklyn for all their games although it's unclear right now if this schedule is a Covid deal, an experiment, or something more permanent.

Edgy MD Feb 19 2021 02:44 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

So basically, teams from The South Atlantic League and The New York/Penn League are operating under some sort of makeshift merger under the less-than-committed-sounding name of The High-A East League. That's a painful lot of bus-riding.

MFS62 Feb 19 2021 02:48 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Edgy MD wrote: That's a painful lot of bus-riding. But then they'll have six days (unless there are double headers thrown into the mix) to stretch out their legs. Later

Frayed Knot Feb 19 2021 04:52 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Edgy MD wrote: That's a painful lot of bus-riding. I think the goal is that there'll be less. In the Brooklyn example above, the 'clones will have a 14-hours-ish ride to and fro those first two opponents ... but those rides will be some 14 days apart with virtually nothing in between and then not another one for another two weeks.. That might be easier on the butt cheeks than shorter but more frequent trips that occur every three or four days as has been the norm.

Frayed Knot Feb 19 2021 08:24 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Although the AAA skeds are using the same six-game sets, unlike the High-A league and Brooklyn, those teams are playing no cross-division games even within their own section. iow, Syracuse will have just five opponents all season long; they'll visit and get visits only from Buffalo, Lehigh Valley, Rochester, Worcester, and S-WB, changing opponents each Tuesday for a six game chunk before an off day on Monday and then a new/familiar dance partner for the coming week. Season runs from April 6 thru September 19 (later than in the past)

Fman99 Feb 19 2021 08:34 PM Re: Minor League Assets Too

Frayed Knot wrote: Although the AAA skeds are using the same six-game sets, unlike the High-A league and Brooklyn, those teams are playing no cross-division games even within their own section. iow, Syracuse will have just five opponents all season long; they'll visit and get visits only from Buffalo, Lehigh Valley, Rochester, Worcester, and S-WB, changing opponents each Tuesday for a six game chunk before an off day on Monday and then a new/familiar dance partner for the coming week. Season runs from April 6 thru September 19 (later than in the past) I don't sweat this, to be truthful. We go once or twice per homestand so we'll still see a mix of opponents. Live games -- hot dog, cold beer, sunshine, baseball. That's the thing. All the rest is a lot of jibber gobble.