Baseball in Montréal

[Gothamite]

How many big name free agents have the Pirates signed in the last decade or so? The Indians? The Rockies? The Brewers?

[The_Admiral]

For whatever it's worth, the Maple Leafs and Canadiens don't even sign big-name free agents all that often, and the fact that the big-name free agent is going extinct certainly won't aid that.

[Lights Out]

I've been to Montreal. It's a great city and I'm not sure why free agents wouldn't want to sign there. I don't know any French and I still had no problems getting around, so that's not much of an obstacle.

If Detroit can attract free agents, I see no reason why Montreal can't as long as the team is stable and well-managed (which they would be if it's the Rays moving there).

[TheOldRoman]

I just wish I could get a true Montreal smoked meat sandwich in the States. Pastrami is all well and good, but I'm ready to take it to the next level.

EDIT: YESSSS THEY HAVE IT AT THE FRENCH MARKET UNDERNEATH OGILVIE STATION I'M GONNA DIE OF SMOKED MEAT OVERDOSE

ORLY? I might have to take a stroll by Ogilve on my lunch break. I never had a smoked meat sandwich. Any chance they also have poutine? I might as well just get it all out of my system at once and slip into a meat coma.

[The_Admiral]

Looks like it's just a really good deli (Fumare), not so much a taste-of-Quebec kind of thing. 'sides, that'd be crossing anglophone and francophone culture.

I've been to Montreal. It's a great city and I'm not sure why free agents wouldn't want to sign there. I don't know any French and I still had no problems getting around, so that's not much of an obstacle.

If Detroit can attract free agents, I see no reason why Montreal can't as long as the team is stable and well-managed (which they would be if it's the Rays moving there).

Quebec kicks the living crap out of you on income taxes, by the way. But then, Florida doesn't, and no one's leaving money on the table to sign there.

[TheOldRoman]

Yeah, but outside of two non-consecutive years, no team in Florida has made any actual efforts to sign free agents.

Back to the important stuff, I am looking forward to the smoked meat. I hope it's steamed there, and not reheated. I still have to find a place to try poutine, though.

[IceCap]

Anything that's not authentic Montreal smoked meat (Schwartz's would be my preference) is a half-measure at best.

[TheOldRoman]

I just googled it, and Montreal is 13 hour drive from my house. That's pretty daunting. If they had a baseball team, I would be more motivated to make that drive to gorge myself on smoked meat and watch baseball. MAKE IT HAPPEN, SELIG.

[sportstar1212]

I just googled it, and Montreal is 13 hour drive from my house. That's pretty daunting. If they had a baseball team, I would be more motivated to make that drive to gorge myself on smoked meat and watch baseball. MAKE IT HAPPEN, SELIG.

Go to Dunn's in Montreal. They're the best.

[TheOldRoman]

SMOKED MEAT UPDATE: I was bogged down at work and was not able to get to Ogilvie Station today. I hope to make it sometime next week. I will provide updates as the story develops.

[TheOldRoman]

I just googled it, and Montreal is 13 hour drive from my house. That's pretty daunting. If they had a baseball team, I would be more motivated to make that drive to gorge myself on smoked meat and watch baseball. MAKE IT HAPPEN, SELIG.

Go to Dunn's in Montreal. They're the best.

Oh, I'm not going anytime soon. Just got back from a mini vacation last on Sunday, plus Summer is ending soon. Maybe I will make it next Summer. When I do go, I'll definitely start a thread to get feedback on things to do in Montreal from all the Canadians (or Canadiens) on here.

EDIT: Hey! The quote function is up and running again!

[sportstar1212]

I just googled it, and Montreal is 13 hour drive from my house. That's pretty daunting. If they had a baseball team, I would be more motivated to make that drive to gorge myself on smoked meat and watch baseball. MAKE IT HAPPEN, SELIG.

Go to Dunn's in Montreal. They're the best.

Oh, I'm not going anytime soon. Just got back from a mini vacation last on Sunday, plus Summer is ending soon. Maybe I will make it next Summer. When I do go, I'll definitely start a thread to get feedback on things to do in Montreal from all the Canadians (or Canadiens) on here.

EDIT: Hey! The quote function is up and running again!

Yeah. I meant that for when you said you want to go to Montreal for baseball and smoked meat.

Montreal is a great city, though. I really want to go to school there next year. I like it a lot better than Toronto, though I like every major city I've been to better than Toronto.

[jigokusabre]

Yeah, but in terms of metropolitan area, it slots in right around Detroit and Seattle. Which is still a lot of people! Just a lot of people who might not be into baseball.

Let me correct myself then:

City proper:

3 Chicago 2,714,856

4 Houston 2,160,821

* Montreal 1,649,519

5 Philadelphia 1,547,607

Metro area:

13 Seattle 4,399,332

14 Riverside (CA) 4,350,096

15 Phoenix 4,329,534

* Montreal 3,824,221

16 Minneapolis 3,759,978

Definitely a viable size for a team. As for interest... if baseball cannot generate interest in its product, then what is it doing expanding in the first place? So long as it has an ownership group interested in winning (unlike the Loria/MLB regime) and makes a good faith effort to compete, there's no reason to suspect that it would do any worse than average.

[Beluga4]

Smoked meat what the heck did this topic come to? I think if the MLB expands Montreal is the # 1 place that the MLB would choose for an expansion team. Alright! talk about bringing back the expos is on the boards:)

[BBTV]

Yeah, but in terms of metropolitan area, it slots in right around Detroit and Seattle. Which is still a lot of people! Just a lot of people who might not be into baseball.

Let me correct myself then:

City proper:

3 Chicago 2,714,856

4 Houston 2,160,821

* Montreal 1,649,519

5 Philadelphia 1,547,607

Metro area:

13 Seattle 4,399,332

14 Riverside (CA) 4,350,096

15 Phoenix 4,329,534

* Montreal 3,824,221

16 Minneapolis 3,759,978

Definitely a viable size for a team. As for interest... if baseball cannot generate interest in its product, then what is it doing expanding in the first place? So long as it has an ownership group interested in winning (unlike the Loria/MLB regime) and makes a good faith effort to compete, there's no reason to suspect that it would do any worse than average.

City proper numbers are meaningless, especially when you consider the differences in how North East cities define their boundaries compared to say Houston, who's "city" includes what most people would consider their suburbs. Metro area is better, but again is far more spread out in many regions of the country, so while it's certainly a good start to the debate, it's one of only many things that need to be looked at.

[IceCap]

Smoked meat what the heck did this topic come to?

Montreal smoked meat is the best on the planet. What that has to do with Major League Baseball in Montreal is suspect, but it's never a bad time to talk about it.

[walby2]

Getting the Expos in the first place likely had to do with the fact that Montreal was already building a billion dollar multipurpose stadium complex for the 76 Olympics anyway. The fact that getting a franchise back will rely on a > $500 million expenditure for a new baseball-specific stadium will make Montreal's odds of getting the Expos back pretty long.

Contrast this with NHL rinks built or under construction in Winnipeg and Quebec City, respectively. Those buildings are less expensive and make money with or without a NHL team... minor league/junior hockey and an array of concerts will fill the seats while those markets put in the groundwork for NHL franchises. With baseball it's a different story... ballparks are essentially pricy single-purpose structures and I have my doubts that after the Olympic Stadium fiasco, the Government of Quebec is going to be all that accommodating to any requests for subsidies to build a costly baseball stadium.

Even though I have no doubt Montreal could support a MLB team and I'd love to see it happen, the capital costs to attract a franchise might be too high for the market to bear.

[BigBubba]

Getting the Expos in the first place likely had to do with the fact that Montreal was already building a billion dollar multipurpose stadium complex for the 76 Olympics anyway. The fact that getting a franchise back will rely on a > $500 million expenditure for a new baseball-specific stadium will make Montreal's odds of getting the Expos back pretty long.

Contrast this with NHL rinks built or under construction in Winnipeg and Quebec City, respectively. Those buildings are less expensive and make money with or without a NHL team... minor league/junior hockey and an array of concerts will fill the seats while those markets put in the groundwork for NHL franchises. With baseball it's a different story... ballparks are essentially pricy single-purpose structures and I have my doubts that after the Olympic Stadium fiasco, the Government of Quebec is going to be all that accommodating to any requests for subsidies to build a costly baseball stadium.

Even though I have no doubt Montreal could support a MLB team and I'd love to see it happen, the capital costs to attract a franchise might be too high for the market to bear.

I completely agree about the latter part of your post regarding the government's likely reluctance to fund a baseball-specific stadium, but I just want to point out that Montréal was awarded a National League team two years before they were awarded the Olympics (1968 and 1970). So the building of The "O" had nothing to do with the decision to put a team there.

[walby2]

I completely agree about the latter part of your post regarding the government's likely reluctance to fund a baseball-specific stadium, but I just want to point out that Montréal was awarded a National League team two years before they were awarded the Olympics (1968 and 1970). So the building of The "O" had nothing to do with the decision to put a team there.

I stand corrected. Thank you for pointing out my erroneous assumption. I had always assumed that the two events were linked, but apparently not.

That said, baseball definitely requires a more significant financial commitment than pro hockey or basketball... the fact that you really can't use a modern, baseball-specific MLB stadium for any other purposes (XFL teams and the occasional concert notwithstanding) as a plan B makes it a risky proposition for Montreal. I hope they can find a way to get it done but it will be really tough.

If Olympic Stadium wasn't such a basketcase of a building perhaps it might be a viable home for a relocated franchise for a few years while a new park is built, but with all the problems they've had there recently (including failures in the 15-year old roof) I'm not sure MLB would touch it with a 10-foot pole.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I've been to Montreal. It's a great city and I'm not sure why free agents wouldn't want to sign there. I don't know any French and I still had no problems getting around, so that's not much of an obstacle.

If Detroit can attract free agents, I see no reason why Montreal can't as long as the team is stable and well-managed (which they would be if it's the Rays moving there).

I don't like the tone of your italization, boy.