Minor League Baseball is undergoing a big shakeup as MLB is downsizing its affiliates heading into the 2021 season. According to Baseball America, there have been 119 affiliates that have been invited to join the minor leagues for 2021.
The New York Mets have officially invited four affiliates to join their minor leagues for the upcoming season.
The Mets announce they have invited the following teams to be their minor league affiliates:
AAA: Syracuse Mets
AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies
High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones
Low-A St. Lucie Mets— Michael Mayer (@mikemayerMMO) December 9, 2020
There were no changes at the highest levels of the Mets farm system, as both Syracuse and Binghamton return to their same posts from the 2019 season. The big change however is the Brooklyn Cyclones taking over as the new High-A affiliate for the Mets.
This will bring another full-season team to New York City, as Brooklyn was previously part of the Class A Short Season New York–Penn League (NYPL). Now the Cyclones will be part of the newly formed Mid-Atlantic League, which is expected to consist of six teams.
With the Brooklyn Cyclones taking over as the new High-A affiliate, the St. Lucie Mets will now become a Low-A affiliate, while still remaining the Spring Training home of the Mets.
“We feel having a first-class player development system is crucial to achieving sustained success on the field, and all four of our affiliates are critical to that effort,” Mets president Sandy Alderson said. “We are proud to have worked with such great leadership throughout the state and in each of these communities and are thankful for their continued support.”
Throughout this process of reorganization in the minor leagues, it was not always a given that these affiliates would return to the Mets. Brooklyn and St. Lucie were going to be back in some capacity, since they are owned by the team, but the Binghamton Rumble Ponies were not guaranteed to remain with the Mets.
“We are proud to continue as the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets and look forward to supporting their newfound commitment to excellence,” Binghamton Rumble Ponies president John Hughes said. “We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Senator Chuck Schumer, Congressman Brindisi for his perseverance and a huge thank you to Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson for entrusting the Ponies.”
After years of the Mets having teams spread out across the county (remember the days of the Vegas 51s), New York’s three highest-level minor league affiliates are now all conveniently located in the northeast. This should make things much easier for them to keep an eye on their player development throughout the season.
While it’s unfortunate that the minor leagues had to be consolidated at all, at least the Mets finally have their affiliates situated for the upcoming season.
