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Canada

Edgy DC Sep 04 2007 08:11 AM

The Ottawa Lynx is shutting down operations. That leaves Canada with one ML-affilliated team above the A-Level. One! I don't know. It's still a baseballl-playing nation. Perhaps Canadian baseball fans prefer unaffilliated Canadian teams to teams that feed US clubs.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 04 2007 08:22 AM

Huh! Ottawa is being abandoned by the Phillies in favor of Allentown. So much for my prediction that the Mets would get Syracuse while the Blue Jays would take Ottawa. I knew that the introduction of Allentown would cause a AAA casualty, but I figured it would be New Orleans. I wonder, does that mean the Mets will be in the Pacific Coast League for more than just this year and next?

Farmer Ted Sep 04 2007 08:26 AM

I propose an expansion to KeySpan and moving the AAA squad there.

Edgy DC Sep 04 2007 08:31 AM

Too good to happen. The Yankees could and would block it.

DocTee Sep 04 2007 08:33 AM

Maybe the Nats could move a squad to Montreal? Residents of that city are used to seeeing the best talent exported. j/k

Valadius Sep 04 2007 08:38 AM

Fuck the Yankees. Brooklyn's our territory, we can do what we want. As for the state of Canadian baseball, the Blue Jays seriously ought to make a conscious effort to reinvigorate it. Trade for Jason Bay, go get Eric Gagne. Pick up as many Canadian players as they can and move their minor league teams north.

Edgy DC Sep 04 2007 08:46 AM

Valadius wrote: Fuck the Yankees. Brooklyn's our territory, we can do what we want. That's fun to say, but isn't hardly true.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 04 2007 08:47 AM

I think fans in Toronto would be more interested in a winning team than a Canadian team. It's a route to failure if you start picking players based on nationality instead of ability. Having a AAA team in Canada would make sense for them, though. Ottawa seems like a natural choice for a Blue Jays affiliate.

metirish Sep 04 2007 10:39 AM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Having a AAA team in Canada would make sense for them, though. Ottawa seems like a natural choice for a Blue Jays affiliate. Really I think MLB could make that happen,Toronto's AAA team is in Syracuse so it's not like it would be a huge change geographically.

Willets Point Sep 04 2007 10:53 AM

Toronto fans would probably like being able to make minor league road trips sans border crossings. Why are Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec and Winnipeg lacking professional baseball teams? For that matter, Montreal would make a great minor league city.

Rockin' Doc Sep 04 2007 10:56 AM

Willet - "...Montreal would make a great minor league city." MLB tried that already with the Expos, didn't do too well.

Frayed Knot Sep 04 2007 11:02 AM

Keep in mind that ML teams generally don't own their minor league affiliates so it's not a case of MLB simply choosing to "make it happen". If Ottawa is ceasing operations it means that the local owners who have the Int'l Lg franchise are opting, for whatever reasons, not to continue it and another owner/group would have to strike a new franchise agreement with minor league baseball before going fishing for a new ML affiliate. For the same reason it's also not as simple as the Mets just choosing to transform Brooklyn into a AAA team. The owners (in this case the Wilpons) don't have a AAA franchise.

Frayed Knot Sep 04 2007 11:08 AM

Willets Point wrote: Why are Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec and Winnipeg lacking professional baseball teams? V, C & E have all had teams in recent years until all wound up selling out to operations south of the border, most recently when the Edmonton franchise was bought by Nolan Ryan and his group who moved them to Round Rock (Austin) Texas.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 04 2007 11:12 AM

So Ottawa is folding, and Allentown is an expansion franchise?

seawolf17 Sep 04 2007 11:17 AM

Montreal was a minor league city, back in the day. (Jackie Robinson started there.) So there's certainly history behind it. But FK's right; it's not necessarily up to MLB. I'm sure they can help financially if they want to make something happen, but it's really up to the local cities and ownerships.

Edgy DC Sep 04 2007 11:20 AM

I strongly dislike the notion that Montreal failed the franchise and the league. It was the other way around.

metirish Sep 04 2007 11:31 AM

Frayed Knot wrote: Keep in mind that ML teams generally don't own their minor league affiliates so it's not a case of MLB simply choosing to "make it happen". If Ottawa is ceasing operations it means that the local owners who have the Int'l Lg franchise are opting, for whatever reasons, not to continue it and another owner/group would have to strike a new franchise agreement with minor league baseball before going fishing for a new ML affiliate. For the same reason it's also not as simple as the Mets just choosing to transform Brooklyn into a AAA team. The owners (in this case the Wilpons) don't have a AAA franchise. Good point,in fact I think there might be one ownership group that owns a lot of minor league teams.

Frayed Knot Sep 04 2007 11:38 AM

]I think there might be one ownership group that owns a lot of minor league teams. The are numerous groups that own more than one team - that was one of the reasons why the Mets lost Norfolk recently. The group that owned Norfolk also owned several others in that area and thought it would be best for them if as many of them could be affiliated with Baltimore as possible. The only restriction is that one owner can't own more than 1 team in the same league.

metirish Sep 04 2007 12:19 PM

FK you're a cornucopia of information,a plethora of knowledge ........

metsguyinmichigan Sep 04 2007 02:33 PM

Edgy DC wrote: I strongly dislike the notion that Montreal failed the franchise and the league. It was the other way around. Absolutely, Edgy. That was a strong team with solid attendance for a long time, even in that horrible stadium. Terrible management ruined it, and I fear the same thing could happen in Kansas City, which is a very nice place.

Frayed Knot Sep 04 2007 02:39 PM

metirish wrote: FK you're a cornucopia of information,a plethora of knowledge ........ And you're a vault of verbiage.

DocTee Sep 04 2007 02:53 PM

He's also a withdrawer of wee-wee.

seawolf17 Sep 04 2007 06:00 PM

metirish wrote: FK you're a cornucopia of information,a plethora of knowledge ........ El Guapo: Jefe, would you say I have a plethora of pinatas? Jefe: A what? El Guapo: A *plethora*. Jefe: Oh yes, El Guapo. You have a plethora. El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora? Jefe: Why, El Guapo? El Guapo: Well, you just told me that I had a plethora, and I would just like to know if you know what it means to have a plethora. I would not like to think that someone would tell someone else he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora. Jefe: El Guapo, I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education, but could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?