Mets making New Orleans their Triple-A team
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Mets are making the New Orleans Zephyrs their Triple-A farm team next season, ending an association with Norfolk that began in 1969.
"It will be more difficult moving players around, but the bottom line is we also wanted to be in a warm-weather area," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said Thursday.
"In some cases, being at a major airport like New Orleans, you've got a much easier time moving guys," Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said. "In Norfolk, they usually had to go somewhere else before they could get where they had to go."
New York had been affiliated with Jacksonville, Fla., in the 1960s before switching to the Norfolk franchise. It appears likely the Tides - originally known as Tidewater - will affiliate with the Baltimore Orioles, who currently are with Ottawa.
"We probably would gone back to Norfolk but decided against it in the end because they didn't want us as much as New Orleans wanted us," Wilpon said.
The Zephyrs, who reached a two-year agreement with the Mets, have been in New Orleans since 1993 and had been affiliated with the Washington Nationals since 2005.
"We're excited about it," Zephyrs chief operating officer Ronald Maestri said. "Who knows? - they might be world champions."
Wilpon said the Mets will contribute to the rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Katrina.
"I'm sure we'll make a donation to the area and start it off on the right foot," Wilpon said. "We'll be part of the community there like we've been everywhere else."
In a Triple-A version of musical chairs, Washington is switching to Columbus, with the New York Yankees going from the Clippers to Scranton. Philadelphia is leaving the Red Barons for a new stadium in Allentown scheduled to open in 2008 and will affiliate with Ottawa for next year.
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