The AAA Buffalo Bisons affiliate agreement with the Mets is up at the end of the season, and according to Baseball America there are rumors abounding that the Herd is looking to dump the Mets for another undisclosed team, almost certainly the Toronto Blue Jays. While most minor league teams use ancillary attractions to sell tickets (family friendly atmosphere, between inning contests, etc.), Buffalo does put a premium on winning on the field, something the Bisons have not done with regularity since the Mets began sending players there in 2009. In fact, Buffalo has seen average attendance drop from approximately 8,800 in 2008 (the year before the Mets showed up) to 7,800 last year. This season, average attendance is around 7,000. Clearly, something needs to change for their bottom line. Not for nothing, Toronto is a lot closer to Buffalo and – for better or worse – the Buffalo Bills have played a regular season game in Toronto the last few years. So there is a relationship there. In 2008, the Mets were in the position of choosing between Buffalo and the Syracuse Chiefs for their AAA affiliate. Buffalo won out, and Syracuse wound up going with the Washington Nationals. Since then, both Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper breeze through town. The Bisons haven’t had a comparable buzz worthy prospect before Matt Harvey this arrived season (and has since been replaced by Zack Wheeler).
With the surge in popularity of Minor League baseball since the 1990’s, many Major League teams have tried to cash in on the phenomenon – either by buying affiliates outright, or establishing relationships with affiliates closer to the parent club. The Mets fell victim to this in 2006, when the Norfolk Tides ended their thirty eight year affiliation with the Mets in favor of the closer to home Baltimore Orioles. The Mets were left without a seat at the end of that round of musical chairs, and signed a two year agreement with the New Orleans Zephyrs of the Pacific Coast League. This was far from an advantageous relationship. First off, the Zephyrs were a four hour flight from home field to home field, and almost all of their road games were west of the Mississippi. Bringing a guy up quickly for an emergency spot start is harder when he is on the other side of the country rather than an hour flight away. So where would the Mets go if they are jilted by Buffalo. Syracuse is likely to stay put (again, having a parent club stock you with guys who are household names BEFORE they get to the big leagues is a good way to engender goodwill). The Blue Jays current affiliate is the Las Vegas 51’s. Also, the Oklahoma City Red Hawks are likely to be in play. Obviously, these are not desirable for the same reason as New Orleans, and are unlikely to be a long term solution. But it begs a bigger question – why are the Mets having such a problem securing a long term relationship with a AAA affiliate?
9 comments
Bryan
8/10/2012-12:18pm at 12:18 pm (UTC -4)
The Mets really need to do whatever it takes to stay in Buffalo. I don’t know what that is, but they need to do it because they do not want to end up in the PCL again. Buffalo is actually better this year than they have been at any other point since the Mets have been there, but they need to be a lot better, and they just don’t have the farm system to do it right now.
srt
8/10/2012-12:28pm at 12:28 pm (UTC -4)
I won’t pretend that I even remotely know how these minor league affiliates work. I tried to read up on some of this earlier this season but confess it just made me even more confused.
Is this the affiliate we were trying to move to Long Island – and the Yankees said no? Or was that a lower minor league affiliate.
Jeeze, just move them to NJ. Than I’ll be able to see a boat load of Mets minor league games!
NJstuckinTX
8/10/2012-12:49pm at 12:49 pm (UTC -4)
I’m baffled by the idea that the Minor league teams want to see good product. Is the big league club going to sacrifice it’s record for the sake of the minor league teams.
Peter Duffy
8/10/2012-1:52pm at 1:52 pm (UTC -4)
NJ, the Buffalo owners are in business to make money. Since the Mets entered into a relationship with them, ticket sales have dropped. This season, almost 2,000 sales a game from the year before the Mets arrived. Lets say an average $10 ticket, that’s around $20,000 less for every home game. Over this four year span, ticket sales are close to $1MM less than the previous four year span. That concerns them.
SRT, the Yankees AAA affiliate is in Scranton, PA. This season, Scranton’s stadium is unavailable due to the fact that it is being rebuilt from the ground up. The Yanks wanted to move their AAA team to Newark, NJ – only for this season, The Mets had the right to block it, but it would have been a spiteful bad faith move. And that’s what they did. Even when the Yanks offered an evergreen reciprocity agreement (they would not object if the Mets had to move a team into a common area – be it northern NJ or LI – for a limited time). Nor did the Mets accept money for their consent. I would say that the odds of the Yanks doing the Mets a solid in this respect, allowing them to move a minor league team into common territory, is slim. The Yanks are justifiably pissed
NJstuckinTX
8/10/2012-1:59pm at 1:59 pm (UTC -4)
Peter, i hear you. Not that the global economy has played a part in attendance nation wide or anything…
William Martin
8/13/2012-11:59pm at 11:59 pm (UTC -4)
It was not a matter of spite. The Mets asked for an amnesty for an eventual move into territorial rights at some point down the road; The Yankees turned them down, which is the principal reason that the Mets blocked it.. It was a sound business decision even if they are catching (unjustified) heat for it. If the two franchises got together (much like they did with Brooklyn and Staten Island), it would be nice to see AAA franchises in (say) Newark (the Yankees-in the heart of their demographic) and maybe Long Isalnd (for the Mets for the same reasons)
Peter Duffy
8/10/2012-2:17pm at 2:17 pm (UTC -4)
I’m sure the economy is to blame for some of this – but from the Bisons front office POV, since they have been a Mets affiliate their team has gone form terrible to mediocre. I can’t really fault them for seeking a way to shake things up and regenerate fan interest. Granted, I do not have overall Minor League attendance numbers at hand, nor am i an economist (macro or micro)
stick
8/11/2012-10:26am at 10:26 am (UTC -4)
south jersey would work!
part of the problem is there are a limited # of teams, so you are stuck with what is out there. Unless you buy a franchise and relocate it. Makes me wonder why more owners don’t buy their MiL affiliates too? LIke Brooklyn.
if you want SJ, there is a great little park in Camden, right on the waterfront. Not sure what it seats or if it is expandable, but there is an independent league team in it now But a franchise, and relocate it there.
Peter Duffy
8/11/2012-1:20pm at 1:20 pm (UTC -4)
It would. Not sure if the Phillies have any say in what teams enter their area (or the Trenton Thunder for that matter). Might be an issue, might not be – honestly have no idea. A bigger issue might be buying and running a franchise. I know the Madoff thing is clearing up but not sure if they have the cash to buy, move and operate another team at the moment. If those things fall into place, south Jersey would work well. And it might be worth the investment at this point – if they have to change affiliate again, they will have had four in seven years. That makes them look bad.