Minor League (Triple A) affiliation changes for 2009

This was a post I have been meaning to write for a little while ago. I'd probably write more about the minors if I knew more! Anyway, there are a few changes worth noting. I'll start with Triple A.

The Syracuse Chiefs are now the Triple A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Their triple A club prior was the Columbus Clippers for 2007 and 2008. The Jays end their long 31 year affiliation with them, and now have the Las Vegas 51s. I mentioned this in a past post. That won't be too convenient unless the Jays are playing on the West Coast. The 51s were the Dodgers affiliate from 2001 - 2008.

The Dodgers now have the Albuquerque Isotopes (named after the Simpsons episode where the Springfield Isotopes were supposed to move to Albuquerque). They were the Marlins affiliate before that, from 2003 - 2008. Said Simpsons (Hungry, Hungry Homer) episode aired March 4, 2001. At that point the Albuquerque Isotopes were still the Calgary Cannons. On another note, Canada should have more minor league ball, not to mention major league ball (*cough*Montreal*cough*), maybe the World Baseball Classic will help bring more ball back to Canada, as that is the goal of the tourney, or one of. That and when Selig leaves, but this all deserves a post of its own.

So the Marlins have a better affiliate now geographically, the New Orleans Zephyrs. They were affiliated with the Mets for 2007 and 2008, Nationals for 2005 and 2006, and the Astros from 1997 - 2004 (to go a little ways back). They were the first professional team to return after Hurricane Katrina (from Wikipedia). I actually helped with that Wikipedia article around that time! Anyway...

The Mets now have the Buffalo Bisons as their Triple A squadron. It was a possibility that the Jays would get Buffalo, but I suppose that obviously did not work out, or happen. They were the Indians affiliate from 1995 - 2008. So now the Indians have the Columbus Clippers.

I think that covers it. I will end this post now, and cover more affiliation changes soon. I had a lot of help from this article, Baseball affiliation changes don’t follow the script, and accompanying graphic!