The Syracuse Chiefs announced their 24-man roster for the start of the 2008 baseball season today.  They include:

Lefthanded Pitchers:  David Purcey, Bill Murphy, John Parrish, Jesse Carlson, Mike Gosling and Davis Romero.  Righthanded Pitchers:  Josh Banks, Kane Davis, Shawn Camp, Jordan DeJong, Bubba Nelson and Tracy Thorpe.

Catchers:  Curtis Thigpen and Robinzon Diaz (Kevin Nelson will be placed on the disabled list).

Infielders:  Chip Cannon (1B), Joe Inglett, Hector Luna, Sergio Santos (3B), and Pedro Lopez.

Outfielders:  Russ Adams, Adam Lind, Wayne Lydon, David Smith, Matt Watson.

Coaching Staff:  Doug Davis, Mgr, Rick Langford, Pitching Coach, Al LeBoeuf, Hitting Coach, Charlie Poe, Coach, Robert Helmick, Strength Coach, Jon Woodworth, Trainer.

The Syracuse Chiefs were defeated in their final exhibition game of the spring 7-1 to the Scranton Yankees in Dunedin, Florida on Saturday.

The Chiefs line-up consisted of:  Joe Inglett 2B, Curtis Thigpen C, Adam Lind RF, Sergio Santos 3B, Russ Adams LF, Pedro Lopez SS, Josh Kreuzer 1B, Marcus Cabral SS, Chris Demons CF.

Chris Demons had two hits for the Chiefs while seven other players all had one hit a piece.

Blue Jays pitcher Shawn Marcum stayed behind and pitched for the Chiefs and went 7-innings giving up 11-hits and 7-runs (4 earned, but had 8-strikeouts.  Darryl Harrang pitched a scoreless 8th, while Sean Stidfole also pitched a scoreless ninth.

David Purcey pitched 5-innings in the AA-game and gave up 4-hits, 1-run and struckout 6 batters.

The Chiefs finished 7-8-1 during the Spring and will travel to Syracuse on Sunday.

The Toronto Blue Jays made their final roster moves and headed North today by adding infielder/outfielder Buck Coats to replace the injured Scott Rolen and keeping rule 5 selection righthanded pitcher Randy Wells as the final pitcher on the staff.  B.J. Ryan will also be placed on the disabled list to make room for Wells.

The season is still three days away and players can still be added , but the 25-man roster seems set barring any injuries.  Expected to return to the minor league complex include infielder Hector Luna and outfielder Matt Watson, while pitcher Mike Gosling, John Parrish, Jesse Carlson, Shawn Camp, Armando Benitez and Billy Murphy will all be added to the crowded pitching staff at the AAA-leve

The Chiefs roster should be announced on Friday.

The Syracuse Chiefs lost for only the second time this week 7-2 as the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs used two 3-run innings to post the victory.

The Chiefs line-up today consisted of: Joe Ingeltt 2B, Wayne Lydon CF, Adam Lind LF, Sergio Santos 3B, Russ Adams DH, Robinzon Diaz DH, Chip Cannon 1B, Curtis Thigpen C, Pedro Lopez SS, Matt Stairs RF.

Sergio Santos went 2 for 2 with a double and his third home run in as many days to lead the Chiefs 10-hit attack.  Curtis Thigpen also had two hits.

On the mound Brandon League pitched a scoreless 1st inning with 2-K's before returning to the the major league club who left for Philadelphia later in the day.  Lefty Davis Romero gave up 3-runs in 3-innings of work, while Mike MacDonald followed him giving up with 3-earned runs as well in 3-innings on 5-hits.  Sean Stidfole pitched the final two frames giving up 1-run on 3-hits.

In the AA-game Armando Benitez stretched it out a bit by pitching 2-innings for the first time giving up 3-runs on 4-hits.  It was the first time Benitez pitched more than 1-inning in a game this spring after signing with the Blue Jays as a free agent on March 11th.

The Chiefs now 7-6-1 will take on the Scranton Yankees in Tampa on Friday and Saturday in Dunedin before returning to Syracuse on Sunday.

The Syracuse Chiefs continued to score runs as they defeated the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 6-5 today in Clearwater, FL pounding out 14 more hits after yesterday's 24.

The Chiefs line-up consisted of:  Wayne Lydon CF, Pedro Lopez SS, Sergio Santos SS, Russ Adams LF, Joe Inglett 2B, Chip Cannon 1B, Curtis Thigpen C, Robinzon Diaz C, Jose Diaz, RF, Adam Lind DH.

Sergio Santos led the Chiefs with 3-hits, while Wayne Lydon went 2 for 5 with 3-RBI, two triples and 2-runs scored.  Joe Inglett also had two hits, while Adam Lind belted a solo home run in the ninth inning that broke the tie and gave the Chiefs the win.

On the mound Gustavo Chacin went 3 1/3 innings giving up 4-hits, 3-walks and 2-runs.  Billy Murphy pitched 3-innings of shutout baseball striking out 2, while Joey Matumoto pitched 2-scoreless innings to earn the win.  Jordan DeJong gave up 2-hits and 3-walks in 1-inning of work and was touched up for 3-runs.

The AA-New Hamphisre Fisher Cats saw Ricky Romero toss 4-innings giving up 2-runs, while righty Jean Machi gave up 6-runs in 3-innings of work.

The Chiefs now 7-5-1 (5-1-1 this past week) will take on the Iron Pigs for the final time this spring on Thursday in Dunedin.

The Syracuse Chiefs crushed the Durham Bulls today 18-4 behind a 24 hit attack that saw seven players record two or more hits. 

The Chiefs line-up today consisted of Joe Inglett 2B, Wayne Lydon CF, Russ Adams LF, Curtis Thigpen 1B, Adam Lind DH, Sergio Santos 3B, Robinzon Diaz C, Marcus Cabral, Fortier RF.

Three Chiefs players slugged home runs, Santos, Cabral, and Lind, while Russ Adams had three doubles among his 4-hits.  Robinzon Diaz went 5 for 6 with a double and three RBI and scored 4-runs.  Joe Inglett had two hits including a double and 4 RBI, while Wayne Lydon had four hits. 

On the pitching mound, Armando Benitez pitched one scoreless inning with 2-K's, Shawn Camp tossed a scoreless inning before Brian Wolfe surrendered 2-runs in one inning of work.  Kane Davis pitched 4-innings and gave up 1-run on 4-hits and struck out 4.  Bubba Nelson pitched a scoreless inning with 2-K's and Tracy Thorpe pitched 2-innings giving up 1-run, but struck out 4 of the seven batters he faced.

At the AA-game, more big league pitchers needing innings work as Randy Wells pitched 2-innings giving up 2-runs, but struck out 4, Josh Banks went 4-innings giving up 10-hits, 5-runs with 6-strikeouts.  Lefties Mike Gallo and John Parrish both pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game.

The Chiefs are now 6-5-1 and take on the Lehigh Valley iron Pigs on Wednesday in Dunedin

The Syracuse Chiefs defeated the Durham Bulls this afternoon in St. Petersburg, FL 8-7 behind a 12-hit attack.  With the win the Chiefs are now 5-5-1 (4-1-1 this week).

The Chiefs line-up consisted of:  Wayne Lydon CF, Curtis Thigpen 1B, Adam Lind RF, Russ Adams LF, Sergio Santos 3B, Joe Inglett DH, Robizon Diaz C, Ryan Klosterman 2B, Marcus Ccabarl SS.

Sergio Santos and Russ Adams each homered and drove in two runs in the game, while Curtis Thigpen had two hits including a triple and two RBI's.  Joe Inglett had three hits including a double and Ryan Klosterman also had two hits.

On the mound David Purcey started and went 3 1/3 innings and gave up 6-hits, 4-runs (2 earned) and struck out 4.  Kyle Yates pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up 3-runs.

Sean Stidfole came on to pitch 2-scorless innings with 2-strikeouts and Cody Crowell pitched a perfect ninth to nail down the win.

The Chiefs and Bulls battle for the final time this spring on Tuesday in Dunedin.

The Toronto Blue Jays began making moves this weekend on the pitching side by assigning non-roster pitchers Lance Carter and Kane Davis back to their minor league complex and the Syracuse Chiefs roster.

Davis, 32, appeared in 5-spring games and was 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA.  He pitched 9-innings giving up 10-hits, 4-walks and 9-strikeouts.

Carter, 33, made only 3-appearances and was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in only 3-innings of work.

The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs nipped the Syracuse Chiefs on Saturday 3-1, despite six strong innings from Jays starter Dustin McGowan who skipped the game in Tampa vs the Yankees.

McGowan who will make one more start before the 2008 season begins went 6-innings giving up only 3-hits, 2-runs (1 earned) and struck out 8 batters.  Bubba Nelson relieved McGowan and went 2-innings giving up 3-hits and 1-unearned run, but struck out 3.  Tracy Thorpe pitched another scoreless ninth inning.

The Chiefs line-up consisted of:  Wayne Lydon CF, Ryan Klosterman 2B, Russ Adams DH, Robinzon Diaz DH, Adam Lind LF, Curtis Thigpen C, Chip Cannon 1B, Sergio Santos 3B, Ryan Patterson RF and Marcus Cabarl SS.

The Chiefs had only 5-hits (Lydon, Diaz, Santos, Patterson, Patton) with Diaz providing the only RBI.

With McGowan pitching for the Chiefs, Mike MacDonald pitched in the AA-game vs Reading and gave up 8-runs on 6-hits and 3-walks in 2-innings of work.  He was relieved by lefty Joey Matumoto who was tagged for 3-runs on 3-hits in 2-innings in a 13-6 defeat.

The Chiefs are off today and will resume their final week of exhibition baseball on Monday before returning to Syracuse one week from today.

The Toronto Blue Jays had to make a decision on their remaining outfield spot between Shannon Stewart and Reed Johnson and today they decided to keep Shannon Stewart and release Reed Johnson.

The release of Johnson allows the Blue Jays to pay only $500,000 of his salary that would have been over 3-million if he remained with the Jays.  Johnson had a very good spring and seemed to be healthy after nagging back injuries last season.  But, with Shannon Stewart also playing well and signed to only one year deal and youngsters Adam Lind and Travis Snider a year of two away, Johnson became expendable.

The Toronto Blue Jays are down to their final week of baseball in Dunedin, Florida before making the trip North to begin the season against the New York Yankees on March 31st and roster spots are due to be made.

Position players (catchers, infielders and outfielders) seem to be set with Greg Zaun and Rod Barajas at catcher with non-roster invitee Sal Fasano likely to be released rather than sent to AAA-Syracuse.

Lyle Overbay, Aaron Hill, David Eckstein, Scott Rolen will start in the infield with Marcus Scutaro and John MacDonald providing back-up at every position.  Frank Thomas is the Designated Hitter.

That leaves four outfield spots with Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Matt Stairs all set.  The Blue jays must make a decision on Reed Johnson or Shannon Stewart for the final spot.  Many teams have inquired about the Jays surplus and a trade could help alleviate the situation.

Non-roster infielder Hector Luna and outfielder Matt Watson could be sent to AAA-Syracuse by the end of the week.

The pitching staff includes a rotation of Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Dustin McGowan and Shawn Marcum.  Righty Jesse Litsch is slated to be the number 5-guy in the rotation and the Blue Jays have done nothing to suggest he won't, unless a late season trade occurs.

The Bullpen has Jeremy Accardo as the closer until B.J. Ryan returns, while Brandon League, Jason Frasor and Scott Downs appear set.  That leaves three spots remaining for 10-remaining pitchers in camp.

The Jays will likely keep one additional lefty to Scott Downs and holdover Brian Tallet would seem to be the guy.  But the Jays also brought to camp John Parrish, Mike Gosling and Jesse Carlson who have all pitched well.  In addition, they picked up another lefty Billy Murphy last week from Arizona.
If Tallet makes the club look for the remainder to be sent to Syracuse.

That leaves two spots for righthanders with rule five selection Randy Wells and Brian Wolfe leading the pack.  They are being challenged by free agent spring training pick-up Armando Benitez, Shawn Camp and Kane Davis.

Either way there are still 19 pitchers in camp with only 12 roster spots available.  This week games will decide who wins jobs in April.  Stay tuned.

The Syracuse Chiefs and the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs stopped play after 10-innings yesterday with the score tied at 6-6.  The Chiefs were down 4-0 after six innings but scored 5-runs in the 7th to take the lead.  The Chiefs would give that lead back in the bottom on the eighth when the Pigs scored 2-runs, but came back to tie it in the 9th.

The Chiefs line-up consisted of:  Joe Inglett 2B, Pedro Lopez 3B, Sergio Santos DH, Curtis Thigpen 1B, Adam Lind LF, Ryan Patterson RF, Robinzon Diaz C, Buck Coats CF, M. Cabarl SS.

The Chiefs banged out 12-hits, four by Inglett, while Santos and Coats also had two hits. 

On the mound, Armando Benitz started the game and pitched one scoreless inning while also striking out the side, while Gustavo Chacin relieved him and pitched 3 scoreless innings.  Jean Machi and Jamie Vermilyea pitched the middle 3-innings and allowed all 6-runs on 9-hits, before Tracy Thorpe finished up with 1-scoreless inning.

In the AA-game newly acquired lefthanded pitcher Bill Murphy tossed one scoreless ining and lefthanded pitcher Ricky Romero was perfect for three innings.

The Chiefs now 4-4-1 will do battle again this morning against the Iron Pigs at 10:00 AM in Dunedin with Dustin McGowan on the mound for the Chiefs.

The Syracuse Chiefs defeated the Durham Bulls once again on Thursday 4-2 with single runs in the 8th and 9th inning.  Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay tossed six shutout innings for the Chiefs when he started the AAA-game instead of pitching against the Yankees in Dunedin.

Jeremy Cummings came on in relief and gave up 2-runs in the seventh inning before a scoreless eighth.

The Chiefs line-up today consisted of:  Buck Coats CF, Wayne Lydon RF, Adam Lind LF, Russ Adams DH, Rod Barajas C, Robinzon Diaz 1B, Curtis Thigpen 1B, Joe Inglett 2B, Sergio Santos 3B, Ryan Klosterman SS.

Robinzon Diaz led the Chiefs with 3-hits, while Russ Adams and Wayne Lydon both hit solo home runs for the Chiefs.  Lydon also scored two runs and stole two bases.

Due to Halladay pitching for the Chiefs RHP Josh Banks pitched in the AA-game and tossed 3 innings giving up 7 hits and three earned runs, but struck out 4.  Lefty reliever Mike Gallo tossed 2-scoreless innings with 1-K.

The Chiefs take on the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on Friday in Dunedin

The Syracuse Chiefs shutout the Durham Bulls on Wednesday 8-0 behind the pitching of Shawn Marcum.  The Blue Jays pitcher skipped the trip to Winter Haven where the major league team took on the Red Sox and pitched in the AAA-game in Dunedin.

The Blue Jays righty went 5-innings giving up only 2-hits and 8-strikeouts.  Armando Benitez pitched one-shutout inning and was followed by Davis Romero who tossed two shutout innings with 3-strikeouts.  Joey Matumoto finished with a perfect ninth inning.

The Chiefs line-up consisted of Buck Coats CF, Ryan Patterson RF, Adam Lind LF, Robinzon Diaz C, Russ Adams, 2B, Curtis Thigpen 1B, Sergio Santos 3B, Joe Inglett DH, Pedro Lopez SS.

The Chiefs banged out 9-hits, two by Ryan Patterson and scored runs a a two-run triple by Wayne Lydon in the 7th inning and a solo Home Run by Sergio Santos in the 5th.

In the AA-game vs Montgomery lefty David Purcey went 4-innings giving up 2-runs, but struck out 8 batters.

The Chiefs take on the Durham Bulls at St Petersbug at 1:00 PM

The Syracuse Chiefs defeated the Scranton Yankees on Tuesday 6-4 with a two-run rally in the 9th inning capped by a Robinzon Diaz two-run single.

The Chiefs banged out 12-hits, two each by Buck Coats, Ryan Klosterman, Sergio Santos and Joe Inglett.  Coats two hits were doubles.

The Chiefs line-up consisted of: Buck Coats CF, Curtis Thigpen C,  Adam Lind LF, David Smith RF,  Russ Adams ss, Chip Cannon 1B, Sergio Santos 3B, Joe Inglett 2B and Robinzon Diaz DH.

On the Mound RHP Kyle Yates pitched 3-innings giving up 1-earned run.  he was followed by Jordan DeJong who pitched two innings giving up 1-unearned run and Jamie Vermilyea who tossed two shutout innings.  Bubba Nelson gave up 1-run in 1-inning of work and Tracy Thorpe finished up with a scoreless inning.

The Chiefs will take on the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay) on Wednesday in Dunedin at 1:00 PM

The Syracuse Chiefs announced today that the 3rd Annual Soap Opera Night will be held on Saturday, July 19th when the Chiefs play the Durham Bulls at 7:00 PM.  This year's special guest will be Cameron Mathison, who plays Ryan Lavery on ABC's All My Children.  In addtion to his work on the show, Mathison appeared on last season's Dancing With the Stars.  Mathison can be seen staring in commercials for ESPN's fantasy baseball.

Ticket Packages are available now that include tickets to a private pre-game reception and much more.  Packages are limited and fans can get on board now by calling the Chiefs Ticket Office at 474-7833.

The Syracuse Chiefs played another team on Monday - Scranton, but the result was the same as the Yankees defeated the Chiefs 7-3 in Dunedin.  The Yankees jumped on starter Ricky Romero for 3-runs in the 1st inning and one more in the 2nd inning before he left.

Mike MacDonald and Jeremy Cummings limited the Yankees to 1-run on four hits for the next 5-innings before Jean Machi pitched the final two frames.  He gave up 2-runs on 3-hits.

At the plate the Chiefs line-up included Joe Inglett-2B, Pedro Lopez-SS, Adam Lind-DH, Dave Smith-RF, Chip Cannon-1B, Ryan Patterson-LF, Robinzon Diaz-C, Sergio Santos-3B, Wayne Lydon-CF.

The Chiefs scored one run in the first inning on a double by Inglett and an RBI double by Smith.  They tacked on another run in the third inning on a single by Wayne Lydon and an RBI single by Adam Lind after Lydon stole second base.  They scored their third run in the 9th inning when David Smith doubled for the second time and scored on a RBI-single by Chip Cannon. The Chiefs had seven hits, 2 by David Smith.

The Chiefs travel to Tampa today to play the Yankees at 1:00 PM.

The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs who lost to the Syracuse Chiefs 10-0 last week in the first spring training game, defeated the Chiefs for the third straight day on Sunday 9-1.

The Chiefs line-up consisted of Wayne Lydon, Adam Lind, Curtis Thigpen, Russ Adams, Robinzon Diaz, Chip Cannon, Joe Inglett, Sergio Santos and Pedro Lopez.

The Chiefs did bang our eight hits, two apiece by Adam Lind (RBI double) and Curtis Thigpen with Diaz, Cannon, Inglett and Santos also notching a single.

On the pitching mound there was good, Josh Banks three shutout innings and Kane Davis allowing only one run in 3 innings pitched with 5 strikeouts.

The bad Gustavo Chacin pitched 2 innings giving up 6 hits and 4 runs, while Lefty Joey Matumuto two innings, 3 hits and 3 runs and Tracey Thorpe 1 inning 1 run.

The AA-New Hampshire Fisher Cats also lost yesterday with two Chiefs pitchers on the mound.  Lefties Mike Gosling pitched two innings giving up 1-run, while fellow lefty Ryan Ketchner gave up 4-runs (3 unearned) in two innings.

The Chiefs take on the Scranton Yankees today in Dunedin.

The Chiefs get pummeled by the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 11-2 on Saturday in Clearwater, Florida.  The CHiefs lineup consisted of many players who have been optioned down recently: 

Wayne Lydon CF, Robinzon Diaz C, Russ Adams LF, Curtis Thigpen 1B, Ryan Patterson RF, Joe Inglett DH, Pedro Lopez SS, Sergio Santos 3B, Marco Cabral 2B.

Patterson went 2 for 4, while Santos, Cabarl, Inglett and Tigpen also had 1-hit apiece.  Thigpen and Cabarl each had one RBI. 

Chiefs pitchers gave up a ton of runs: David Purcey 2-IP, 5-H, 6-runs, while Kyle Yates and Davis Romero each pitched two shut out innings in relief.

Chiefs (1-2) take on Iron Pigs again on Sunday in Dunedin.

The Toronto Blue Jays have made a few roster cuts during the past week that allows us to take a closer look at the Chiefs potential roster for the start of the 2008 season.

Catchers Curtis Thigpen and Robinzon Diaz were optioned to Syracuse on Thursday and will share catching duties while also playing other positions when not behind the plate.

Infielders Joe Inglett, Pedro Lopez, Russ Adams will likely be joined by Hector Luna and Sergio Santos still in major league camp.  Chip Cannon and Josh Kreuzer have been battling for playing tim at first base.

Outfielders Adam Lind, Wayne Lydon, Buck Coats and Ryan Patterson also joined the Chiefs this week and will push Aaron Matthews and David Smith in a crowded group that will also see non roster outfielder Matt Watson at some point make the move to the Chiefs.

The Jays have only 14 more days in the Florida sun before going north and starting the 2008 season.  More moves are yet to come.

CNBC's Darren Rovell is in search of Minor League Baseball's best logo. 

The Chiefs are locked up with the Jamestown Jammers in a first round matchup and we need YOUR VOTE to advance to the next round!

Voting ends at 9 am on Saturday, March 15 (that's tomorrow), so hurry up and vote and be sure to tell all of your firends.

The once shining star of the A-League in professional soccer, the Rochester Rhinos have declared bankruptcy and are out of business.  With over 11-million dollars in debt and creditors lining up to be paid the once proud franchise is no longer.

City officials and local investors are hopeful that the 2008 season can still be saved and soccer will return to the Flower City in May.

The Rhinos moved into their new 30 million dollar stadium just three years ago that was paid for mostly by the State of New York and failed to make bank payments for months.

Hmmm...  The Rhinos regarded as marketing geniuses that were so successful they moved out of Frontier Field and built their own stadium, go belly-up in less than three years.  And here in Syracuse, the local baseball team regarded by certain members of the media as marketing mis-fits have no creditors at their doors, pay their bank payments on time and will be playing baseball once again in Syracuse on April 3rd. 

I wonder why this story hasn't made it's way to Syracuse.....makes you wonder why.

The Toronto Blue Jays returned three non-roster pitchers to their minor league complex this week, righthanders Jeremy Cummings and Jamie Vermilyea and Lefthander Ryan Ketchner.

Cummings, 31, was 6-8 with a 4.11 ERA in 22 starts split between Syracuse and Rochester last season.  The veteran righthander has spent the past three years at the AAA-level with Scranton, Rochester and Syracuse.

Vermilyea, 26, was 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA in 22 appearances, mostly in relief last season with the Chiefs.  He also appeared in 2-games with the Blue Jays.

Ketchner, 25, was 1-11 with a 5.62 ERA in 19-starts for Portland (PCL) in the San Diego Padres organization.  The Wellsville, New York native was born partially deaf and has roughly 10% of his hearing and is a talented lip reader.

Ketchner was the Seattle Mariners 10th selection in the June 2000 draft out of High School.  In 2003 he was a California League All Star at Inland Empire when he went 14-7 and led the league with 159 strike outs.

He was traded to the Dodgers in 2004 and spent that season at AA-Jacksonville where he went 8-7 with a 3.02 ERA.  He was injured much of 2006 and returned to action half way through the 2007 season.

Withe the Chiefs scheduled to begin spring training games this week, look for the Blue Jays to make further cuts this weekend.

Is it just us or does Matt Michael seem like the kid on Christmas morning who didn't get the one present he was really hoping for?

Matt wrote:

"No committee member asked the Chiefs to discuss their attendance numbers.

No one asked how much the team spends on marketing, how many staff members work on marketing, or why they thought their marketing plans will work.

And no committee member asked the Chiefs to explain why, if their 2007 marketing plan was so successful, the team lost money in 2007 for the second consecutive year."

The Chiefs drew an average of 5,759 fans per game last  year, which represented a nearly 8% increase over the per game average from the 2006 season.  That increase represented the fourth largest increase in Triple-A baseball.

The committee likely didn't ask how much money is spent on marketing because the committee members probably realize that the dollar amount spent on marketing is completely irrelevant.  Matt seems to be under the impression that marketing is all about spending money on advertising.  Furthermore, the Chiefs provide the County with these figures as part of the team's annual financial report in November. 

Ron Gersbacher did mention during his part of the presentation that the Chiefs front office staff is constantly working on marketing.  Every member of the staff works on an element of marketing and every action taken by the Chiefs relates to marketing.  Here's a quick lesson for Matt - Marketing is the coordination of products, promotion, place, and price.  From selling tickets and advertising to planning giveaways to bringing in guests to sign autograph to buying advertising to making donations to offering coupons and special offers to designing brochures and publications and so on, these are all elements of marketing and they all relate to bringing people to the stadium.

With regard to the team losing money the last two years - when the Chiefs took out a $4 million loan to give to the County up front cash for the construction of the stadium, the Board of Directors made the decision to sacrifice short-term profits in order to ensure the long-term existence of the franchise in Syracuse.  This is not an excuse - this is a fact.

There were also two other points Matt made in his article that are not completely accurate.  First, he states that the new grass playing surface cost taxpayers one million dollars.  The actual cost of the project was $800,000 and the Chiefs contributed $550,000 (plus interest) to the project by paying into two funds for the last 11 years.

Second, Matt wrote (again) that the Chiefs have not met with the stadium committee for 11 years.  What he has never pointed out, but was mentioned at the meeting, is that the Chiefs did meet with the stadium committee every year that the team was responsible for management of the stadium.  Once the County took over management of the stadium, the committee stopped calling meetings.

Since Matt's article didn't outline many of the new items for 2008, here are a few highlights that fans can look forward to:

• Time Warner Cable will carry 30 Chiefs games this season, both home and away on Channel 26, which reaches 625,000 households in upstate New York
• Chiefs games will be on Clear Channel stations SportsRadio 620 WHEN and Nova 105.1 this year
• The Chiefs will bring in more players to sign autographs, continuing the success of last season when Denny McLain and Cecil Fielder attracted long lines
• There are five fireworks shows and seven giveaways on the promotional schedule for 2008
• The Principal Financial Group Family Fun Fest will return and discussions are taking place to bring back other popular tours including the Nextel Cup racing trailer and the got Milk? tour
• A state-of-the-art hitting cage and picthing cage will be set up at every game for kids and adults
• The Chiefs' web site, part of the MLB Advanced Media network, will undergo several updates during the course of the season
• The Chiefs will expand their current fundraising and awareness programs with local charities
• The team will continue to reach out to new markets in the Watertown, Utica, and Cortland area
• The Chiefs are part of the new Major League Baseball 2K8 video game (read Brent Axe's blog about the game here)

By the way, wouldn't it be nice to see an article or two in the newspaper about Spring Training?

MLB.com reporter Jordan Bastian reported this week that the Blue Jays are trying to sort out how catching prospects Robinzon Diaz and Curtis Thigpen will each get enough playing time this season at Syracuse.  One way is to have the players spend time at other positions.

On Monday, Diaz played third base during a minor league game for Toronto and he has experience at second base as well.  Thigpen, who spent time with the Blue Jays last season, has logged some time at third base and first base on occasion this spring also.

County Executive Joanie Mahoney outlined the agenda for her first year of office at Bellevue Middle School Academy last night in a 50 minute speech. 

Among other things, Mahoney described progess in discussions with the Syracuse Chiefs to resolve the differences the two sides have had in the past.

Our new County Executive has brought a fresh look to Onondaga County and a new way of doing things that can only be beneficial to the residents of Onondaga County.

Chiefs fans look forward to welcoming Joanie and her family to Alliance Bank Stadium on Thursday, April 3rd when the Chiefs open the 2008 International league season.

The Axe-Man reported in his blog on syracuse.com last week that the Chiefs are featured in the video game Major League Baseball 2K8.

Click here to read more.

In other news former SkyChiefs pitcher and Liverpool High School and Le Moyne College alum Scott Cassidy has decided to hang up his cleats.

Sergio Santos who played shortstop for the entire 2006 season with the Chiefs and then spent most of the 2007 season with New Hampshire (AA) in the Eastern League has played the first four games at third base for the Toronto Blue Jays during spring training.

With David Eckstein, John MacDonald and Marcus Scutaro at the major league level and Pedo Lopez and Hector Luna expected to play short at AAA-Syracuse in 2008, Santos could find himself playing third base in Syracuse this summer.

At 6'2" and 235 pounds, Sergio displayed much of the power potential many thought he would have when he was the number one pick by the Diamondbacks back in 2002. 

After spending all of the 2006 season with the Chiefs and struggling at the plate and in the field, the Blue Jays sent Santos back to AA-New Hampshire in 2007 where he had 34 doubles and 20 home runs, both career highs.

Still only 24 years old, 2008 could be the break through year for the California native.

Inside Pitch "Spring Training Edition" will come to you live on Sportsradio 620 WHEN beginning Monday, March 10th at 5:00 PM.

The show will orginate from the Spring Training home of the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida.  All week long (Monday-Friday from 5-6 PM) Bob McElligott and John Simone will provide interviews and insight into Spring Training 2008.

You can catch the Weekend Edition of Inside Pitch all season long from 11:00 AM-12:00 noon on the radio home of the Chiefs 620 WHEN.

This weekend Inside Pitch will talk to former Chiefs player and manager Frank Verdi, who will be inducted into the International League Hall of Fame this summer.