Coming off a disappointing 70-92 season, New York Mets management is close to completing a deal that could reshape the organization's future in a very positive way. This deal, however, does not involve the acquisition of even a single player.
At present, the Mets' management is reportedly close to purchasing the Syracuse Chiefs, currently the highest-level minor league affiliate of the Washington Nationals, the Mets' division rivals. Although the acquisition would not give the Mets the rights to any of the Nationals' minor leaguers, it would allow the Mets to make Syracuse their AAA affiliate beginning with the 2019 season and thus have their top minor league players competing in home games much closer than Las Vegas, where their AAA players currently play.
The current relationship between the Mets and their Las Vegas affiliate is troubling on two accounts, which each might negatively affect the major league team's performance.
First, New York and Las Vegas are more than 2,200 miles apart. This means that when the Mets call up a player from their minor league affiliate, it takes virtually a full day to get the player to the ballpark. Even worse, the player might reasonably arrive jet lagged. This is bad news because it means the Mets do not have the same ability to replace injured players or rotate fresh pitchers as teams that have closer AAA affiliates.
Second, the Las Vegas 51s play all of their games in the Pacific Coast League, where many teams play at high altitudes and batters' statistics are often inflated. For pitchers, playing in the Pacific Coast League is, in essence, like throwing in Colorado's Coors Field every night. With the pitchers throwing regularly under conditions so different from most major league ballparks, it is difficult for the team to assess their actual performance. By the same account, much the way Rockies pitchers often struggle even after leaving Denver because they have overcompensated for the unique weather conditions, many pitchers who have stayed in the Pacific Coast League for too long struggle when they leave. Mets minor leaguer Rafael Montero is a prime example of a pitcher who continued to regress the longer he pitched in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, because the weather conditions in many Pacific Coast League ballparks flatten pitchers' curveballs, Mets batters may put up excellent hitting statistics in AAA even if they have not mastered the art of hitting a traditional major league curveball. For example, Mets infielder Matt Reynolds has consistently put up big numbers when playing in Las Vegas, but his statistics have not translated to his time in New York.
With there being a resurgence of curveballs in Major League Baseball this season, the lost learning opportunity for minor league batters playing in the Pacific Coast League has only become more substantial.
According to The New York Daily News, even if the Mets complete their acquisition of the Syracuse Chiefs, the Mets will need to use Las Vegas as a Triple-A affiliate for one more season based on contracts already in place with both the Las Vegas and Syracuse affiliates. However, a reasonably prudent next step for Mets management might be to try to buy the Nationals out of their 2018 deal with Syracuse, and try to buy themselves out of their 2018 deal with Las Vegas.
The sooner Mets management is able to bring the organization's minor leaguers out of the Pacific Coast League and closer to home, the sooner Mets brass will be able to enjoy the full benefits of their potential new minor league affiliate in Syracuse.
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Marc Edelman (Marc@MarcEdelman.com) is a professor of law at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business and the founder of Edelman Law. He is the author of "A Short Treatise on Amateurism and Antitrust Law." In addition, his article “The Future of College Athlete Players Unions” appears in Volume 38 of Cardozo Law Review.
