Blue Jays Partner with Syracuse, Auburn
Doubledays extend working agreement maximum four years; SkyChiefs set a two-year minimum with the Toronto team.

By Matt Michael
Staff writer

The Auburn Doubledays minor-league baseball team is about to start its fourth season as an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, and their honeymoon is far from over.

But in Syracuse, where the Syracuse SkyChiefs and Blue Jays are in their 27th season as partners, the relationship is in desperate need of a second honeymoon.

In late April, the Doubledays and Blue Jays announced they had extended their agreement for four years, the maximum length allowed under baseball's rules. Just a few weeks earlier, the SkyChiefs' board of directors voted to extend their contract with Toronto for two years, the minimum length allowed.

In recent years,the SkyChiefs and Blue Jays automat ically renewed for four years. But the SkyChiefs' board of directors signed a two-year deal because it wants to see if the Blue Jays will provide Syracuse with better teams in the next few years. If not, the Triple-A SkyChiefs could start looking for an other major-league affiliate.

"Signing a two-year contract is in no way an indication of wanting to make a change," said Dick Ryan, chairman of the SkyChiefs' board. "We just want to leave the door open for the future and it might work out best for both teams."

In Auburn, the Single-A Doubledays jumped at the chance to extend their contract for four years through the 2008 season. In the first three years of their af filiation with Toronto, Auburn's win-loss records and attendance totals have improved each year.

"We are excitedto continue our relationship with the Blue Jays," said Thomas Ganey, Doubledays chief executive officer. "The (Blue Jays' front of fice) staff has been terrific to work with and they have supplied us with quality players re sulting in back-to-back Pinckney Division championships."

Under baseball's rules, a minor-league team and its major-league affiliate enter into a two- or four-year deal called a Player Development Contract (PDC). Both the SkyChiefs' and the Doubledays' PDCs with the Blue Jays were scheduled to expire at the end of August.

The Syracuse team is owned by about 4,000 stockholders and run by 24 board members who are elected by the stockholders. While the board values the team's long relationship with Toronto (it's the fifth-longest in Triple-A), the board is also get ting tired of losing.

In 26 yearswith Toronto, the SkyChiefs (formerly the Chiefs) have had eight winning seasons and more last-place finishes (six) than playoff appearances (five). Syracuse has not won the Inter national League championship since 1976, when the Chiefs were affiliated with the New York Yankees.

Toronto is a team in transition with a relatively new leadership group. General manager J.P. Ricciardi and farm director Dick Scott - the two executives most responsible for stocking Syracuse's roster - were hired in November 2001.

Ricciardi and Scott said they understand Syracuse's position, but they're asking the SkyChiefs to be patient as they continue to revamp the Blue Jays' minor-league system. The SkyChiefs know it's unfair to blame the last 26 years on Toronto's new regime, but at the same time the SkyChiefs' attendance at P&C Stadium is declining and the team needs the shot in the arm that a winning team would provide.

"We're not unsympathetic to what (Syracuse's) needs and wants are," Ricciardi said. "It's hard to accommodate the (play er) development part and the winning part, but that's the challenge in front of us and we're going to try because that relationship (with the SkyChiefs) means a lot to us."

If the SkyChiefsdump To ronto, then who would they get as their new affiliate? It's hard to say now what major-league teams will be available in 2006, when the SkyChiefs' two-year contract with Toronto expires.

"All we want," Ryan said, "is to be competitive in the future."

The Doubledays, meanwhile, could not be happier with the Blue Jays. As a short-season (June to early September) Single-A team, the Doubledays benefit from Ricciardi's draft philosophy.

Ricciardi prefers to draft college players because they're closer to being ready for the major leagues. Since many of the players who are drafted by Toronto are assigned to Auburn, the Doubledays get a team filled with experienced college players.

"Their philosophyof draft ing college players is great for us, and Dick and Charlie are great for us," Doubledays general manager Jason Smorol said, referring to Scott and manager of minor league operations Charlie Wilson. "They're easy to work with and they're always a phone call away.

"I've worked with the Yankees, Phillies and Indians," Smorol continued, "and the Blue Jays are right up there as the best one I've had an opportunity to work with."