There will not be any affiliation changes in the International League next season, meaning the Toronto Blue Jays are stuck in the Pacific Coast League and may, in fact, have no choice but to return to Las Vegas. Charlotte (White Sox), Durham (Tampa Bay), Scranton (Yankees) and Norfolk (Baltimore) have all signed through 2014. The only unsigned team is Pawtucket but that's a formality as the PawSox will certainly renew with Boston and extend an affilation that dates to the 1970s.
In the PCL, Texas ended its 28-year affiliation with Oklahoma City today and announced it was moving to Round Rock, the suburban Austin team owned by Nolan Ryan. So that leaves Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Portland (Padres) and Sacramento (Athletics) as the only cities without new agreements. Not much choice for the folks in Toronto. Maybe if they had taken better care of Syracuse in the J.P. Ricciardi days, they wouldn't be stuck in this situation now.
Here's a look at the current affiliation chart, courtesy of Baseball America.
On the field, meanwhile, Columbus took a 2-0 lead in the Governors' Cup finals with Thursday's 4-0 win over Durham. The Clippers can take their first title since 1996 if they win tonight in Durham.
The winner advances to Tuesday's Triple-A National Championship game in Oklahoma City against the PCL champion. Tacoma leads Memphis in that series, 2-0, with Game Three tonight. All games are being played in Memphis because of renovations that are ongoing in Tacoma's ballpark and had to be started immediately following the regular season so they would be ready next April.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
tagged
Bisons/Blue Jays | International League | Minor leagues
