Now it’s official.

The Buffalo Bisons have signed a two year affiliation agreement with the New York Mets to be their AAA affiliate. The announcement was made at a press conference this morning that turned out to be a star studded affair of political leaders, civic luminaries, officials from the Mets and the Bisons, ballplayers and representatives from city public schools and a full compliment of media people who packed Pettibone’s Grill to its seams.

On hand to herald the announcement was none other than New York State Governor David Paterson, who arrived with his entourage in a jet black limo and accompanying security vehicles, all under the watchful eye of state troopers guarding the entrance to the ballpark. Other luminaries included Mayor Byron Brown, County Executive Chris Collins, Erie County Legislature Chairman Lynn Marinelli and State Senator William Stachowski. School Superintendent James Williams accepted a $25,000 check from the New York Mets which will be earmarked towards the baseball program in Buffalo’s public schools.

Representing the Mets was Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon, General Manager Omar Minaya and Director of Minor League Operations Adam Wogan.

The arrival of the Mets to Buffalo capped a chaotic week where the Syracuse Chiefs ended up as the big loser in an attempt to lure the Mets to their city, following their breakup with the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal breaker, according to Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon, was the Chief’s refusal to cede control of the franchise to outside interests. “We’ve been looking to buy a AAA team for quite a while now” Wilpon explained. “We made an offer for controlling interest of the Chiefs, which they refused to listen to. Those conversations were then followed by an offer to sell a minority interest in their team to us, but we really were not interested in that, and by then it was too late anyway.”

Wilpon said that stable ownership in Buffalo is what made the difference in favor of the Bisons. “We recognize that Buffalo has such a strong ownership group and solid management team in place. By the middle of the day on Thursday (the first day that teams could negotiate affiliation agreements) we realized that this was a no brainer and that we would be coming to Buffalo.”

Governor Paterson drew a hearty laugh when we said “What scares me most right now is not the state budget, not AIG, not the Federal Reserve. It’s the Mets bullpen.” Paterson lauded the Mets efforts to position its minor league affiliates throughout New York State. The AA affiliate is located in Binghamton, while their short season A affiliate plays in Brooklyn.

Following the news conference, media representatives, dignitaries and team officials were invited down to the field for photo opportunities and one on one interviews. With a “Welcome New York Mets” message on the scoreboard, the snappy “Meet the Mets” jingle playing on the PA system and a crisp and beautiful WNY fall day, it all made for a perfect backdrop to usher in a new era in Bisons baseball.

Bisons PR Director Brad Bisbing was passing out press kits with a new blue masthead on the letterhead, and Bisons President Jon Dandes stated that the team would be reconfiguring the Bisons logo and colors, with a strong likelihood that the Mets blue and orange will play a part in the new look.

So just to recap the musical chairs in AAA - the New York Mets, of course, come to Buffalo. Cleveland goes to Columbus; Washington goes to Syracuse; Los Angeles goes to Albuquerque; Florida goes to New Orleans. The big loser here? TORONTO! They end up affiliated with the Las Vegas 51s. At least there are non stop flights from Toronto/Pearson for players going up and down, although that’s a far cry from the 90 minute drive to Buffalo had they been able to land the Bisons.

This will be the Bisons’s fourth AAA affiliation in the modern era, following stints with the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians.

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