After four happy years together, the Toronto Blue Jays are splitting with Pulaski Baseball Inc.

It's not you, it's me, the club said.

The Blue Jays "made me very aware that Pulaski did everything they said they were going to do and more," Appalachian League president Lee Landers said. "They enjoyed the time that they were there and they certainly had good communication."

Toronto executives could not be reached Thursday, but general manager J.P. Ricciardi told the Toronto Star the move -- pulling out of rookie ball instead of renewing its contract with Pulaski -- will allow the club to give more resources to its remaining five minor-league teams.

Pulaski is left searching for a new team for the third time in 14 years, but Landers and Tom Compton, the president of Pulaski Baseball Inc., said they are optimistic they will find a replacement, just as they did after the Atlanta Braves left in 1992 and the Texas Rangers departed in 2002.

Landers said he e-mailed every major-league club about Pulaski's vacancy and has had specific conversations with clubs he declined to name.

Clubs must have at least five minor-league teams, and if they move one that is covered by a major-league player development contract -- basically any team outside the rookie-level Appalachian, Gulf Coast and Arizona leagues -- they must get another club to fill the vacancy they leave, Landers said.

A Gulf Coast (GCL) or Arizona league team could move without such restrictions, or Pulaski could get a brand-new team.

The Kansas City Royals, for instance, added a seventh minor-league team when they took over the Appalachian League franchise in Burlington, N.C., from the Cleveland Indians a few weeks ago.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore came over this year from the Braves, who have long benefited from Appy League affiliations with Pulaski and Danville. That same association could put the Washington Nationals at the top of Pulaski's list.

The Nationals do not have a rookie team above the GCL, unlike many teams, and already switched two minor-league affiliates this week under the leadership of former Braves president Stan Kasten.

Clubs with similar rookie-level holes include the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates.

"We have people that want to come in," Landers said, "but the hang-up is that they would have to add a club, because they're already in a league of the same classification and you can't just drop out of a league to go into another league. They're in a musical chairs shuffling period right now."

Landers, a former St. Louis Cardinals executive who has been Appalachian League president since 1996, said he is "working all the angles" and calling in favors to get Pulaski another team.

If nothing can be found, the league could put a co-op team in Calfee Park or deal with the scheduling difficulties of having only nine teams.

"We're both working at this thing from every angle conceivable," Compton said. "We both feel like there'll be baseball here, but I can't tell you who that will be yet."