The Yankees agreed to a four-year affiliation deal with the Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League. For the past seven seasons, the Norwich Navigators, also of the Eastern League, have been a Yankee farm team, but New York will move its Double-A operations from Norwich, Conn. to begin play next season.

The Yankee move is not necessarily the end of the Norwich Navigators. According to published reports, both the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants have expressed interest in the Norwich facilities.

For the past eight seasons, the Thunder has occupied the Trenton as a Boston Red Sox farm club. In 2002, they became the first team in the history of Minor League Baseball (at the Double-A level or below) to draw 400,000 fans for eight consecutive seasons.

This will be the first Yankee minor-league affiliate based in New Jersey since the Newark Bears, who served as their Triple-A club from 1931-1949.