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Portland and other MLB expansion name possibilities


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21 minutes ago, Trapper John said:

Mexico City is at an elevation of 7,382 feet I'd love to see how that went with all the complaints about Denver at 5,280.  

 

 

Wow. But for the sake of discussing uniform and branding, the colors that I would love for them are ironically similar to what I would love for Portland:

 

Image result for mexico world baseball

 

 

I would go for a darker, or more olive green for Portland though.

 

 

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On 20/10/2017 at 7:37 PM, Jimmy! said:

Thank you.  If Portland had trouble supporting A and AAA baseball, why give them a MLB franchise?

 

From events in soccer we now know that that is faulty reasoning.  The attendance numbers of the USL's Seattle, Montreal, and Atlanta teams gave no hint of the huge crowds that MLS teams in those cities would draw.

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Using the USL to support an argument as to why Portland could support baseball team makes no sense.  The city has had five minor league franchises in the last 40 years. 

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3 hours ago, Jimmy! said:

Using the USL to support an argument as to why Portland could support baseball team makes no sense.  The city has had five minor league franchises in the last 40 years. 

 

The soccer examples are directly comparable.  The point is that the level of support for a lower league team in a city does not predict what the support will be for a top league team. 

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4 hours ago, Jimmy! said:

If I’m major league baseball, I would stay away from cities who have had trouble supporting class A Minor league baseball teams.

Supporting a team that's subservient to another is a whole different ballgame than supporting an MLB club. I'm not saying Portland should necessarily get a team or anything, but I just don't think this is necessarily the be-all, end-all argument against a Portland team. 

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2 hours ago, Red Wolf said:

Supporting a team that's subservient to another is a whole different ballgame than supporting an MLB club. I'm not saying Portland should necessarily get a team or anything, but I just don't think this necessarily the be-all, end-all argument against a Portland team. 

True, but it doesn’t help their cause.

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"I secretly hope people like that hydroplane into a wall." - Dennis "Big Sexy" Ittner

POTD - 7/3/14

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I'm not seeing Portland or Montreal working. It would have to be one of Charlotte/Raleigh/Nashville and then, I dunno, something else, but I'm not high on Portland and Montreal is dead you killed it.

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7 hours ago, Red Wolf said:
8 hours ago, Jimmy! said:

If I’m major league baseball, I would stay away from cities who have had trouble supporting class A Minor league baseball teams.

Supporting a team that's subservient to another is a whole different ballgame than supporting an MLB club. I'm not saying Portland should necessarily get a team or anything, but I just don't think this is necessarily the be-all, end-all argument against a Portland team. 

 

Per-game attendance averages:

 

1990 Miami Miracle (A) - 686
1991 Miami Miracle (A) - 870
1993 Florida Marlins - 37,838
1994 Florida Marlins - 32,838

1991 Denver Zephyrs (AAA) - 7640
1992 Denver Zephyrs (AAA) - 4826
1993 Colorado Rockies - 55,350
1994 Colorado Rockies - 57,570

1996 Phoenix Firebirds (AAA) - 3718
1997 Phoenix Firebirds (AAA) - 2932
1998 Arizona Diamondbacks - 44,571
1999 Arizona Diamondbacks - 37,280

 

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And those three cities had stable minor league franchises for over 50 years. Portland has had five different franchises in a forty year span. Not convinced.

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"I secretly hope people like that hydroplane into a wall." - Dennis "Big Sexy" Ittner

POTD - 7/3/14

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On 10/21/2017 at 8:33 PM, Trapper John said:

Mexico City is at an elevation of 7,382 feet I'd love to see how that went with all the complaints about Denver at 5,280.  

 

A Mexico City ballpark would make Coors Field look like a pitcher friendly ballpark by comparison.

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The closest major league team to Mexico City are the Houston Astros, almost exactly 750 miles away. 

 

If Mexico City were placed in the same division as the Mariners (which is possible if they were in the AL), they'd be a full 2,300 miles away from a divisional rival - the equivalent of having the Mariners and Orioles in the same division.

 

Apart from the economics of a team in Mexico, the inability of a Mexican team to attract free agents, and the absurdity of baseball at 7,400 feet altitude, the insane travel schedule would make a Mexico City team nearly impossible.

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I seriously think Monterrey is a better candidate than Mexico City. It's a lot closer, they're a wealthier city, lower elecation, and they're a more "Americanized" location. Still not ideal, though.

 

Montreal is suitable, but I only see them getting in, via expansion, if the MLB gets another strong suitor city, to balance the scales.

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20 minutes ago, kroywen said:

The closest major league team to Mexico City are the Houston Astros, almost exactly 750 miles away. 

 

If Mexico City were placed in the same division as the Mariners (which is possible if they were in the AL), they'd be a full 2,300 miles away from a divisional rival - the equivalent of having the Mariners and Orioles in the same division.

 

Apart from the economics of a team in Mexico, the inability of a Mexican team to attract free agents, and the absurdity of baseball at 7,400 feet altitude, the insane travel schedule would make a Mexico City team nearly impossible.

 

I agree. Mexico City would be a disastrous expansion decision. 

 

I'm not convinced the baseball really needs to expand. All of the ideal markets have teams (and some aren't exactly ideal), and any potential markets come with difficulties. Portland doesn't have a temporary venue and has a spotty history with post-1958 minor league baseball, Indianapolis is right in the middle of several teams' territory, Charlotte got a brand new AAA ballpark that's not expandable, and Montreal has the demographic and economic issues already mentioned. I don't think it's as dead as @the admiral said it is, but reviving baseball full-time in Montreal would be an uphill battle. 

 

Maybe the expansion bubble in the MLS has soured me on the idea, but expansion is not the best of plans right now. Let the A's and Rays resolve their stadium issues, then talk about it and scout the expansion groups to make sure we're not getting another Vince Naimoli in the majors.

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33 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Maybe the expansion bubble in the MLS has soured me on the idea, but expansion is not the best of plans right now. Let the A's and Rays resolve their stadium issues, then talk about it and scout the expansion groups to make sure we're not getting another Vince Naimoli in the majors.

I wouldnt wish another Vince Naimoli on anyone else...

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1 hour ago, BeerGuyJordan said:

I seriously think Monterrey is a better candidate than Mexico City. It's a lot closer, they're a wealthier city, lower elecation, and they're a more "Americanized" location. Still not ideal, though.

 

Montreal is suitable, but I only see them getting in, via expansion, if the MLB gets another strong suitor city, to balance the scales.

The thing about Monterey is that while it's probably big enough to support a team, it'd still be a small market team.

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