SYRACUSE – The Syracuse Mets, a minor league baseball team with a new identity, have reached an agreement with Governor Andrew Cuomo to remain in the city for the next 25 years.
A renovation project for the Mets ballpark is in the works. A total of $12.5 million will be invested by the State of New York for Onondaga County.
Onondaga will use the funds to renovate NBT Bank Stadium, which will be the home of the new Syracuse Mets baseball team.
The project is going to cost $26.25 million.
The Syracuse Chiefs were previously known as the Jersey City Skeeters, a team which relocated to Syracuse and were given the Chiefs name.
From 1934-1945, the Chiefs were a Double-A baseball team, then moved to Triple-A League from 1946-1955.
From 1956-1957, the Chiefs were a Class-A team before leaving Syracuse.
The Chiefs returned to the Double-A league in 1961, and have remained there since.
The Chiefs were also known as the Syracuse SkyChiefs from 1997-2006.
The team was the minor league affiliate for several MLB teams for 84 years.. They were affiliated with the Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds (on two different occasions), Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Washington Senators (now Texas Rangers), New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and most recently, the Washington Nationals.
The Mets first game will be in April 2019.
