Manfred Mann wants to expand to Montreal and Mexico City

[Northern Star]

I'm no economics major, but I thought Mexico's economy would be an issue and not an ideal place to locate a franchise?

 

Hard to say whether going back to Montreal is a good idea. Loria burned a lot of bridges up there.

[Navafan29]

Yess to expansion! Although the divisions are nice and even with 5 teams apiece, so it seems unprofessional to make them uneven again. If we added two teams, I'd like to add enough other teams to even up the divisions. We should add 1 team to all 6 divisions.

 

If MLB ever puts the DH in both leagues (which I would oppose) then it would open the door for more rearrangement of divisions in theory, which would make adding more teams easier. With the DH in both leagues, the classification of "AL" and "NL" becomes meaningless, since they would both have the same rules and both be all around geographically. In sports, teams are sorted into divisions, where teams with similar geographical location are put in the same division. There'd be no point in the current division layouts with the DH in both leagues, because the leagues are not "East VS West" or "North VS South". The AL and NL both have eastern, western, southern, and northern teams. The thing that keeps the closest teams from being in the same division is the designated hitter rule. With the DH in both leagues, the divisions would have to be completely rearranged, or they'd make no sense. You'd have to change "AL East" to a "Northeast" division consisting of something like the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, and Phillies. Then there'd be some Southeasty division consisting of perhaps the Rays, Marlins, Braves, Rangers, and Astros. You get the idea. Creating a new division while adding 5 new teams would be possible with a division allocation type like this, which requires 1 less new team than adding 1 to each current division. Can't create a new division with the AL and NL the way they are, cause it would unbalance the leagues.

 

I don't want the DH in both leagues, so I would hope that we just add 1 new team to each division, even if that's kind of a long shot. The disadvantage of more teams is that it's already hard enough to win the WS, and with more teams, the odds get even slimmer. I would like to see the first round of the playoffs increased to a 7 game series if there were more teams than there currently are, to add more fairness, and make the playoffs before the final four feel like less of a jip.

[StephenCurry30]

Putting the DH in the NL no way means we have to re -arrange all the divisions. I hate that pitchers hit, half of them done care and 90 percent of the time it a free out.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

No to expansion, yes to relocation. MLB talent is already spread thin at 30 teams.

 

Montreal would probably be fine as long as they got an acceptable stadium and had intelligent people running the team (i.e. can do a reasonable job of developing their own player). Fan support was non-existent leading up to the move to DC but starting in 1994 that team and that fanbase got dicked over so many times, in pretty ridiculous ways, that I can't blame them too much for throwing their arms up and letting go by 2004.

 

Mexico City would be ballsy. Economically I think it can work. The Mexico City region has 20 million people, granted a good number of them live in squalor by U.S. standards. Still, it's a hugely important financial center, the rich are very rich, and surely you could whittle that total of 20 million down to a smaller but more workable number. Let's say we just cut out the bottom 80% (in terms of wealth) of the population for argument purposes. They don't exist. That would leave a population base of 4 million. Insert that into the list of U.S. combined statistical areas (insert Toronto as well), and Mexico City would be the 15th largest market - ahead of Minneapolis, Cleveland, Denver, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis among other current MLB cities. If you cull the workable population down to 3 million, then it's 20th, still ahead of St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

 

Logistically, it's a bit tougher. The closest city is Houston, which is just under 1,000 miles away - about the same as Boston to Chicago. Some sort of southern division with Mexico City, Houston, the Rangers, Miami, and Atlanta (or Tampa if the Rays stay put) would probably be the only halfway-decent alignment, but that would mean blowing up the current alignment. And having an exclusively southern division in a game where most of the major markets on the east and west coasts could make things tricky everywhere else. Mexico City also cannot be in the same division as Seattle, Oakland, or San Francisco - in terms of travel that's on the level of putting those teams in the same division as the Red Sox.

 

Also, security. I've never been there so I don't know credible all the safety concerns are. The fact that concerns even exist though would probably be a major deterrent for players and officials.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Jacoby_Ellsbury

[mvp 78]

Mexico City is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea.

 

I think relocation would be a better option than expansion. I think the loser straw would go to Tampa who has a crap stadium and the worst attendance in the league. Plus, there is a built in divisional Canadian rivalry with the Jays. It could be a good move for the A's too. If Cleveland wasn't an "historic" team, I could see them being moved as well.

[Youk Of The Nation]

I think both Florida teams should be moved. Attendance is awful for the Marlins. The only thing they have to argue against it is a new stadium, but what good is a new stadium with 40 thousand empty seats?

[mvp 78]

Miami is also a major market. It'd be tough for MLB to move out no matter what the attendance is.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Also, the strings that were pulled to get Marlins Park built. If MLB moves the Marlins out five years after the place opened, they'll have a bitch of a time getting any other city to agree to contribute anything to a new stadium. The Marlins are a disgrace but unfortunately we're stuck with them.

[Youk Of The Nation]

Unfortunately most of the teams that are poor in attendance are also teams with a long history in MLB. Their fans, cities, and MLB itself would probably not take kindly to even the rumors of a move. Cleveland was mentioned, and Oakland and the White Sox are also near the bottom in attendance so far this season, as they were last season I believe. The A's haven't moved in decades and the White Sox have been in the same city for over a century. I just don't see either of them moving.

 

So it comes back to Tampa Bay. Frankly, I'm astonished that they haven't moved. There have to be a half-dozen better places for an MLB team in the USA or Canada. Montreal, Las Vegas, maybe even one of the places that have an NFL or NBA team but no MLB team? They could even stay in the South. New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis. What about a Carolina team? The Panthers and Hurricanes do okay, I'm sure their fans would love an MLB team to root for.

[sk7326]

Montreal makes sense - what the league did to them was criminal.

 

Mexico City sounds good - but the economics and the security are an issue - it would be hard for FAs to go there. But a natural to me is Austin, which could capture San Antonio as a secondary market. A team somewhere in North Carolina would also make some sense.

 

If they do that, going to four 8 team divisions and balancing the schedules would be good.