THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays secured their final of seven minor-league affiliates for 2011 on Tuesday, agreeing to a two-year extension with the triple-A Las Vegas 51s after failing to find a base closer to home.
The Blue Jays were left with Vegas back in 2009 when Syracuse, the only other triple-A affiliate in franchise history, severed ties due to its unhappiness in the relationship. They looked around when their affiliate agreement opened again hoping to find a team closer to Toronto, but ended up staying put.
"We looked to see what was available, at the end of the day Vegas was as good as anything that was truly open for us," said Blue Jays assistant general manager Tony LaCava. "We’re back there and I think we’ll have a good couple more years with them."
While not ideal, Las Vegas has been less problematic than the Blue Jays initially thought it might be. Players could hop in a car and drive to Toronto from Syracuse, but now they must fly in.
That turned out to be one of its saving graces.
"It’s not as bad as you’d think because of the airport," said LaCava. "One thing Vegas does is they move people in and out of there. The three-hour time difference is the only real issue, geography is what it comes down to.
"It’s a good situation for our players, it’s a great city."
The Blue Jays did make a few changes to their affiliates.
On Friday, they signed a four-year deal with the short-season single-A Vancouver Canadians after ending their relationship with Auburn. Two weeks ago, they also added a seventh minor-league club by reaching a deal with Bluefield, West Virginia in the rookie advanced single-A Appalachian League.
The Blue Jays wanted the extra club to give more of its draft signings and international free agents a chance to play.
"It was the corresponding move to last year, when we committed a significant amount of dollars to scouting and in the international market, we made a big splash there as well. Now we need places for these guys to develop properly," said LaCava. "Say there’s two kid shortstops that are close. Do you split time with those guys in the Gulf Coast League?
"Now we’ve got an ability to have them both play every day and develop."
The move to Vancouver adds the benefit of introducing players to Canada.
"I think it demystifies it for some kids that haven’t been here and they’ll see it’s a great place to play," said LaCava. "We’ve got great fans out in Vancouver. When we go to Seattle, they pour in there, it almost feels like a home game sometimes."
The Blue Jays also signed a two-year extension with single-A Lansing through 2012, when their deal with double-A New Hampshire also expires.
Single-A Dunedin and the rookie-ball Gulf Coast Blue Jays are both club-owned.
