"MLB could expand to 32 teams in 'five to six years"

[PepperoniSlapshot*]

MOD: Noting that the quoted part below is an opinion piece by the SBNation writer, not a quote from MLB commissioner, who never mentions Montreal or Vancouver. Also, this Fox Sports article is cited within the SB piece, which basically just states that expansion may be on the docket once Tampa and Oakland stadium issues are resolved.



"MLB could expand to 32 teams in 'five to six years'"

http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2016/2/29/11133880/mlb-expansion-montreal-austin-vancouver-mexico-city

Because of these factors, Montreal would likely be the first choice of MLB to get one of their two new franchises (although this would technically be the resurrection of a former franchise). As for the rest of Morosi's list, he has Austin, Texas; Vancouver, Canada; and Mexico City, or another Latin American location. Each has its merits, although it's nearly impossible to imagine that Vancouver would have a shot unless Montreal couldn't be worked out.

Click to read more...

 

[YoungGuns]

I am not sure about MLB in Vancouver but I feel the NBA gave up much too quickly on the Grizzlies in Vancouver. The NBA probably has a better chance at working out in Vancouver than does the MLB.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Montreal is a no-brainer. BRING BACK THE EXPOS.

 

[wildthing202]

I don't see 32 happening. I would think relocating the Rays to Montreal is the more realistic option. I mean how would you do the divisions? They had to forced Houston to join the AL just to get it to a 15-15 split and now they are going to add more teams to possibly recreate what they just got rid of in a 5-6-5 division set-up in the NL. Doubt it.

 

[King_Stannis]

I don't see 32 happening. I would think relocating the Rays to Montreal is the more realistic option. I mean how would you do the divisions? They had to forced Houston to join the AL just to get it to a 15-15 split and now they are going to add more teams to possibly recreate what they just got rid of in a 5-6-5 division set-up in the NL. Doubt it.

Why wouldn't they just go with an NFL style 4-4-4-4?

 

[tp71]

I don't see 32 happening. I would think relocating the Rays to Montreal is the more realistic option. I mean how would you do the divisions? They had to forced Houston to join the AL just to get it to a 15-15 split and now they are going to add more teams to possibly recreate what they just got rid of in a 5-6-5 division set-up in the NL. Doubt it.

Really? Two divisions of eight teams or four divisions of four. That would seem obvious.

 

[deletethis]

Unfortunately the MLB isn't expanding to Canada or moving a team to Canada with a 75 cent Canadian dollar. Never say never but it would have to be far into the future for either city. If I were to put money on it, I'd put it on Vancouver in another decade or so with its continuing rapid population growth.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

So NHL is looking to expand to 32, MLB is looking to expand to 32 and I guess NBA will follow suit at some point. All 4 leagues at 32 would make so much sense.

I wonder if MLS wants to grow to 32 as well.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I'd be all for it, but that being said I think it's a tad early to circle finalists just yet. With the exception of Montreal, no other market in North America really has an MLB-ready stadium ready to go. That's a massive commitment for any market, and truth be told MLB would want some type of guarantee that a new Montreal stadium was on the horizon before they seriously considered them barring a scenario where a team had to relocate.

As far as I consider it, any of these markets builds an MLB stadium and suddenly they're a frontrunner for a team:

Montreal
Vancouver
Hampton Roads
Charlotte
Nashville
San Antonio/Austin
Oklahoma City
Albuquerque
Salt Lake City
Las Vegas
Sacramento
Portland

Are all equal? Would all be great landing spots? Of course not, but.... build it and they will come.... or, at the very least, they will think about it.

Mexico still seems like a pipe dream to me. The currency exchange rate is massive and I really doubt that they'd be able to do a good job attracting/retaining free agent talent, even amongst Latino players. I see that as being more like lip service versus anything really in reality.

 

[Fugu]

I just edited the title and added a link. The cities being considered and their relative rank is just speculation by writers at the moment. The commissioner has not named any potential locations/targets.

 

[tony d]

The MLB hasn't expanded since 1998 (The league that has gone the longest without expanding).

Be interesting to see which cities would get teams.

 

[triggrman]

I wish Nashville would get a team. We produce a ton of MLB baseball players.


I coach a 12u travel team, so I'm in the baseball world more but baseball seems to be the biggest sport around my town (Murfreesboro) although most would argue football or basketball, baseball gets the most participation. My son has 2 fatheads from local guys, Sonny Gray and David Price on his walls.

 

[Oscar Acosta]

I would like to see MLB and how they would do in that Hampton Roads or Charlotte area.

And of course as a Canadian a Montreal revival.

 

[Djp]

I'd be all for it, but that being said I think it's a tad early to circle finalists just yet. With the exception of Montreal, no other market in North America really has an MLB-ready stadium ready to go. That's a massive commitment for any market, and truth be told MLB would want some type of guarantee that a new Montreal stadium was on the horizon before they seriously considered them barring a scenario where a team had to relocate.

As far as I consider it, any of these markets builds an MLB stadium and suddenly they're a frontrunner for a team:

Montreal
Vancouver
Hampton Roads
Charlotte
Nashville
San Antonio/Austin
Oklahoma City
Albuquerque
Salt Lake City
Las Vegas
Sacramento
Portland

Are all equal? Would all be great landing spots? Of course not, but.... build it and they will come.... or, at the very least, they will think about it.

Mexico still seems like a pipe dream to me. The currency exchange rate is massive and I really doubt that they'd be able to do a good job attracting/retaining free agent talent, even amongst Latino players. I see that as being more like lip service versus anything really in reality.

You forgot to include Buffalo....they would be a candidate. population data does not count southern Ontario population.

They also would have the easiest time to build the stadium. Their AAA stadium was done with the design of if there was to be expansion they could add on an upper deck. Its designed the same way Candem yard is (same design crew).

Oklahoma city and Albuquerque too small to support baseball

Montreal
Vancouver
Hampton Roads/Richmond (they are similar to Austin/San Antonio in size and distance)
Charlotte
Nashville
San Antonio/Austin
Salt Lake City
Las Vegas
Sacramento
Portland

other candidates:

Buffalo---had Buffalo built a multisport stadium Montreal would have gone to Buffalo.
Indianapolis
Louisville
Raleigh

 

[Buck Aki Berg]

Did BC Place retain the retractable seating to accommodate a baseball field when they did the renovations a few years ago?

 

[cutchemist42]

• Montreal is happening at some point, I'd bet good money on it either through expansion or if TB cant find a solution over the next 3 years.
  
• I personally love Austin as a city, and have brought it up in quite a few other threads on similar subjects of new markets. Austin is growing, and some would say Austin/SA are almost growing into each other. I didnt travel between the two cities when I visited Austin, but local residents gave me that impression on other forums. I've brought it up before when the topic was the NBA/NHL trend of teams now looking at being the sole pro team in markets like Columbus/OKC/Future Vegas/SA/etc.
  
• I think Charlotte has zero chance as I believe they recently just built the AAA field.
  
• BC Place can still hold baseball from what I've read on other baseball forums when they decided to pass on WBC hosting in 09. (Passed because of financials supposedly, not because they couldnt play there.) Im worried though about how bandwagon the City is, as that can really drag on a 162 game season. NBA should be kicking themselves though for passing up on that City and not finding a solution.
  
• Manfred seems pretty gung-ho about Mexico, based on how many visits he's done there, and thinking of what it could do to capture more latino interest in the USA. Im sure Mexico City contains enough wealth in it that taking a look is not absurd. I think Latino players wouldnt mind, as if you got money in most cities, you're living a good life.
  
• Lastly, obviously with MLB, no city builds a stadium to attract a team, so I dont know why anyone should expect to hear vocal chatter about the demand for it years before it would happen. I mean, there's really almost no more than 1-2 cities that could put MLB teams in temp stadiums for 1-2 years that would be barely passable.

I do think most teams are on a path towards 32.

Lastly, my dream would be for a Latino city to show the vibrant crowds I think baseball should have. Asian/Carribbean crowds are so much more fun than our ballparks.

 

[htpwn]

Not exactly an inspiring list of potential landing spots.

Baseball is probably one of the hardest sports to make 'work.' The large national TV contract can ensure profitability but not necessarily success. The lack of a salary cap means either spending beyond your means to compete with the L.A.'s and NY's of the world or losing players to free agency, requiring a top notch farm system or else the team won't be competitive. Tickets need to be sold for double the home games, in a stadium double the size of an NHL rink.

Montréal would probably turn out okay, but the others... either too small or facing existing competition from other established pro sports teams. Not that there aren't examples of smaller markets working (i.e. Milwaukee), even then though, what's the upside of these markets? It seems like the MLB would be expanding for the sake of expanding. And then there's the question of the talent pool and whether two more teams can be fielded without degrading the on-field product.

 

[Mightygoose]

I think Montreal is the top Priority for MLB. Lots if happening behind the scene and sales for the 2 pre-season games are on pace to top last year. The Saturday game is already sold out according to the Evenko site. Wouldn't have an issue being in the Jays Media territory since it's the whole country plus the Jays have already given the blessing.

As for a 2nd location. It comes down to who can get a stadium plan going first. Pretty much any US location would need to navigate with another teams regional media territory - the real money maker for MLB.

I wouldn't rule out Mexico City. Maybe even Monterrey

 

[Yukon Joe]

So if the NHL was asking for a $500 mil expansion fee, what would an MLB expansion fee look like?

Forbes, in it's most recent valuation of teams, says the average MLB franchise is worth $1.2 billion, although the lowest value (TB Rays) was for $625 mil.

Probably something like a cool billion dollars for a franchise I'm thinking. And I don't know if there's anyone in Montreal with that kind of cheddar. Does anyone know if the Desmarais family are big Expos fans?

 

[cutchemist42]

Not exactly an inspiring list of potential landing spots.

Baseball is probably one of the hardest sports to make 'work.' The large national TV contract can ensure profitability but not necessarily success. The lack of a salary cap means either spending beyond your means to compete with the L.A.'s and NY's of the world or losing players to free agency, requiring a top notch farm system or else the team won't be competitive. Tickets need to be sold for double the home games, in a stadium double the size of an NHL rink.

Montréal would probably turn out okay, but the others... either too small or facing existing competition from other established pro sports teams. Not that there aren't examples of smaller markets working (i.e. Milwaukee), even then though, what's the upside of these markets? It seems like the MLB would be expanding for the sake of expanding. And then there's the question of the talent pool and whether two more teams can be fielded without degrading the on-field product.

I personally dont think baseball would have a talent pool problem the same way the NHL and maybe the NFL would if they expanded further. The QB disparity is already big enough at the low scale. You teams scouting more countries than at any point in the sport's history and its still highly played. If people think baseball has a participation problem, than people should be afraid for football and hockey as all sports are just fighting for a smaller pie than 10-15 years ago.

 

[cutchemist42]

So if the NHL was asking for a $500 mil expansion fee, what would an MLB expansion fee look like?

Forbes, in it's most recent valuation of teams, says the average MLB franchise is worth $1.2 billion, although the lowest value (TB Rays) was for $625 mil.

Probably something like a cool billion dollars for a franchise I'm thinking. And I don't know if there's anyone in Montreal with that kind of cheddar. Does anyone know if the Desmarais family are big Expos fans?

This is speculation, but lots say part of the play is Bell being a part of the ownership as its a play for them to have baseball when they dont have CFL games on.

 

[King Mapes]

I don't see 32 happening. I would think relocating the Rays to Montreal is the more realistic option. I mean how would you do the divisions? They had to forced Houston to join the AL just to get it to a 15-15 split and now they are going to add more teams to possibly recreate what they just got rid of in a 5-6-5 division set-up in the NL. Doubt it.

Huh? 4 divisions of 8 or 8 divisions of 4 and it avoids inter league play all year. Makes perfect sense.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Really? Two divisions of eight teams or four divisions of four. That would seem obvious.

I'm against expansion in baseball in general, I don't see any markets that the league needs, short of Montreal being a relocation candidate (frankly I don't think the league is long for Tampa Bay and Oakland desperately needs to get their stadium situation figured out)...but I'd be all-in if it meant a return to the simple two divisions in each league layout.

I'm still furious over the 1993 re-alignment that inexplicably saw Atlanta go from the NL West to the NL East, while the Pirates got kicked to a Central Division with more teams than anywhere else (that latter part only recently being solved, but I'm still furious about the Atlanta/Pittsburgh geography fail).



As it's been said repeatedly in this thread, 32 teams makes scheduling a hell of a lot easier for Major League Baseball, at the very least. No more lop-sided divisions like previous alignments and no more mandatory interleague play.

 

[Nordskull]

Here's my list of potentials for MLB expansion, if they have appropriate stadiums:


SAN ANTONIO, TX
INDIANAPOLIS, IL
NASHVILLE, TN
BOSTON, MA
PORTLAND, OR
RALEIGH, NC
SAN JOSE, CA

Yes, Boston II, is possible.

NO, MLB is not heading to MTL, period.

Nobody in sanity will pay 600M for a new baseball park here, +800M + for a MLB franchise in la belle province, whether you fill the big O 2, 3, 5 10, 100 times a year for pre season games.

Simply put, despite all you can hear, read, etc, forget about MLB in MTL, just not sustainable investment, You can make 9 to 10% if not more investing elsewhere ... like a team in the afore mentionned cities or better yet, anything energy related, of bank related or buying plenty of rubles.

For any risky dollar project, there are 1000's solid investments project.

Folks are dreaming, need a stadium first. Did not happen in 1993? Won't happen in 2016, for sure.

 

[gstommylee]

Montreal and a west coast team of Vancouver or Portland then go 4 divisions of 4.

I should dig out the alignment i did of a potential alignment of a possible 32 MLB league. I had Texas and Houston playing AL south which makes better sense than having them be in AL west.