Yet another baseball expansion thread

[Cobra Mgr]

ESPN article on the next MLB expansion. I had no idea Nashville was supposed to be the favorites. I'd always heard Portland & Charlotte.

Others looked @: Austin/San Antonio, Raleigh, Orlando, San Jose, Salt
Lake, Mexico City. & Montreal

[Pelican]

I would like to see MLB eventually shift to four leagues of eight teams each, with the two new expansion franchises. I have run sims with new teams in Charlotte and Montreal, and the new leagues line up well geographically. Of course, it would be a huge deal to eliminate the NL/AL rivalry that has existed since 1901.

Another alternative I've tested is six expansion franchises, and a total of six Divisions of six teams each. Very competitive, and again, using some of the cities mentioned above, it sorts out geographically. To be sure, phasing in six expansion teams would not be easy. [I don't buy the argument about talent dilution. There are plenty of talented players worldwide. More foreign players would likely be drawn to the U.S.]

I do hope MLB will have a phased plan that will allow future expansion franchises to begin drafting amateurs and building a minor league system from the ground up, prior to the first MLB season for the team. That and reasonable draft protection limits (e.g. twelve players per team, plus players with less than three years MLB time exempt) would make for more competitive teams. As it is the only "talent dilution" is on the expansion teams, by design, which makes no sense.

[Westheim]

Nobody wants the Wandering Pathetics, and the billionaires are talking expansion fees? Cute.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

ESPN article on the next MLB expansion. I had no idea Nashville was supposed to be the favorites. I'd always heard Portland & Charlotte.

Others looked @: Austin/San Antonio, Raleigh, Orlando, San Jose, Salt
Lake, Mexico City. & Montreal

If you multiply GMSA population times per capita income, and add the requirement that can't be MLB teams nearby, Portland Oregon has to be near top of the list.

Riverside CA is 40 miles from LA, Orlando FL is 65 miles from Tampa (which already cannot really support MLB), and Austin TX is 150 miles from Houston, and 180 miles from Dallas.

Now..if you were to put a team halfway between San Antonio and Austin, that would work. Two BIG cities, that are just 50 miles away from each other's outer ring of interstates.

Third would be Charlotte NC, a growing city 250 miles from Atlanta, and much farther from Washington DC to the north.

My choice for fourth would be Las Vegas, but only with a domed stadium. I was there in July, several years ago, and it was 115 degrees. They say it's a dry heat...but so's an oven.

I like Nashville, or Montreal, or Sacramento, or Columbus, or Raleigh, or even Indianapolis, if the case can be made financially.

[Cobra Mgr]

I'd love for Raleigh to get one since I live there. But I have serious doubts our area could regularly get 20,000 during the midweek games. And on the sentimental side, NC is a great haven for the minors. And I'd hate to see so many local teams suffer if an MLB team came here.

[kq76]

When determining the likelihood of who gets a team I think it's less about the demographics of the city and more about who is the owner and what is their plan. Sure, they're not going to place a team in Fairbanks, Alaska, no matter who the prospective owner might be, but my point is I no longer look at a city like Salt Lake and think, oh, they have no chance. No, given what I've heard about their prospective owners, I think they definitely do have a chance. That also explains, I think, why Nashville is the betting favourite. Whereas a city like Austin or San Antonio, which one might think might be at the top of the list, I haven't heard anything about prospective owner for them.

[Ty Cobb]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

ESPN article on the next MLB expansion. I had no idea Nashville was supposed to be the favorites. I'd always heard Portland & Charlotte.

Others looked @: Austin/San Antonio, Raleigh, Orlando, San Jose, Salt
Lake, Mexico City. & Montreal

SLC, Charlotte, Nashville...in that order. Portland's crime levels make it a non-starter. Of course, that's just my opinion...

[Brad K]

Someone please take the Rays before St Pete spends $400m on a team that doesn't even carry the city's name.

[CONN CHRIS]

Bring the majors back to Hartford! Hey, our AA team regularly out-draws the A's of late.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Bring the majors back to Hartford! Hey, our AA team regularly out-draws the A's of late.

Applause.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Nobody wants the Wandering Pathetics, and the billionaires are talking expansion fees? Cute.

The king of leagues expanding to rake in quick expansion fee cash is the NHL. It now, delusionally, is as big as the NFL when historically it was always the smallest of the big four North American pro sports leagues.

[Amazin69]

Logically, the best place to put a team is in the NY Metro area. The Apple supported 3 teams for 55 seasons, and the 3 NHL teams prosper so much that they did a Stadium Series weekend for them (and our "little brothers" from Philly) that was such a success that there's talk of doing it every year. A third team (Brooklyn? Newark?) would make $$$ hand over fist.

Good luck trying to get the Steinbrenners and Uncle Stevie to waive the territorial rights, though.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Logically, the best place to put a team is in the NY Metro area. The Apple supported 3 teams for 55 seasons, and the 3 NHL teams prosper so much that they did a Stadium Series weekend for them (and our "little brothers" from Philly) that was such a success that there's talk of doing it every year. A third team (Brooklyn? Newark?) would make $$$ hand over fist.

Good luck trying to get the Steinbrenners and Uncle Stevie to waive the territorial rights, though.

Mets & Yanks would never sign off on it.