By Jay Blue

Blue Jays from Away

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats announced on Monday that they would extend their affiliation with the Toronto Blue Jays through to 2020. They have been the Blue Jays' double-A affiliate since 2003, when they were still the New Haven Ravens, moving to Manchester, New Hampshire in 2004.

Blue Jays director of player development, Gil Kim said "We are delighted to work with first class partners like [Fisher Cats owner] Art Solomon and [Fisher Cats President] Mike Ramshaw. Our players are fortunate to play in a quality ballpark in front of the passionate fans in Manchester."

The Fisher Cats hosted the Eastern League All-Star Game last year but the club hasn't had the best record as of late. The Fisher Cats last won the Eastern League title in 2011. Notable Fisher Cats from 2017 included Anthony Alford, Lourdes Gurriel, Ryan Borucki, Danny Jansen, Sean Reid-Foley, Jonathan Davis and Canadian Andrew Case (Saint, John, N.B.).

The Blue Jays have also extended their Player Development Contract (PDC) with the Vancouver Canadians, agreeing to extend that relationship until 2022. The Short-Season-A Vancouver Canadians are the only affiliated minor league team remaining in Canada and have won four Northwest League championships since becoming the Blue Jays' affiliate in 2011.

Currently, the triple-A Buffalo Bisons and low-A Lansing Lugnuts have PDCs scheduled to expire after this year although I'm sure there will be announcements forthcoming over the course of this season to extend them beyond this season.

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