SYRACUSE — In their inaugural year of baseball in 1962, the New York Mets had the Syracuse Chiefs as their Triple-A affiliate. “So this is somewhat of a homecoming again for the Mets,” Jeff Wilpon, COO of the New York Mets, said in his remarks at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse on Oct. 10. The […]
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SYRACUSE — In their inaugural year of baseball in 1962, the New York Mets had the Syracuse Chiefs as their Triple-A affiliate.
“So this is somewhat of a homecoming again for the Mets,” Jeff Wilpon, COO of the New York Mets, said in his remarks at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse on Oct. 10.
The Mets have closed on a deal to purchase the Syracuse Chiefs, with plans to move their Triple-A affiliate to Syracuse in 2019.
The deal means the Washington Nationals will have to move their Triple-A team from their current home in Syracuse after the 2018 season.
The agreement, with negotiation support from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, ensures that the baseball team will continue to play at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse through at least 2025, Cuomo’s office said in a news release issued Oct. 10.
“We’ve given our word that we’re going to be here. There’s some things in the agreement that I can’t go into, but we plan to be here long term. We’re going to bring some capital to the ball park,” Wilpon told a group of reporters after the ceremony.
Besides seven years of playing time at NBT Bank Stadium, Cuomo’s release didn’t provide other details of the purchase agreement.
Cuomo that same day spoke at NBT Bank Stadium.
“The Mets have announced the agreement with the board of the Community Baseball Club of Central New York, which has kept baseball here in Syracuse since 1961,” Cuomo said in his remarks.
He spoke to the seated audience and media members gathered around home plate on the field on a sun-soaked afternoon.
The Community Baseball Club of Central New York stockholders; professional baseball; and Onondaga County, which holds the lease to the stadium, must approve the transaction, Cuomo’s office said.
Active stockholders will “shortly” receive a voting proxy in the mail with details on the proposed transaction and instructions on how to vote by Nov. 17.
“We expect that very soon, we will have new ownership here,” Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney said during the ceremony. “We’ve made a commitment to baseball and the best option we have for long-term security to have this level of baseball in Syracuse is with the Mets.”
Besides Cuomo, Wilpon, and Mahoney, those attending the announcement included Sandy Alderson, general manager of the New York Mets; John Ricco, assistant general manager of the Mets; Jason Smorol, general manager of the Syracuse Chiefs; Bob Julian, chairman of the board of directors of the Community Baseball Club of Central New York Inc.; and Mets pitcher Matt Harvey.
Closer to NYC
For the past five seasons, the Mets have anchored their top affiliate in Las Vegas, in part because of a lack of available Triple-A teams close to New York City,
That changes with the franchise’s purchase of Syracuse, which plays its home games only, about 260 miles from Citi Field.
The Mets currently have the longest travel distance in baseball between their big league and Triple-A parks, but will fall to the middle of the pack once they move.
The Mets’ Double-A affiliate is located nearby in Binghamton, and one of their Class A affiliates is in Brooklyn.
Before moving to Las Vegas, the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate was located in Buffalo. But the Bisons switched allegiances to the Toronto Blue Jays after the 2012 season, leaving the Mets without an obvious home.