The Florida Marlins may have a new Triple-A affiliate next season.

The Marlins are expected to move their Triple A affiliate from Albuquerque, N.M., to New Orleans next season. The team will replace the Mets affiliate in New Orleans. The Mets are moving to Buffalo, N.Y. The Dodgers are moving their Triple A team from Las Vegas to Albuquerque. The New Orleans location will make it easier to move players to and from Triple A.

If the above does take place, it won't be all that bad.  Sure the Fish will lose the coolest nicknamed Triple-A club in all of baseball or at least by my definition of cool.  When your affiliate takes its name from an episode of the Simpsons, you're cool.

However, on the plus side: South Florida is closer to New Orleans than it is to Albuquerque, so there has to be an advantage there.  Also, the pitchers and hitters will be playing in very similar conditions, weather-wise, to that of South Florida.  How much of a benefit that is -- I don't know.  But it can't hurt to take the guys out of a high altitude environment  and place them in one closer to sea level.

If it all happens, the Marlins Triple-A team will most likely be the Zephyrs.  Kinda strange to have a minor league team name after an historic passenger train that went defunct long before the Marlins were ever in existence.  Then again, we do nothing normal.