Lost In Vegas: The Mets Recent Struggles With AAA Affiliates

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The Miracle Year of 1969 started a wonderful relationship – a love story that took place outside the city limits, 350 miles south of Flushing. Cupid’s arrow struck in Virginia, bringing the New York Mets and Norfolk into baseball matrimony. The two formed an American classic – young big city meets quiet small town. They built a house, and raised kids together. Thirty-eight years later, their union ended when Norfolk served the Mets with walking papers and pushed them out the door. As is the case with most separations, kids usually suffer the most. In this instance, local fans were the ones who suffered the most, and still do. Visit the greater Norfolk/Virginia area today, and you will find die hard Mets fans suspended in time.

In 1968, Norfolk was still a sleepy class-A baseball town, until the Metropolitans showed up. The Amazin’s moved their AAA affiliate from Jacksonville, Florida to Norfolk for the 1969 season, and together under Mets ownership formed the Tiderwater (Norfolk) Tides. By 1970, the Mets completed construction of their new home, Mets Field. Norfolk and the Mets would go on to spend the next three-plus decades in relative bliss.

So, what happened? Irreconcilable differences is always a convenient escape clause. However, apathy and the dreaded other person are closest to the truth. First, the other person. In 1992, the Mets sold the Tidewater Tides to a group led by Ken Young. Despite the sale, both clubs mutually agreed, and remained in a player development contract together for many more years. The summer of 2006, when Norfolk and New York officially parted ways, just happened to be the same summer Ken Young formed a second group which purchased a few Baltimore Orioles affiliates within the Maryland area. In the years leading up to 2006, the relationship between the Mets and Norfolk deteriorated. This article from 2006, by Rich Radford of The Virginian – Pilot captures the condition:

June 05, 2011; Flushing, NY, USA; The New York Mets logo behind home plate before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. The Mets defeated the Braves 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Andrew B. Fielding-USA TODAY Sports

…2006 was a season in which lines of communication were strained between the Tides and Mets. During the course of the Tides’ 57-84 season, Mets general manager Omar Minaya and assistant general manager Tony Bernazard failed to make a single trip to Norfolk to check on the club’s Triple-A team and its surroundings. In the same article, Tides field manager Dave Rosenfeld was quoted – “(But) the Orioles were our number one choice all along…they (the Mets) took us for granted.”

Affiliation is short term by nature; two year or four year deals. The Mets and Tides merely extended short term deals after Ken Young purchased the Tides. But the perfect storm had come together. Apparently, Mets apathy had run its course. Also at the time, the Orioles AAA affiliate played in Ottawa, Canada. So why wouldn’t Baltimore have been motivated to field an affiliate closer to home? Norfolk, Ken Young and the Tides became a natural fit. When the open period for affiliates to explore other options presented itself in 2006, the Norfolk Tides informed the Mets they would no longer enter into mutual agreement with them. In the Orioles, Ken Young indeed found a more comforting mate. However, before that deal was finalized, in a last ditch effort to save the affiliation, the Mets asked David Wright to call Ken Young. Why David Wright? The Mets’ third baseman is a Norfolk native who grew up going to Tides games. He is a Norfolk Tide veteran of thirty-one games. He is a local hero. And he played under Young’s ownership. David failed to influence Ken Young. Hanging up the phone effectively ended the thirty-eight year marriage, leaving Norfolk in the arms of another organization, and as we’ll see, leaving the Mets out of their league.

After nearly forty years of stability, the Mets’ triple-A situation was now on the rebound. New Orleans, by comparison, had been treated by many MLB clubs over the years like a one night affiliate, Mardi Gras beads and all. This game of affiliation musical chairs happens rather regularly; for some clubs more than others. In the previous forty-six years prior to hooking up with the Mets, New Orleans (and their various forms) joined with fourteen other organizations for an average of three years per Player Development Contract (PDC). Suffice it to say, they’ve been around the block a few times, so the odds of the Mets bumping into N’Orleans were good. During the 2006 open period, the Mets were clearly not as quick as other suitors in securing a deal with any of several International League options still available. With little choice left, the Mets turned to the New Orleans Zephyrs. Both parties agreed on just a two year PDC. Pretty standard stuff, but a weak attraction took hold.

Entering 2007, the outgoing Washington Nationals left behind the same problem their New York rival would soon inherit. Logistical nightmares would become the order of the day. As the New Orleans Zephyrs play in the Pacific Coast League on a given night, the AAA affiliate of the Mets could have potentially been playing up to 3,000 miles away from Flushing. Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon offered an assessment noted in the New York Times, saying the following:

I’m not going to tell you it was our first choice, but in the end, I think we’ll look back and see that it was the best choice.

Sorry Jeff…with all due respect, it seemed to be the club’s only choice. To the Wilpon’s credit, they went into post-Katrina New Orleans with a good heart. Baseball wise, this relationship too, became strained. While the Mets were an improvement over the Nationals, the Zephyrs nonetheless grumbled over quality of players and similarly echoed Norfolk’s outcry about an overall lack of support. Perhaps a mild inference made by the above Times author supports this notion, when he wrote: “Although the Mets stock many of their top prospects at Class AA Binghamton….” (stop there…) That made me think…if I were the New Orleans GM, that practice would perturb me. The Mets additionally never made secret their desire to relocate with an affiliate closer to home. By August of 2008, New Orleans effectively asked the Mets to explore other options, as they themselves landed a far better suitor in the Miami Marlins and their perceived rich farm system. The Amazin’s two year fling off Bourbon Street ended like their first failed union – with their host in the arms of another organization. The Mets left behind a 141-144 record in New Orleans, and a 2007 Southern Division flag.

What the Mets received, it turns out, was a big break. The 2008 open period presented the Mets with a stellar opportunity to join with the Buffalo Bisons into a stable PDC. They pounced on that opportunity, with what was initially a mutually strong two year commitment. Both parties believed their partnership was sure to be equally beneficial. Geographically, this made much more sense for the Mets. They now had three of their affiliates: Brooklyn, Binghamton, and Buffalo, all operating within the Empire State. Additionally, Buffalo put them back in the International League where they belonged. Outgoing Cleveland recommended the Bisons organization highly to Omar Minaya. The Bisons should have not only solved, but ended, New York’s AAA troubles.

In Buffalo’s case, they were coming off a relatively lengthy on/off/on again, albeit very successful run with the Cleveland Indians. They won the 2004 International League championship. After three straight seasons not making the playoffs, although not the reason, Cleveland opted out in favor of finding a partner in Ohio. The Mets, coming off a 2006 playoff appearance and two more near misses in 2007 and 2008, seemed like a greener pasture for Buffalo’s herd anyway, replete with the extra added ability to provide them with metropolitan exposure. After all, when you consider the Bills of the NFL and Sabres of the NHL, Buffalo considers itself a major sports town. Therefore, to locals, baseball in Buffalo came with palpable expectations.

High hopes immediately turned to deflation, bewilderment, and dismay. The Mets failed to deliver anything remotely close to the caliber of baseball the Indians previously provided Buffalo. In fact, they failed miserably to provide Buffalo any winning at all. Largely due to injuries on the big club, a lack of existing top prospects throughout the organization, and not given any trade feed at the deadline, the suddenly impoverished Bisons finished their inaugural 2009 season with the Mets with a pitiful 56-87 mark. The following is but a small glimpse into what the 2009 experience might have been like:

….While Oberkfell looks to be a strong and husky guy who could take care of himself in a fight, the prospect of having one’s unstable boss show up and start acting crazy and belligerent doesn’t exactly inspire an environment where one can speak freely. That climate of fear and intimidation is probably at the heart of everything that is wrong with the Buffalo Bisons this season. – from, Bernazard Firing Offers a Peek To Bisons’ Woes – artvoice.com

A 76-68 record in 2010 was a considerable improvement, if not promising. A twenty game turnaround encouraged Buffalo to extend their PDC for another two seasons. They turned out to be two more seasons, and an era, Buffalo would regret. Buffalo’s optimism over 2010 quickly turned to open and public dissatisfaction with the Mets. They ended the 2011 season with a 61-82 record, and followed with another sub-par 67-76 record in 2012. An overall 260-313 record ranked Buffalo twenty-eighth out of thirty International League teams during the four year affiliation. Writer Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News perhaps best summed up the overwhelming sentiments felt among Bisons fans when he authored Thoughts On The Mets And Bisons’ Disastrous Finale:

It doesn’t take much to run out groundballs hard. It doesn’t take much to think about hitting situationally at the plate. Doesn’t even take much to do little things like line up for the national anthem and look like a team like Rochester did (and so many MLB teams do), or even have a coach at first base when an inning is starting. Umpires have been waving guys out there for a while now.

Even Backman seemed worn by the end of this trainwreck……” [sic]

Mike Harrington emphatically, and justifiably so, continued:

September 26, 2011; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets second baseman

Ruben Tejada

(11) talks with first base coach

Wally Backman

(86) after hitting a single during the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve been pretty clear for 14 months that this Mets-Bisons marriage was not going to last. Fans in New York keep crushing me with “it doesn’t matter if you win in the minors” comments and that’s bunk….. The Tribe got here two years after winning a Triple-A title in Charlotte with Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez on the roster. Two years later they were in the World Series. They put 21 postseason all-stars in Buffalo in those 14 years. The Mets put exactly none. Their players don’t win in the minors and they certainly won’t win in New York.

For the moment, those words ring prophetic. But while we’re at it, Buffalo hosted the 2012 International League All-Star Game. No Bisons player participated. In fact, there was no Bisons all-star in the entire four years of affiliation. Following what now had become a motif, Buffalo held Omar Minaya largely responsible for their lack of early success. In that light, I contend Steve Phillips and Jim Duquette deserve their fair share of culpability, as Omar didn’t effectively become GM until the 2005 season. The PDC with Buffalo started just four years later. Even Sandy Alderson and Paul DePodesta failed to inspire Buffalo’s confidence and patience, or sway their intentions to seek alternative affiliation. Bisons’ general manager, Mike Buczkowski, employed a rather blunt tactic in trying to defend the high expectations greater-Buffalo has for their baseball team:

People say we have to have a winning team but I say to be competitive. There were a lot of times the last four years we were not competitive. We get a bad rap that we’re demanding a championship team. That’s not what we’re saying. We need a competitive team. Win more than you lose. Play some games in August that mean something. We haven’t done that…Bisons fans are tired of rooting for a loser.

That pretty much says it all. However, it doesn’t end there. Beyond the field and standings, Buffalo’s number one dilemma naturally manifested itself in a fading gate. As with any baseball enterprise, dwindling attendance invariably means compromised revenue. Enter owners Bob and Mindy Rich, and their eighteen thousand seat ballpark that remained less that half full four years standing. Last year, while celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary season of Coca Cola Field, the Bisons suffered through their lowest attendance ever. The Bisons averaged 8,800 fans per game in their final season affiliated with Cleveland. While International League attendance was going up, Buffalo’s was falling off. In their first troubled season under the Mets umbrella, attendance dropped to 7,700 fans per game. By the end of 2012, attendance was down to 7,300 fans per game, which translated to 515,000 for the season.

Ultimately, Mr. Rich was forced to make an obvious business decision. The Toronto Blue Jays ended a thirty year affiliation with Syracuse in upstate New York. They traveled west and spent the last four seasons in a PDC with Las Vegas. When Toronto let it be known that they wanted to come back east again, Buffalo jumped at the opportunity. Geographically speaking, affiliating with the Blue Jays made even more sense for Buffalo than did the Mets. There is also something to be said for a common/shared fan base in the immediate upstate New York. and Ontario region. As for the Mets’ optimal situation in Buffalo, like their two prior relationships, this marked yet another affiliate choosing to jump into the arms of another organization rather than continue with them.

This presented an immediate problem. Last season, Buffalo wound up being the only International League team to change affiliations. All other potential International League clubs extended with their existing MLB teams. For a fleeting moment, scuttlebutt circulated a possible deal for 2013 could be struck with Rochester. But those rumors were largely unfounded, as Rochester renewed with the Twins, ending any further speculation. With nowhere to turn, the Mets were effectively forced back into the Pacific Coast League, and into a PDC with the team Toronto left behind – the Las Vegas 51’s.

While I can’t speak for returning manager Wally Backman, the Mets seem better prepared for the Pacific Coast League this time around than perhaps they were under Omar Minaya. Sandy Alderson and Paul DePodesta are both old hats of the west coast. They’ll have a better sense of how to decipher the somewhat skewed numbers the PCL can create. In a nutshell, it will be a good circuit if you’re Travis d’Arnaud or Matt den Dekker, but not so much if you’re Zack Wheeler. The current Mets manager is also a PCL veteran. Terry Collins, via writer Adam Rubin, shared what he learned over five seasons managing in the Pacific Coast League. One of the most widely heard criticisms I’m aware of pertains to the rock hard, sun baked infield in Las Vegas. On pitching in the Pacific Coast League, Rubin noted:

…Among the issues are high altitude and dry conditions that cause balls to fly. Dryness also can make it more difficult to snap off breaking pitches.

Matters such as variations in climate conditions and obscene travel requirements merely begin the conversation regarding baseball in Las Vegas. An even greater issue for Mets prospects to contend with will be Cashman Field. Built in 1983, the Los Angeles Dodgers broke off their affiliation, leaving after the 2008 season supposedly for lack of a weight room and no indoor batting cages. Owned by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Cashman Field is considered a borderline AAA standard facility.

Oh Norfolk! Why did we forsake thee? No one said that. But someone in the Mets organization should be thinking it. If Bourbon Street is considered a precarious environment for minor league prospects, what does that make Sin City?

Afterthoughts:

Due to evolving (or devolving) circumstances, there may have been little Omar Minaya could have done to prevent Norfolk from switching to Baltimore. What is a fact, however, is that Omar Minaya was a substantive contributing factor that precipitated the Tides’ desire to end a thirty-eight year relationship. At the time, it was the second longest affiliation agreement, behind only Atlanta’s relationship with Richmond. Displeasure with Omar’s administration resurfaced again in New Orleans, and most famously in Buffalo. The fact that he was a common thread throughout is duly noted.

If we go back even further in time, we’ll find how Omar Minaya directly contributed to all of that success Buffalo bragged that Cleveland provided them with. In 2002 as general manager of the Montreal Expos, Minaya shipped minor league prospects Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, and Cliff Lee to Cleveland in the infamous trade to acquire Bartolo Colon. Those players in turn helped Buffalo win a championship.

Buffalo did not act in haste. They were justified in their desire to seek a switch, but the joke may be on them. The Bisons think highly of Toronto’s farm system, which was ironically built up by current Mets executive J.P. Ricciardi and his in-house successor, general manager Alex Anthopoulos. In the Blue Jays’ great off-season push to capture this season’s division flag, they traded two former first round draft picks, Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard, to the Mets. Two other prospects, Jake Marisnick and Justin Nicolino, were shipped to Miami. That’s four pre-2013 top 100 rated prospects. Meanwhile, in two short years, Sandy Alderson and Paul DePodesta have put together a handsome collection of pitchers in New York’s lower minors, and have used their recent first round draft picks to select an outfielder (Brandon Nimmo) and shortstop (Gavin Cecchini). With recent promotions, the Mets stand to field an entertaining team in Sin City this season. That’s if they can stay out of trouble.

Two years from now, I suppose the Mets will be looking to get back into the International League. Las Vegas is just not a feasible long term option. Furthermore, now that the Blue Jays have returned to upstate New York, the Mets affiliate in Binghamton could be under siege by Toronto as well. Prior to effectively being saved by the Mets via extending their PDC through 2014, rumors had it that the Binghamton B’s would be sold and relocated to Ottawa under the Blue Jays banner. Fred Wilpon and the Mets have flirted with bringing a AA team to Long Island before. In 2011, Adam Rubin highlighted a theoretical plan for the Mets to purchase Binghamton outright, and move them to a new faclity in Nassau County. Unfortunately, the plan never really had a chance of succeeding.

Many argue that the Boston Red Sox were the ones who restarted the growing trend towards concentrating affiliates within one geographical region. From Pawtucket, Rhode Island to Portland, Maine, the Red Sox and their affiliates dominate New England baseball. The logistical benefits are obvious when travel, costs, expediency, and scouting (and a number of other factors) are all taken into account. I suppose how feasible those locations are in relation to the rest of their respective circuits is another matter.

The Mets were closer to that objective last season than they are at the present. Meanwhile, Mets fans who never adopted the Orioles still wander Norfolk aimlessly.

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