Columbia Fireflies’ Future is Glowing after Break up with Mets
Columbia (SC): Last week the New York Mets cut ties with the Columbia Fireflies and broke the news over to their Minor League Class A affiliate over a tweet. According to General Manager of the Columbia Fireflies, John Katz, it was no surprise that the Mets were moving on from the Fireflies, but was shocked to receive the news from a tweet.
Sandy Alderson, General Manager of the Mets first announced the news in a Mets press conference last week that the team was parting ways with the Columbia Fireflies without telling their minor league affiliate in advance. Katz believes the reason Alderson dropped the news in the fashion was because of the ample amount of pressure the New York media implies to answer the questions they ask. Although Katz was surprised he is still thankful for the 12 good years he spent with the Mets. “I’d imagine that’s not the way Sandy wanted it to go either but at the end of the day we had 12 plus good years with the Mets.”
Recently the MLB has added a new emphasis on having minor league affiliate teams such as the Fireflies closer to the major league team they represent. So even after 12 years of being a minor league affiliate of the Mets it was no surprise that the Mets were parting ways with their location in the Capital City of South Carolina.
Katz say he believes the effect of losing the Mets is minimal to the Fireflies and expects a new team to come into the picture soon. He also hopes that the new team will bring along with them a winning record. “I thinks it’s an opportunity for a new beginning you know we are coming off of a season that did not happen — it’d be nice to play 500 baseball or better on a regular basis and hopefully whoever is selected to or selects us will be a team in that position.” When asked which major league team he though the Fireflies would be affiliated with next Katz replied that he was unsure, but confirmed a new team will be announced in 2021.
