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Minor League Update Blue Jays & Bisons Talking Turkey
The Buffalo News is reporting the International League's Buffalo Bisons are talking to the Jays about becoming its new Triple-A affiliate in 2013.  Sunday marked the first day that major league and minor league teams could hold discussions about new Player Development Contracts.

The Blue Jays could have its Triple-A prospects playing at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo for at least the next two seasons if they reach an affiliation agreement with the Bisons this week.




The Blue Jays have been with the Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League since the 2009 season, a shot-gun marriage that was created after Syracuse ended its 31-year relationship with Toronto.  The Chiefs/SkyChiefs franchise was frustrated with not having had a winning season since 2000 or a playoff appearance since 1998.  The Jays losing ways at the Triple-A level continued in Las Vegas for its first three seasons before the string was finally broken this year thanks to a record of 79 wins and 64 losses.  The 51s finished six-and-a-half games back of Sacramento, Oakland's affiliate, for top spot in the Pacific Coast League's Pacific Southern Division.  Had it not been for the numerous injuries suffered by the parent club, the 51s may have made it to the post-season.

The planets are aligning for the Jays to return to the International League after a four-year absence.  The combination of the Blue Jays turnaround of its minor league system, its 2012 success in Las Vegas and the New York Mets lack thereof over its four-year affiliation with Buffalo means the Jays top pitching and hitting prospects can develop under normal conditions instead of dealing with the high altitude and hard-rock infield at Cashman Field in Las Vegas.

It's believed the Blue Jays want a four-year commitment from the Bisons but will probably have to settle for two as Buffalo wants to make sure the Jays will provide them with a winning product on the field.  Buffalo is hoping to find the same success it had as a Cleveland affiliate, winning International League titles in 1998 and 2004 and qualifying for the playoffs nine times in its 14 years with the Tribe.  The Indians ditched Buffalo after the 2008 season for Columbus and the brand new Huntington Park.

Will this be the start of a beautiful relationship or will the Blue Jays and Bisons be looking for different dance partners after the 2014 season?  Only time will tell.
Posted by #2JBrumfield on Monday, September 17 2012 @ 01:22 AM EDT.
Blue Jays & Bisons Talking Turkey | 27 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Richard S.S. - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 03:23 AM EDT (#263502) #
More power to them. Any time your AAA team is a car drive away, it's a win for the Team. Being in Buffalo gives a truer read on Pitchers and Hitters, and frees up a blockage that was starting to occur while in Las Vegas. I just wonder if it is the right thing to do, if Toronto bought this team, instead of just being affiliated?
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TamRa - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 05:46 AM EDT (#263504) #
IMO, as much as we talk about how Rogers should spend their money, I would argue they should spare no expense to make this happen and to make sure a nice long relationship persists.

If that means signing extra good AAA filler to make sure the Bisons are a playoff team with regularity then do it. Anticipate any position that you don't have a rising prospect for and go out and get guys who could even hold their own in the majors where they are available. Both to keep Buffalo happy, and also to continue to provide playoff experience to the best prospects.

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Forkball - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 10:08 AM EDT (#263506) #

Not saying anything new here, but the combination of having a team close to Toronto and in a normal environment can only be positives.  And after this year with all the pitching shuttling back and forth airline expenses will be sure to come down considerably (although for a major league team that's got to be a drop in the bucket).

The AAA team might be improved just because you won't send pitchers to NH to avoid the PCL.

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Super Bluto - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 10:50 AM EDT (#263507) #
Anticipate any position that you don't have a rising prospect for and go out and get guys who could even hold their own in the majors where they are available.

Given how often those guys have been needed over the past few years (McCoy, Woodward, all the crappy pitchers) this is a great idea wherever they are playing.

Coca-Cola Field is a nice place to watch a ball game. Better food than the RC, micro-brews on tap, real grass, etc. etc.  I hope this happens.
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Chuck - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 12:02 PM EDT (#263508) #
Looks like a much nicer place to watch a baseball game than the Rogers Center.
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TimberLee - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 02:09 PM EDT (#263510) #
What TamRa said. We know there are guys available to fill such spots. Heck, Mike Jacobs hit two homers in a AAA game recently, and I doubt he'll surface in MLB any time soon. If he's not blocking a real prospect, use him to keep the AAA people happy.
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Original Ryan - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 02:22 PM EDT (#263511) #
I mentioned this a while ago, but it'll be interesting to see if having the AAA team in Buffalo leads to less use of the 8-man bullpen. Chad Beck mentioned the jet lag issue in the article above, and Mike McCoy said something similar in an MLB.com piece. It could be that the Blue Jays were keeping an extra guy on-hand to avoid having sleep-deprived call-ups from Las Vegas in the bullpen. With a Buffalo affiliate, a player just called-up to the majors is more likely to be well-rested when he arrives in Toronto (or wherever the big club happens to be playing).
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Mike Green - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 02:35 PM EDT (#263513) #
Maybe.  The club did use New Hampshire call-ups to address the bullpen issues at times. 
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dan gordon - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 06:12 PM EDT (#263523) #
Just saw on the Sportsnet news wire bar that the Blue Jays are expected to announce a deal with Buffalo for their AAA team as early as tomorrow.
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Dave Till - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 06:24 PM EDT (#263526) #
Please, Baseball Gods. Make this happen. Let the Jays' AAA franchise be somewhere hitter- and pitcher-neutral. Please.

I've been to Buffalo's ballpark (back when it was called Pilot Field) - it's a nice place to watch a game.

Please.

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Original Ryan - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 07:38 PM EDT (#263529) #
The Mets have reached an agreement with Las Vegas, so a Blue Jays-Bisons agreement is all but official.

It's kind of funny -- with the Mets swooping in and quickly signing a PDC with the 51's, this is technically the third time since 2008 that the Blue Jays have been left with only one possible option as a AAA affiliate. Fortunately the last remaining AAA team is a bit more appealing this time around.

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Smithers - Monday, September 17 2012 @ 08:52 PM EDT (#263530) #
This news makes me unreasonably happy - affirming that I indeed have an unhealthy-ish obsession with the Jays minor league system.  It also makes my "Las Vegas 51's - Toronto Blue Jays of the Future" t-shirt a collector's item. 

The main benefits have all been well-documented by many others - the proximity, the league, the park, the climate, and a sense of familiarity with the reportedly fantastic ownership through John Farrell and Marty Brown.  Other than my dream of a farm team in Montreal I feel that this is the ideal city to have the AAA team located.  Another enticing prospect is the promise of a whole heap of Jays aficionados who will provide a plethora of first hand reports on the Bisons, something that has been missing around da Box for a while on the AAA level.  It's really a treat to be able to read the reports from posters like Lugnut Fan, #2JBrumfield, mamboon and Gerry, and now the minor league coverage around here promises to be bumped up a rating on the scouting scale.

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christaylor - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 01:36 AM EDT (#263532) #
This is better than your dream city of Montreal, closer to Toronto and a chance there'll be more than 5,000 fans out to the park per home game.

Plus... Buffalo Wings = Yum and the possibility of calling the team the Buffalo Blue Bisons! Alliteration for the win!
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TamRa - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 05:43 AM EDT (#263533) #
Prediction:

Yunel just killed the Tuesday news cycle for good news. You won't get an official confirmation on this until Wed or Thur IMO. But since it's obvious it's not like there's doubt.

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John Northey - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 01:07 PM EDT (#263541) #
The Jays website - http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120917&content_id=38585782&vkey=news_tor&c_id=tor - has an announcement that they'll address it today. AA, Escobar, Farrell, and Luis Rivera will be there.
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John Northey - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 02:16 PM EDT (#263543) #
Its official...
http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120918&content_id=38603918&vkey=pr_tor&c_id=tor

The Jays AAA team will be in Buffalo for 2013 and 2014. A 2 year rather than 4 year deal, I'm guessing so Buffalo can see if the Jays are good partners or not.
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Forkball - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 03:03 PM EDT (#263545) #

While a 2-year deal isn't ideal, this should end up being a long term relationship.  The Bisons, if they were free agents, wouldn't be any team's first choice (it's not a new stadium and it's not a rabid market for baseball), and any teams that would make most sense regionally (Yankees, Indians, Mets) either have a AAA relationship locked in, or already passed through Buffalo.  The biggest threat might be the Pirates, Twins, Nationals or White Sox as they don't necessarily have ideal locations or ideal teams/stadiums.  The Jays should have a more appealing team, and there should be a modest increase in fan interest due to the location.  It might even make the Jays a little more popular in the region (although having grown up there I feel like I was the only Jays fan).

When you look at all the affiliations, they all make a good degree of geographical sense now, with the exception of the Mets.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple-A_(baseball).  Basically, Las Vegas is always the loser of musical chairs.

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greenfrog - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 03:10 PM EDT (#263546) #
I'm excited to have the Jays' AAA team in Buffalo. The only problem with the shorter contract length is that Buffalo probably won't get to see some exciting players like Sanchez, Syndergaard, Nicolino, Norris and Osuna before the two years is up (which might help them commit to the longer term). But I suppose there are advantages for both sides in a two-year trial period.
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Richard S.S. - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 07:57 PM EDT (#263563) #

Why a two year deal?

The last two years the Met's affiliate stunk.  If Toronto can't win in two years. they're gone too.  

Attendance should increase to almost sellouts, so I think a close eye will be kept on that.

This is the obvious stuff.  Now for the more offbeat stuff.

Ralph Wilson could die.

Toronto wants to own their AAA team, after owning their A+ team and RK- team for years and years and...

AAA team to Ottawa?   That makes less sense.

 

 

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Original Ryan - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 08:38 PM EDT (#263564) #
I also think that the Blue Jays-Bisons relationship has the potential to last a while, despite the initial two year deal. Most PDCs are for two years rather than four, so it's hard to read much of anything into it. It's rare for teams to part ways after just two years together.

A couple of other points:

The biggest threat might be the Pirates, Twins, Nationals or White Sox as they don't necessarily have ideal locations or ideal teams/stadiums.

You can probably cross the White Sox off the list. While Charlotte obviously isn't anywhere near Chicago, the White Sox have four of their five other minor league teams in the region (including two other teams in North Carolina). They have a pretty convenient minor league setup right now, and Charlotte is finally getting a new ballpark. I suspect that relationship will continue for a while.

Apparently the Pirates are still popular in Buffalo. They may be an attractive option for the Bisons if they become available one day, but it would all depend on how satisfied the Pirates and Indians are with their current arrangement. Buffalo is only about 100 miles closer than Indianapolis, so the Pirates wouldn't be gaining much by returning to Buffalo.

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Forkball - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 09:05 PM EDT (#263567) #
Ralph Wilson doesn't own the Bisons.
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TamRa - Wednesday, September 19 2012 @ 03:37 AM EDT (#263579) #
apropo of nothing - IF the Blue Jays ever actually own their AAA team (which might be smart on some levels but awkward on others?) - that team will absolutely play in Montreal. IMO.
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Richard S.S. - Wednesday, September 19 2012 @ 12:15 PM EDT (#263592) #
Forkball - Tuesday, September 18 2012 @ 09:05 PM EDT (#263567)  Ralph Wilson doesn't own the Bisons.

And in the bigger context of the post where it occurs, your comment is meaningless.  If you understand about the Toronto Bills.......

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hypobole - Wednesday, September 19 2012 @ 01:00 PM EDT (#263597) #
Forkball wasn't the only one who didn't see the "bigger context" in your post. If you want to be understood, try to be a lot less incomprehensible.
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MatO - Wednesday, September 19 2012 @ 01:45 PM EDT (#263604) #
People keep saying that Montreal would be a great place for a AAA franchise for Toronto but I'm not convinced that Montreal would ever want to be a minor league anything to Toronto.
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Forkball - Thursday, September 20 2012 @ 08:48 AM EDT (#263630) #

And in the bigger context of the post where it occurs, your comment is meaningless.  If you understand about the Toronto Bills.......

Deep commentary
Going over people's heads
Do I need to bold?

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John Northey - Thursday, September 20 2012 @ 10:01 AM EDT (#263632) #
Montreal wouldn't, but I figure 10k fans could be found who'd enjoy professional baseball there on a regular basis. They endured a team that they were told was not worth going to for years. Still, Buffalo is a better location as it is closer.

Montreal would be ideal for the Rays to move to - put a winner in Montreal and you'd get 30-40k a game easily I suspect. In Tampa you get a half empty park. This year Tampa is the only team with under 20k a game and that is an improvement over last year. Ick. The Rays will be under 1.9 million fans for the 14th year running (2.5 mil year one) despite an amazing run to the playoffs last year and being in it all year this year. The Expos cracked 2 million 4 times, 3 times in the top 3 in the NL for attendance (during contending years). Once the owner & MLB gave up on the team they did horrid (1998 on dead last, owner gave up after 1994) but who wouldn't?
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Blue Jays & Bisons Talking Turkey | 27 comments | Create New Account
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