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MLB Expansion concept

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New Orleans? Absolutely no way would they get a team. The city is far too small to support an MLB team, which needs a large enough population in the area to go to the games over the course of baseball's long season. I've never heard New Orleans mentioned as a possible baseball expansion site, and that's because it makes little sense. Montreal yes, I hope they get a team again and I think it'd be successful (with a new park), but for the other city, something like a third New York team or maybe San Antonio is probably a better bet. Cities like Portland Oregon would also be much more viable than New Orleans, I'm sure.

As for four teams per division I guess that could work, but that's a very small number, I like the 5-team divisions more from a rivalry and historical perspective...
 
New Orleans? Are you having a laugh? They can't even sustain an NBA team.

Also, any future Montreal team is more likely to play in the AL East so they can play several series against the BJ a year. The Montreal Orioles sounds awesome come to think of it!

It wouldn't be the first time New York Supported 3 team, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants at one point.

My idea, bring back one of the Negro League Teams.

With an exclusively Black roster?
 

element

Member
New Orleans couldn't support a MLB team. Too many games.

Montreal. Fans have shown that they want baseball back, but poor Canadian dollar might make this extremely difficult.

Austin/San Antonio. Primarily in Austin as it is growing really fast. Since SA is only an hour away. It might work.

Portland. They had a strong group a while back trying to get a team. Problem here is there is no place to play. When the Timbers took over Civic Stadium/Providence Park, they pretty much reconfigured it so baseball could never be played there again. Portland has previously supported AAA and independent extremely well. Proximity to Seattle wouldn't be a big problem, though Mariners might want some form of payment due to their TV network. Also would be huge having Nike in town.

New Jersey/NY. Not going to happen. Mets and Yankees would never let it happen and even if they did they would want huge payments to share their territory.

Also, enough with the Mariners jokes. Twins and Braves haven't won a game and it took the Padres 4 games to score a run!
 
Knoxville Rebels?

Yeah, that's not gonna fly in the "PC for marketing dollar" era unless you mean these kinda Rebels:
latest
 
I've heard studies that the New York metropolitan area could support a third MLB team, and that it could be located in New Jersey.

It'd make sense, but the territorial fees make it a non-starter. Just look at how long the Orioles and the Nationals have been fighting about their territorial rights. Now blow that up to the largest media market in baseball, and I don't think there are many prospective owners who could afford it.

Beyond the Box Score had a look at potential expansion cities a few years ago, and Hardball Times did an analysis last year. A lot of the cities they suggest are non-starters for territorial reasons (i.e. there's no way San Jose gets a team between the Giants being so close and the A's wanting to move there), but there are some interesting cities on there. I'd love to have a team in Montreal again, and some place like Mexico City would be a neat experiment.
 
I'd love to see Portland and Charlotte get teams.

Charlotte is a huge market 3rd largest without a team behind Sacramento and Orlando (but they are both very close to existing MLB teams)

Also, they can move the Rays. The stadium is a dump and they are last in attendance.
 

kris.

Banned
nah. don't like the idea of having the royals in that division. it'd be too weird. i can't imagine myself hating those teams like i hate the tigers and sox.
 

Parch

Member
Also, any future Montreal team is more likely to play in the AL East so they can play several series against the BJ a year.
That would be the Canadian preference.

What would the other major centers think about having their teams in the same division? Chicago, New York, LA/ANA, SF/OAK.

Instead of just plugging expansion teams into holes, lets get radical. Make all teams use the DH and lets have major realignment where local teams are in the same divisions to increase rivalries.
 
There's more than enough talent to stock two expansion teams. So, expansion.

Montreal needs a baseball team.

San Jose will not get one, not after the years and years the Giants spent making sure the A's couldn't move there.

Move The Oakland As to Montreal.

Done.

Fuck that. Fuck. That. No. Move the Maple Leafs to fucking Fargo.
 

Pastry

Banned
I think San Antonio wants a baseball team. It's the largest city in the nation without a baseball team

Seriously, San Antonio needs more sports :( I think we'll have an MLS team by 2020 for sure though.

If the stadium is placed on 35 heading toward Austin I think between San Antonio/ New Braunfels/ San Marcos/ Austin a team could easily be supportered. That's probably around 3.5 million people.
 

gamz

Member
That would be the Canadian preference.

What would the other major centers think about having their teams in the same division? Chicago, New York, LA/ANA, SF/OAK.

Instead of just plugging expansion teams into holes, lets get radical. Make all teams use the DH and lets have major realignment where local teams are in the same divisions to increase rivalries.

Agree with the DH! But local teams in the same division would be a mistake. It would lose their appeal very quickly. For major markets like NY and Chicago it bolds well to spilt them up to make other divisions more appealing. The only states that have two teams are major market teams. The other divisions would suffer.
 
Bring back the Expos.

Put a MLB team in Brooklyn or Puerto Rico.

Vegas will never, ever be home to a major league team (though it probably should get one)...
 
I think a major league team would do great in either Charlotte or Raleigh, but that would mean the Braves or O's/Nats giving up TV coverage.
Yes, please!

Problem is the area has a few minor-league affiliates (including one of the nation's most popular AAA teams, the Durham Bulls), and it's hard to make the case that the catchment isn't just the city of Raleigh, but Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, and other surrounding towns and cities.

But it would be a good fit, especially given Raleigh's ongoing inward migration and general growth. The Triangle area has over two million people in it. Income levels and demographics are favorable. We've got warm weather, and only one other major-league sports franchise (Carolina Hurricanes). Charlotte, the Triad, Richmond, Charleston, etc. are all nearby.
 

v1lla21

Member
San José will never get a team :(
I think they should expand to northern Mexico. Nuevo Leon or Sonora would be ideal.
 

FelixOrion

Poet Centuriate
A Canadian expansion is pointless. If you're gonna expand internationally, at least go to countries that care about baseball, namely Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Heck, the logistics would suck ass, but even a Japanese expansion would be better than another Canadian team.

Easiest expansion would be to Puerto Rico (technically a non-international), and a Cuban expansion would be awesome.
 
Put a team in Havana.

Would be glorious. But so unlikely.

A Canadian expansion is pointless. If you're gonna expand internationally, at least go to countries that care about baseball, namely Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Heck, the logistics would suck ass, but even a Japanese expansion would be better than another Canadian team.

Montreal is one of the best baseball cities on the planet. Going all the way back to the 1870s, and then the Royals, Jackie Robinson, and the Expos, with Le Grand Orange, Carl Morton, Dawson, Carter, Steve Rogers, Vlad, Rock, Galarraga, Walker, Rose, Pedro, Randy, Alou, and Youppi.

8029711371_ec1b9080e4_c.jpg


Some of the best fans in baseball history are in Montreal. The Expos' departure was a travesty.
 

Sephzilla

Member
As much as I'd like to see Montreal get another team, I kind of feel like any non-US expansion should happen south of the US in countries where baseball is a bigger part of the sports lexicon.
 
Yes, please!

Problem is the area has a few minor-league affiliates (including one of the nation's most popular AAA teams, the Durham Bulls), and it's hard to make the case that the catchment isn't just the city of Raleigh, but Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, and other surrounding towns and cities.

But it would be a good fit, especially given Raleigh's ongoing inward migration and general growth. The Triangle area has over two million people in it. Income levels and demographics are favorable. We've got warm weather, and only one other major-league sports franchise (Carolina Hurricanes). Charlotte, the Triad, Richmond, Charleston, etc. are all nearby.

NC is crazy about baseball. The minor league teams in Greensboro, Asheville, Charlotte, and Winston-Salem all do really really well. A major league team would crush, but a stadium would have to be intelligently placed in an area of the state where the minor league teams wouldn't be buried. Raleigh is probably the best option, or build a stadium in the burbs in the RDU area.
 
A Canadian expansion is pointless. If you're gonna expand internationally, at least go to countries that care about baseball, namely Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Heck, the logistics would suck ass, but even a Japanese expansion would be better than another Canadian team.

Easiest expansion would be to Puerto Rico (technically a non-international), and a Cuban expansion would be awesome.

The economic side of expansion means that it won't happen for like 100 years, if ever.
 

Saganator

Member
I like the structure but I'm not a fan of getting rid the Wild Card round. I remember the year before they implemented the Wild Card, the Giants won 103 games and did not go to the playoffs because the Braves won 104 games. That shit can not happen again.

Would hate to see my Rockies leave the National league, but I've finally come to terms that they'll never be able to keep a decent starting rotation, so they might as well play in a league with a DH.
 
Would be glorious. But so unlikely.



Montreal is one of the best baseball cities on the planet. Going all the way back to the 1870s, and then the Royals, Jackie Robinson, and the Expos, with Le Grand Orange, Carl Morton, Dawson, Carter, Steve Rogers, Vlad, Rock, Galarraga, Walker, Rose, Pedro, Randy, Alou, and Youppi.

8029711371_ec1b9080e4_c.jpg


Some of the best fans in baseball history are in Montreal. The Expos' departure was a travesty.

I'm glad that Youppi is the Habs Mascot now :).
 

Megasoum

Banned
Bringing back the Expos would be a mistake IMO...

First of all we would need to build a new stadium and we still haven't finished paying the Olympic Stadium that was built in 1976...


Also, I don't think we actually have the audience to really support a team for however many local games you get in a season... Especially if the team is struggling which would be normal for an expansion team at the beginning.

Sure we fill up the Olympic Stadium when the Blue Jays come to town but that's like 2 games a year. Those are special events,not the norm.
 
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