The Houston Astros have reached a player development deal with the Oklahoma City RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League and that means the Blue Jays and the Las Vegas 51's will still be together for at least the next two seasons according to the National Post.
UPDATE 09/21 @ 6:30 p.m. - The Jays have officially announced a two-year PDC with the 51's.
The Blue Jays and 51's have been together since 2009 but it was not by choice. Syracuse decided to leave the Jays after the 2008 season to join Washington while Buffalo spurned the Jays for the New York Mets. After a 71-73 season in 2009, the 51's finished with a worse record in 2010 at 66-78. However, Las Vegas has had the Pacific Coast League's Most Valuable Player in the past two seasons with Randy Ruiz last season and J.P. Arencibia this season.
However, Cashman Field is not exactly the best ballpark in the world for player development judging by recent comments by some players in this article. However, the Jays need to start posting some winning seasons at the AAA level in order to attract a better affiliate in the future.
A total of 18 players from Vegas have seen time with Toronto this season. They are Jeremy Accardo, J.P. Arencibia, Jesse "Killer" Carlson, Brett Cecil, Edwin Encarnacion, Shawn Hill, Jarrett Hoffpauir, Casey Janssen, Rommie Lewis, Mike McCoy, Brad Mills, David Purcey, Robert Ray, Jeremy Reed, Josh Roenicke, Marc Rzepczynski, Travis Snider and Merkin Valdez.
However, the Jays will welcome two new affiliates in the fold for 2011 in the Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League and the Bluefield Blue Jays of the Appalachian League. Vancouver replaces Auburn in the Jays farm system while Bluefield's addition means the organization will have seven farm teams playing ball next season. The Jays will have the Lansing Lugnuts in the fold for two more seasons and their deal with New Hampshire also continues into 2012.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20100921000854260