James Farrance/MMN
Last year, the New York Mets purchased the Syracuse Chiefs Triple-A franchise, but they had to wait a year to make Syracuse their Triple-A affiliate as the Mets agreement with Las Vegas and the Nationals agreement with Syracuse lasted through the 2018 season. With the season over, the Mets and the City of Syracuse can now fully their partnership and institute a number of needed and exciting changes.
Those changes were announced yesterday in a press conference attended by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. In the press conference, the Syracuse Triple-A franchise was officially rebranded and renamed as the Syracuse Mets with uniforms very similar to the ones worn by the St. Lucie Mets (an affiliate also owned by the Mets).
New threads, who dis? pic.twitter.com/mdK5gs5lwm
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) October 17, 2018
As previously reported by MMN, the Mets will keep their Triple-A affiliate in the City of Syracuse through the 2043 season. MMN also previously reported the Mets and the City of Syracuse will be working jointly on a $55 million renovation of NBT Bank Stadium to make it more fan friendly. During the press conference, we saw some depictions of what the ballpark should look like once the renovation project has been completed.
Here's the distributed images of what an updated NBT Bank Stadium could look like. I doubt Adrian Gonzalez makes a mural. I appreciate the realism of placing the tarp on the field. pic.twitter.com/Eu5YShH2cF
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) October 16, 2018
Judging from the press conference, this is a partnership which should benefit both parties. This goes double for the Mets. As noted by MMN‘s Mathew Brownstein, Syracuse is a little over four hours away by car which is shorter than the nearly five hour flight it takes to go from Las Vegas to New York. To that end, this affiliation should already prove beneficial to the Mets franchise.
