MLB Expansion Locations

by Buzz Bissinger on Aug 30, 2008 12:23 PM EDT

Purely hypothetically speaking.. say baseball within the next 3 years decides to expand to have 2 more teams join MLB (to balance out the amount of teams in the AL and NL... What two locations would you put the two new franchises?

My choices:

1) Montreal -- If they built a new stadium in Montreal, it would be the best place ever to see a ball game.. totally different vibe than any other city... it would be like baseball in Europe. Even though EuroDisney wasn\t a success, baseball returning to Quebec would be phenomenal.

2) Brooklyn -- There really needs to be a third team from New York to appease the masses, and really spread the wealth of the marketplace. A team in Brooklyn would make everyone giddy with excitement.

Montreal -- Vive la baseball!!! (via z.about.com)

Brooklyn, NY -- It's just logical! (via www.destination360.com)

0 recs | Comment 42 comments

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the next choices are pretty clearly las vegas and san juan.

i don’t think either will get a team for a good 10 years, though.

ANATOMY OF ERA:
Variables Don't; Constants Aren't

by variablesdont on Aug 30, 2008 2:18 PM EDT 0 recs

clearly?

two cities that have no professional sports teams at all are “clearly” the best two options? what makes them stand out??

I've got a McPheever, and only JoJo Reyes can help me!

by Buzz Bissinger on Aug 30, 2008 5:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

that's exactly what makes them stand out.

there’s no competition for those cities. maybe vegas could be argued, but if MLB put a team in PR, there’d be a huge attraction for a lot of free agents, both amateur and major league, and since baseball is huge in the surrounding area, it could really be a boost to the local economy, which could make it very intriguing to build around, in the same way that the A’s are trying to build around fremont.

there’s a huge opportunity for MLB in san juan.

and i don’t disagree that montreal should get another shot at having a major league franchise. i just don’t think it’ll happen in the next 10 years.

ANATOMY OF ERA:
Variables Don't; Constants Aren't

by variablesdont on Aug 30, 2008 6:26 PM EDT up 0 recs

San Juan - No

I don’t think San Juan could support a team. The median income in Puerto Rico is barely over $20,000 / year. I doubt the other MLB owners would be willing to share their profits with another team that wouldn’t be able to earn for itself. Doubt it will ever happen.

by goose102977 on Aug 31, 2008 12:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

depends

on what they can draw. If they sell out every game at 50,000+ a pop, they can get away with charging lower ticket prices. Look at some of the cities that have teams now. You think Pittsburg drawing 11,000 a game is that much more economically feasible than San Juan?

by ScottAZ on Sep 2, 2008 2:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

Why is San Juan

Guaranteed to draw 50,000 a game????

If it ever expands, MLB should look for markets that can support teams through thick and thin. Pittsburgh only draws 17,000 a game, but they are still viable. Would San Juan be viable? They’d surely be a poor, small market team unable to afford superstars. They’re more likely to not draw well than to draw 50,000.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Sep 2, 2008 2:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

Northern New Jersey and Portland

But I don’t think MLB should expand for quite awhile.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Aug 30, 2008 3:14 PM EDT 0 recs

Please

no more expansion.

O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen,
und freudenvollere.

by t ball on Aug 30, 2008 3:32 PM EDT 0 recs

+1

by Kinslerhomer on Aug 30, 2008 3:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

i think you missed the point

of the purely hypothetically, IF THEY DID… where would you want it to be?

by son.of.sourman on Aug 30, 2008 4:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Again I say

no more. Poop on your hypothetical.

O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen,
und freudenvollere.

by t ball on Sep 2, 2008 12:02 AM EDT up 0 recs

One clearly should be in New York

Brooklyn has the history, so that seems logical…

After that, I’d say Portland is likely your best bet, but you could make a case for team #3 in Los Angeles too.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 30, 2008 5:23 PM EDT 0 recs

I'd go with the #3 in LA ... or even a #4 in (or around) NYC before Portland, Vegas, San Juan, Sacramento, etc ...

"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback

by devo on Aug 30, 2008 9:08 PM EDT up 0 recs

Vegas & NJ

(Las) Vegas Aces or (Las) Vegas Kings

(New) Jersey Grays

http://yankeesmtom.blogspot.com/

by hallofamer2000 on Aug 30, 2008 5:27 PM EDT 0 recs

Charlotte

It’s in the middle of a bunch of smaller markets and it’s a popular place to expand to for other sports teams.

Plus, the South really only has the Braves and the Cardinals.

by demondeaconsbaseball on Aug 30, 2008 6:21 PM EDT 0 recs

Another team in the south makes sense

after all, it’s a baseball hotbed and the SEC teams get huge crowds at their games.

Nashville and Charlotte would be good options.

by deezle on Aug 30, 2008 7:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

Louisville would be great

but it’s probably too close to Cinci.

Bonds stands alone.

Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal

by nostocksjustbonds on Aug 31, 2008 5:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

I hate San Antonio

but do you guys realize how many people live there?

by TexasHeat on Aug 30, 2008 6:36 PM EDT 0 recs

Yeah ... not that many ...

ignore city population … look at metro population — 1.9 million, bigger only than KC and Milwaukee …

"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback

by devo on Aug 30, 2008 9:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

I love San Antonio

But I think they’re okay with the Missions for now. All they care about is the Spurs, anyway, or at least until they start a run of losing seasons.

by naropean on Aug 31, 2008 11:45 AM EDT up 0 recs

And you'd be competing with the Rangers and Astros

MLB does not like to cannibalize its markets

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Sep 1, 2008 4:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

Norfolk Tides

Talkin' Sports

by BlackOps on Aug 30, 2008 7:44 PM EDT 0 recs

Montreal

Give this city a decent stadium and the team would thrive. Everyone badmouthed their attendance but at least when they won they drew fans. Whats the deal with the lousy Tampa fans?

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Aug 31, 2008 12:04 PM EDT 0 recs

Tampa fans

See- Tropicana Field.

(not sure if you were being sarcastic or no…)

by demondeaconsbaseball on Aug 31, 2008 1:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

Ummm..

The big Oh was a big piece of crap but when the Expos won, at least the fans showed up. 14,000 showing up to see a team this good in August is just embarassing.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Aug 31, 2008 1:56 PM EDT up 0 recs

Tampa's attendance is averaging over 5,000 people more per game than last season

and that’s going up. They’ve had over 30,000 the last 2 games and that number is likely to continue into next week with the Yankee’s coming to town they’ll likely have 5 straight games over 30,000. That’s not terrible. And typically, you don’t see a big spike in attendance until the year after a break-out season.

Tools Whore

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by Tyler on Aug 31, 2008 2:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

Bad idea

Having recently moved from Montreal after living there for four years, I can tell you there is pretty much zero chance of baseball ever returning to the city. There’s a lot of bitterness towards the sport in general, since the Expos were destroyed by Loria. In addition to that, the French really don’t like baseball, ultimately, and view it as a sport for the Anglophones. This wasn’t so much a problem when the Expos first came to Montreal, as Quebec’s draconian language laws weren’t yet in existence and Montreal’s English speaking population was much larger than it is today. After the imposition of the language laws in the ‘70s, however, there was a steady flow of Anglo migrants out of Quebec and into Toronto and southern Ontario. At this point, there’s pretty much zero support for a major league team.

Further compounding the problem is the fact that there’s always snow on the ground there until at least mid-April, and early October snow storms aren’t abnormal; any team going to Montreal would really need a dome. Moreover, it wasn’t just that Olympic Stadium was a piece of crap that kept people from going there – it is – but it’s also in a really inconvenient area, being in a fairly poor part of the city and close to an hour on the metro from downtown. Any new stadium would suffer from the same problems, as there isn’t a chance in hell that impoverished Montreal is going to be giving away any land to a baseball franchise.

To top it all off, it’s just a bad idea to have baseball teams in Canada, especially for a small market team. It’s really, really difficult to plan a payroll years in advance when your revenue stream could drop significantly just because Canadian currency is devalued.

by Fanon on Aug 31, 2008 6:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

That was an excellent response!

And thank you for the insight most of us would never have. Merci.

I've come to the conclusion that the two most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen. - Bob Lemon, 1981

by Lyle on Sep 4, 2008 11:49 AM EDT up 0 recs

expansion question adds tension

….because it’s ruined the game, and because no one wants to see the game further weeded so the “okay” college player can make a 10 year living on the bench in the majors….

however, because of the damnations of economics, teams shuffling locations is likely to continue….one of the florida teams will likely be next….and if there weren’t plans for a new stadium in minnesota and a recently built one in milwaukee, those cities would be likely next on the axe list….

that said, i’d say the next relocation sites will likely be vegas and san jose….san jose has made a strong play for a team many times recently, but have not been able to close the deal….

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

by biggentleben on Aug 31, 2008 4:48 PM EDT 0 recs

There is zero chance of a third team being put in the Bay Area over LA, Chicago or New York

It would be patent idiocy to further subdivide the SMALLEST of the 2-team markets, particularly when one of those teams already doesn’t draw fans.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 31, 2008 7:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Not to mention

There is a zero percent chance the Giants would agree to put a team right in their backyard, especially with the A’s supposedly moving right to their alloted border in Fremont, trying to steal fans from San Jose in their own right. Not going to happen.

Plus like you said, the Bay is just not big enough for three teams. I say, move the A’s to Sacramento. They would actually draw fans, and you already have a stadium you can add a second deck to that makes it perfect for the A’s right on the river. Just a short haul up the Amtrak, and Bay Area fans could get there…although I couldn’t imagine why they would do that since they don’t go the Coliseum, but still.

by thethrill22 on Aug 31, 2008 11:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

If I had to say

I guess I should answer the first question though, probably Las Vegas and Portland. You could put them both in the AL West and move the Rangers to the Central where they belong. You would have 16 in both leagues, perfect balance.

by thethrill22 on Aug 31, 2008 11:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

People said the same thing about the Giants back when they weren't drawing fans...

…but then, a new ballpark and they have an average attendance that ranks 11th in the majors despite arguably having one of the five worst teams in baseball.

I don’t doubt the Athletics would do more with a good stadium.

That said, I agree that San Jose is a pipe dream. Especially with the A’s moving to Fremont, there won’t be enough distance between them and San Jose by major league rules (only New York has been grandfathered into that rule). But then, one could argue a similar thing about an attempt at a Brooklyn team, and probably a Northern New Jersey team as well.

Put the new teams in new markets.

SFDugout.com is BACK! See the Top 50 Giants Prospects!

by BruteSentiment on Sep 1, 2008 7:09 AM EDT up 0 recs

Salt Lake City and Sacramento

Bonds stands alone.

Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal

by nostocksjustbonds on Aug 31, 2008 5:56 PM EDT 0 recs

If I had to suggest:

I’d say that Portland and Charlotte are the two most deserving cities of expansion. Charlotte for all the reasons listed above, and Portland is a growing area that has a lot of potential and a strong love for baseball since the days of the PCL.

Salt Lake is worth noting as well, partially as a growing metro area itself, and partially because the mountain states remain so underrepresented in baseball (and all sports). There’s a reason that some states, like Montana, don’t even sponsor baseball teams in their schools. For an entire fifth of the country, the chance of seeing major league baseball is not just a long drive, but at least a plane flight away.

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by BruteSentiment on Sep 1, 2008 7:14 AM EDT 0 recs

However

Voting against publicly subsidizing a baseball stadium = FAIL

I know that minor league attendance probably shouldn’t matter much, but don’t Portland and Charlotte have pretty crappy attendance figures for their respective AAA teams?

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Sep 1, 2008 4:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

The Charlotte Knights

Stadium’s nice, but it’s located about 10 or 12 miles away from downtown, and about 25 or 30 miles away from where I live in the suburbs. Plus, they kinda suck… stupid White Sox and their crappy farm system…

by demondeaconsbaseball on Sep 1, 2008 7:03 PM EDT up 0 recs