Commissioner Rob Manfred sees expansion in MLB's future

[Evil G]

I forgot about the increasing Latin American population, but shouldn't that also mean that baseball should also do better? Both sports are big parts of Latin American culture.

[2001mark]

If I could do anything I want with MLB, here's what I'd maybe do:

Tampa Bay Rays become Montreal Expos, AL East.

Expand to Monterrey Mexico, San Juan Puerto Rico, Havana Cuba, & Portland Oregon.

Take over the entire continent.

Perhaps reverting to 4 divisions, to keep things simpler. Have 2x Wild Card spots per division, with 4x Wild Card play-in games to end the season (2nd & 3rd place teams play a single WC game per division). Division Series as 5x games, with the opening game at the WC team, the other 4x at the Division winner for (newly) 150 game season division champion.

LCS + WS remain 7, home field best teams.

ASG winners get to play the Japanese champion in November.

Now pay me money.

[Raleigh Panther]

More I read about Charlotte, the more I think it could be a good market for a MLB team. What stands out is the Charlotte Knights of the International League have been number 1 in attendance since they moved into their centrally located stadium. I wonder if BB&T Ballpark could be expanded for a MLB team.

I think charlotte could definitely support the team, however there would definitely be some obstacles. I highly doubt the city funds another new stadium, and, no, the existing one cannot be turned into an MLB park. Also, the city has a 20-year contract with the team to play in the stadium. It could happen, I suppose, if someone financed their own stadium, as then both the city and the Knights would want out of that contract. But then there would be an abandoned 5-year old, state-of-the-art facility just rotting in uptown Charlotte.

[dfwabel]

More I read about Charlotte, the more I think it could be a good market for a MLB team. What stands out is the Charlotte Knights of the International League have been number 1 in attendance since they moved into their centrally located stadium. I wonder if BB&T Ballpark could be expanded for a MLB team.

I think charlotte could definitely support the team, however there would definitely be some obstacles. I highly doubt the city funds another new stadium, and, no, the existing one cannot be turned into an MLB park. Also, the city has a 20-year contract with the team to play in the stadium. It could happen, I suppose, if someone financed their own stadium, as then both the city and the Knights would want out of that contract. But then there would be an abandoned 5-year old, state-of-the-art facility just rotting in uptown Charlotte.

The Knights have a contract with Mecklenburg County, not the City of Charlotte. And the agreement is a $1 lease for 49 years with two, separate 25 year options. The city and the county make annual payments to the club.

[dfwabel]

If I could do anything I want with MLB, here's what I'd maybe do:

Tampa Bay Rays become Montreal Expos, AL East.

Expand to Monterrey Mexico, San Juan Puerto Rico, Havana Cuba, & Portland Oregon.

Now pay me money.

You know Puerto Rico is in serious economic peril, right? They are North America's version of Greece.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/everything-know-puerto-ricos-debt-crisis

And the government cannot file for bankruptcy, so the US Senate is attempting to give them that option.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL2N0ZV2C020150715?irpc=932

Neither PR or Cuba has the economic base to support a franchise in five, ten, or 15 years.

[NJTank]

Here is something to chew on, and blow your mind.

Since 1960 and the start of expansion in MLB we have now gone longer without expansion than any other time.

1961/1962 we went from 16 to 20 teams

7 years later we went to 24 teams in 1969

8 years later we went to 26 teams in 1977

16 years later we expanded to 28 teams in 1993

5 years later we went to the current 30 teams in 1998

17 years no expansion.

[NJTank]

I forgot about the increasing Latin American population, but shouldn't that also mean that baseball should also do better? Both sports are big parts of Latin American culture.

Baseball needs to start including international players in the draft, also MLB is about to get hit with the Cuban bomb. With relations being restored in the USA and Cuba, I see very soon a pathway for all Cuban players to play in MLB without intrigue or the need to defect. With as baseball rich Cuba is with talent I can see tons of players coming.

[ninersdd]

Good luck attracting free agents to Mexico and Cuba. (Unless there is a MASSIVE price tag involved)

[NJTank]

You cant expand to Mexico until they get rid of the carrells. The risk of kidnapping is too high.

Cuban expansion is far off as well.

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

More I read about Charlotte, the more I think it could be a good market for a MLB team. What stands out is the Charlotte Knights of the International League have been number 1 in attendance since they moved into their centrally located stadium. I wonder if BB&T Ballpark could be expanded for a MLB team.

I think charlotte could definitely support the team, however there would definitely be some obstacles. I highly doubt the city funds another new stadium, and, no, the existing one cannot be turned into an MLB park. Also, the city has a 20-year contract with the team to play in the stadium. It could happen, I suppose, if someone financed their own stadium, as then both the city and the Knights would want out of that contract. But then there would be an abandoned 5-year old, state-of-the-art facility just rotting in uptown Charlotte.

Can Charlotte support three major pro teams? Wouldn't it be better to put the team in Raleigh (the Research Triangle is the second biggest metro area in NC). Couldn't that city support a second major team sport club.

[DustDevil61]

More I read about Charlotte, the more I think it could be a good market for a MLB team. What stands out is the Charlotte Knights of the International League have been number 1 in attendance since they moved into their centrally located stadium. I wonder if BB&T Ballpark could be expanded for a MLB team.

I think charlotte could definitely support the team, however there would definitely be some obstacles. I highly doubt the city funds another new stadium, and, no, the existing one cannot be turned into an MLB park. Also, the city has a 20-year contract with the team to play in the stadium. It could happen, I suppose, if someone financed their own stadium, as then both the city and the Knights would want out of that contract. But then there would be an abandoned 5-year old, state-of-the-art facility just rotting in uptown Charlotte.

Can Charlotte support three major pro teams? Wouldn't it be better to put the team in Raleigh (the Research Triangle is the second biggest metro area in NC). Couldn't that city support a second major team sport club.

As for North Carolina, I'd put Raleigh above Charlotte because if any market in the state can support one more team, it's the Research Triangle. Cuba is a non-starter and Mexico (even Mexico City) would have an uphill struggle to attract top-level talent consistently.

[bosrs1]

Here is something to chew on, and blow your mind.

Since 1960 and the start of expansion in MLB we have now gone longer without expansion than any other time.

1961/1962 we went from 16 to 20 teams

7 years later we went to 24 teams in 1969

8 years later we went to 26 teams in 1977

16 years later we expanded to 28 teams in 1993

5 years later we went to the current 30 teams in 1998

17 years no expansion.

Good. A little stability is a good thing. Particularly with 2 teams that are for all intents homeless and in need of relocation. Not to mention that many of those expansion teams added in the last 30 years are still mired in mediocrity.

[CubsFan4Life]

If I could do anything I want with MLB, here's what I'd maybe do:

Tampa Bay Rays become Montreal Expos, AL East.

Expand to Monterrey Mexico, San Juan Puerto Rico, Havana Cuba, & Portland Oregon.

Take over the entire continent.

Perhaps reverting to 4 divisions, to keep things simpler. Have 2x Wild Card spots per division, with 4x Wild Card play-in games to end the season (2nd & 3rd place teams play a single WC game per division). Division Series as 5x games, with the opening game at the WC team, the other 4x at the Division winner for (newly) 150 game season division champion.

LCS + WS remain 7, home field best teams.

ASG winners get to play the Japanese champion in November.

Now pay me money.

No money, that sounds awful.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

You cant expand to Mexico until they get rid of the carrells. The risk of kidnapping is too high.

Cuban expansion is far off as well.

[TheOldRoman]

Manfred would be smart to have a longterm plan with vetted cities and potential owners in said cities. However, none of those cities outside of Montreal have the base to actually support a big league team 81 times a season, and IceCap has talked extensively about the issues Montreal has with Francophones not caring much for baseball. Mexico city certainly has some money, but it also has horrific smog, prolific kidnapping, and drug cartels. Also, as a thought out of leftfield, let's consider the that those cartels just might kidnap a player's family members and hold them for ransom for the player to participate in a fix. Free agency-wise, putting a team in Mexico City would be the equivalent of the NHL putting a team in Yellowknife.

We've seen some disastrous expansions in baseball and the NHL, and the Jacksonville Jaguars are still kinda pending on the whole disaster thing. Baseball is the hardest sport for a city to support - twice the capacity of hockey and basketball with twice as many games. And of course, the tickets are much, much more expensive than any minor leagues which these cities might already support.

Considering the two current teams in limbo, baseball should definitely have emergency plans for them, but shouldn't be looking to actually expand for at least another decade. And when they do expand, they need to go into cities in which the population and wealth have already exploded, not cities with projected explosions like Jacksonville 20 years ago.

[Dexter Morgan]

I forgot about the increasing Latin American population, but shouldn't that also mean that baseball should also do better? Both sports are big parts of Latin American culture.

Baseball needs to start including international players in the draft, also MLB is about to get hit with the Cuban bomb. With relations being restored in the USA and Cuba, I see very soon a pathway for all Cuban players to play in MLB without intrigue or the need to defect. With as baseball rich Cuba is with talent I can see tons of players coming.

MLB already gets Cuba's best players, don't see any drastic change.

[Mac the Knife]

As I've said here many times before, Raleigh trumps Charlotte as a potential MLB market, hands down.

The first thing to take into account is that while Charlotte currently supports one minor league franchise within what would be its MLB market, Raleigh supports two: the AAA Durham Bulls, and the A-level Carolina Mudcats (dropped from AA a few years ago as a cost-cutting measure). An MLB move into either market would obviously obliterate the existing teams, but you could easily apply the attendance figures from each in an extrapolation to figure out average attendance for MLB-level baseball. The Bulls averaged 7,608 a game vs. the Knights at 9,749, but then you add the average 3,362 who attended Carolina Mudcats games, and suddenly in terms of gate attendance it's not quite so cut-and-dry.

Charlotte has the Atlanta Braves within (granted, it's a haul) driving distance, and any MLB team going into that market would have to contend with competition for the entertainment dollar not only with the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets, but NASCAR. In Raleigh their only competition would be the Carolina Hurricanes, and frankly that'd not be a competition - a MLB team here would revert the 'Canes to "oh, yeah, we have them too" status. That type of leapfrogging would never occur in Charlotte.

Charlotte has issues with respect to where a stadium would be constructed, far moreso than was the case 20 years ago, when they had some logistical struggles in getting Carolinas Stadium (now "Insert Your Corporate Name Here Stadium") built - land parcel acquisition in particular. The Knights current home doesn't have an adequate footprint for MLB, and they can't really expand it. Raleigh meanwhile can slap a new stadium in any one of at least a half dozen places in the area, including smack-dab in the middle of Raleigh and Durham, providing convenient access from both cities and their suburbs.

and finally...

The local television and radio markets of Charlotte and Raleigh are remarkably similar, despite Charlotte holding an overall population advantage. I've no idea if this is the case in Charlotte, but Durham Bulls games are aired here periodically to fill weekend daytime "death hour" slots, and do surprisingly well in terms of ratings. Capital Broadcasting (which owns the Bulls) would be directly involved in an MLB team relocating/expanding here, and as such would have a serious advantage in terms of negotiating broadcasting rights.

[zpqmaowl]

Mexico City would make Coors Field seem like Petco Park.

[marlinfan]

Per capita income is $6,200 in Cuba. Lol @ the thought of MLB considering it for expansion in the next generation (or two).

Everyone is missing the big picture. There are no serious relocation threats for the league to use because the political will around the country is not there for publicly built stadia. Back in the 2000s, Vegas, Portland and San Antonio had mayors actively pursuing MLB teams. Flash forward to 2015 and there are none. A big factor in that was Selig's moratorium on expansion. Manfred is signaling a change.

Also, someone mentioned MLB tried to contract two teams 14 years ago and now they're looking to expand. Yes, because the economic landscape of the sport has changed dramatically and probably more profoundly than at any point in the game's history.

[2001mark]

You cant expand to Mexico until they get rid of the carrells. The risk of kidnapping is too high.

Cuban expansion is far off as well.

Meh, Detroit vs. Monterrey would be a fun riot.