Charlotte, NC
Memphis, TN
Portland, OR
New Orleans, LA
Calgary, Alberta,Canada
Las Vegas, NV
Jacksonville, FL
“According to Olney, two highly-ranked executives think the Astros could receive the call in order to tap into a rivalry with the Texas Rangers. Picking the Astros would also allow baseball to remove one team from the NL Central and slot Houston into the AL West, which would address the issue of playoff percentages.”
That is a horrendous idea.
Makes my stomach turn.
MLB cannot add two teams as it would dilute pitching at a time when pitching just overcame the steroid era.
Portland and Nashville?
Memphis and New Orleans have a hard time with pro sports (save for the resurgent Saints of the past five years.) Portland is too small and too close to Seattle. Las Vegas would have to have Nevada amend the gaming laws, and they're too close to the Diamondbacks. As for Jacksonville, there's not a great attendance record among Florida teams, even during a play-off series.
Don’t watch Major League ball
Watch the Minors. They are right in my home town, they have a nice stadium, the price is much cheaper, no one ever tries to beat my head in, and it’s a nice evening out without facing traffic in a major city.
The game played is just as good sometimes better.
I think Portland is the most likely candidate from that list and Vegas the least likely just because of the gambling fears.
FWIW, the DH is an abomination. As a reluctantly offered compromise, remove the pitcher from the batting line-up in both leagues and dump the DH. no one wants to see a pitcher flail away at a fast ball and they don’t make pitchers like Babe Ruth anymore.
They should drop two teams. The players union would never go for it though....
Calgary
SW Connecticut (a third New York team, in essence)
Nashville
Or just add the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, Seattle Pilots and the Kansas City Royals....switch to 2 divisions in each league, with a playoff to advance to the World Series, and, and....awe heck, that would never work!
The problem with Calgary is that it's just not a "baseball" city. What hampered attendance for the Cannons was the short summer season and cool summer evenings. Fans needed to bring jackets to night games even during the peak of summer, as temperatures often dip down into the 50s once the sun goes down at that elevation.
I may be wrong about this, but I believe Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio are the largest metro areas in the U.S. without a MLB team.
The first thing baseball should do is get rid of Bud Selig. In fact, they should send a letter of apology to everyone that’s bought a ticket to a game since Bud became commissioner. Then add a few inches to the mound and loosen the stiches on the baseball. Then cut 20+ games from the season and make all playoff games back to back so that we stop having to watch ‘the boys of summer’ play when it’s 10 degrees outside.
Oh, and interleague play should be limited to two series a year.
MLB lying to themselves again. The gimmick is over.
Hate it from beginning to end but I would accept it only if a new Calgary team could be called the Tar Sands to make liberals’ heads explode.
AL EAST – NYY, Bosox, Toronto, Baltimore
AL NORTH – Chisox, Minn, Detroit, Cleveland
AL SOUTH – Texas, KC, OKC (expansion), Houston
AL WEST – Oakland, LAA, Seattle, Colorado
NL EAST – NYM, Philly, Pitt, WashDC
NL NORTH – ChiCubs, Milw, St. Louis, Cincy
NL SOUTH – ATL, Florida, Carolina (move from Tampa), Nashville (expansion)
NL WEST – LAD, SanFran, SanDiego, AZ
They can’t fill the stadia now. Why would they add teams?
Of course the only reason the two leagues are imbalanced is they moved the Brewers from the AL to the NL about the time they added the last two expansion teams (Tampa and Arizona).
Everyone will call me a nut job for suggesting Albuquerque, but here is my argument.
Albuquerque has been the home for the Dodgers and Marlins AAA farm club for decades. They started off as the Albuquerque Dukes, and are now the Isotopes. There has always been great attendance, and the ballpark has been redone recently. It’s a beautifull stadium and there is room to expand it for more seating. There is plenty of parking as the University of New Mexico football stadium and the famed Pit are accross the street. Albuquerque doen’t have the distraction of other proffesional teams. I believe there would be great support for an MLB team in New Mexico. You also have the potential for great rivalries already built in with the Diamondbacks, Rockies, Padres and Rangers. Albuquerque is also a very good TV market.