MAJOR BLOGS - www.majorblogs.net - When the Norfolk Tides announced that they had decided to part ways with the New York Mets, and would instead be the AAA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, there were mixed emotions in the local community.

It all may have seemed sensible on paper: There is a respectable Oriole fan base in the Norfolk area.  The Mid Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), Peter Angelos’ answer to the Yankees’ YES, surrounds the Tides with both Orioles and Nationals home games. The Orioles dominate the local market minor systems, with the Bowie BaySox and the Aberdeen IronBirds as part of the larger baseball “super” market.

Yet many Tides fans expressed genuine concerns. 

Norfolk has been the top tier of the Mets farm system since the storied Shea series championship year in 1969.  Through Norfolk have passed some of the greatest names not only in the history of the Mets, but in the history of the game. Tom Seaver.  Gary Carter.

The Tides management contended publicly that their Baltimore contacts had been much more reliable and helpful than had that of the Mets.  Privately, the deal has more to do with Tides owner Ken Young’s growing sports empire, and television.


Young, the majority owner of the Tides and several other clubs, expanded his minor league baseball investments by assuming the ownership of the Bowie BaySox, another Orioles farm team.  It’s a powerful perq that Os owner Peter Angelos can bring to the table that the Mets couldn’t.

Why would Angelos be willing to part with majority ownership of the Bowie club to bring the Tides into the Orioles family?

MASN.

The Mid Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is Profit Pete’s answer to the Boss’ YES television network in New York. These cable television empires based on the team’s product are not subject to MLB’s revenue sharing deals. The clubs with these networks do not share revenue with all of their poorer cousins in the styx and tulies.

When the Tides roll into the MASN family, the network covers the minor league fan base across the region.  The Tides were offered television time on MASN as part of their entry to the network fold. 

The development of a massive fan base, from live minor league games to major league television follow-on, is big money in television fees for MASN. 

Granted, people who watch the minor league players evolve through the farm system tend to watch them on TV when they reach the major leagues.

The big problem is that the talent level in the Baltimore farm system has been a far cry of what it once was before Angelos acquired the Orioles in 1993. This is not the farm system that generated a Cal Ripken, Jr., Jim Palmer, or Brooks Robinson.

The other problem of ending a 38 year relationship with New York is that there are thousands of Mets fans in the area that were created by that longstanding affiliation.

Their last Triple-A home, Ottawa, was an exile, the result of their dismal performance in Rochester.  The Os ended up in the Canadian O after the owners in Rochester actually sought out a team that could bring box office draws to help fill the park. They were able to strike a deal with Minnesota, and the baby birds flew North to Canada for the next few years.

Aside from Angelos minimal investments in the Orioles farm system, the bigger difficulty in recruiting players has been their time in Canada. Paying double, or in the case of some Latin players, potentially triple tax on their already humble earnings was not an appealing draw.  Beyond the TV, the path to improvements on the farm meant getting out of Ottawa.

That change was forced on Baltimore when the Phillies moved to help an ownership group move Ottawa to Lehigh Valley as the Iron Pigs.  Given the opportunity, it was time to drive a hard bargain to bring the closest Triple-A franchise, the Tides, into the Orioles market.

The media and the locals began the season fairly upbeat about the change. Once the initial excitement wore off, though,  many fans have grown tired of watching sub-par players, day in and day out.

The Orioles have a few good prospects, but the majority of their farm system is made up of players who fill slots.  Older players. Second chance players. Last chance players.

By contrast, the Mets have brought top name talent through Norfolk. David Wright. Jose Reyes. Even Lastings Milledge garnished more than enough attention in 2006 as a hot trade commodity, and donned a Mets uniform for 56 games. 

It provides a certain satisfaction for a minor league crowd cheering a player one night and watching him play on the world’s biggest stage for a world series contender the next.  Now it looks to be a long trip up I-95 for any of the current members of the Norfolk club.

The Tides have rolled out.  While they have improved over the last few weeks to a .431 record, they are still 12th in the International League overall, and battling for last in the International League South.  The best player on the club, catcher J.R. House, is the only one batting over .300 at .310. Jon Knott leads the club with eight home runs, but languishes with a dismal .194 average.
 
Tides fans are used to seeing both top prospects, and their own teams contend for top honors in the IL. They hate to see such the longstanding traditions of excellence under the Mets go out the door, while watching inferior players come in.

Adding further insult to injury, the Mets, who found out about the move at the 11th hour, were unable to secure an affiliation with another international league club. Many will now be resigned to following their prospects,  through the internet and news bulletins, now playing in New Orleans as the Zephyrs in the Pacific Coast League.

I will still enjoy the occasional local high school product, or more common to the Orioles, a good Dominican or Puerto Rican free agent signing, that makes his way  to Norfolk as a professional. The difference now is that I will almost feel sorry for him when he earns that long-awaited call-up to the lovable losers that we all know as the Baltimore Orioles.

- Jon ELLIOT