Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mets to end affiliation with 51s after next season

51s Opener

L.E. Baskow

Early-arriving fans pick out a picturesque spot to take in the Las Vegas 51s’ home opener against Fresno at Cashman Field on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.

By the time the Las Vegas 51s move into a new ballpark in Summerlin, they will have a new parent club in the big leagues.

According to a report out of Syracuse, the New York Mets have reached a deal to buy the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League and will move their Triple-A affiliate to upstate New York beginning in 2019. The move would leave Las Vegas without a Major League Baseball affiliate after next season, when its two-year contract with the Mets expires.

A spokesman with the Mets and 51s President Don Logan declined comment on the report. Katie Berger with the Chiefs referred questions back to the Syracuse.com article.

“Everything that’s in there is all I can say,” Berger said.

In addition to the geographic advantage of having its Triple-A club in-state, New York complained in recent years about the deteriorating state of 34-year-old Cashman Field. The 51s are widely expected to break ground soon on a new ballpark near Downtown Summerlin that could be open as soon as 2019.

The 51s partnered with the Mets beginning in 2013 after four years with the Toronto Blue Jays. Las Vegas was affiliated with the San Diego Padres from 1983 to 2000, and with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2001 to 2008.

The Chiefs have been affiliated with the Washington Nationals for the past eight years. With no other announced changes at the Triple-A level, that would leave Las Vegas and the Nationals as the only unaffiliated clubs.

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