Power Ranking MLB Expansion/Relocation candidates

MLB has toyed with the idea of expansion, not having done so since 1998, when league added the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay then-Devil Rays as their 29th and 30th teams. And to put it mildly, Tampa bay has not been great. The stadium sucks, the attendance is dismal despite the team being really competitive, and they recently had a plan to split the season with Montreal fall apart (who could have expected that except everybody?). It’s been awhile to say the least, but it may soon be time for the MLB to expand, if not relocate. Here are a few potential ideas for cities, team names, and, just for fun, the closest MLB team to that city in terms of miles.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Artist renderings of a potential domed MLB ballpark in Vegas

The Vegas Golden Knights were born in 2017. They won the Western Conference and played in the Stanley Cup Final in their first year. The Raiders followed suit and now play in Vegas after relocating from Oakland, California. Sports gives Vegas billions of dollars. Plus, all four sports leagues will be in Vegas sooner rather than later. It makes sense for the MLB to get ahead of the NBA at the very least.

So many of the leagues have been hesitant to expand to Vegas until recently, and boy do they wish they did it sooner. The Raiders and Golden Knights have proven that the market can not only handle multiple teams, but that they can thrive. The MLB also has the benefit of their season having minimal overlap with the NHL and NFL schedules, which is a big plus. The main obstacle would be building a third, brand new facility in the city in such a short time, as well as probably needing a retractable roof and climate controlled stadium to deal with the harsh Nevada summers.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Olympic Stadium in Montreal, former home to the Expos

The argument against this is we’ve seen baseball in Montreal before, and attendance was never great. Before moving the Washington to become the Nationals in 2004, the then-Expos’ highest single season attendance average was 28,650 in 1982. That season, the Expos finished 86-76. The year prior, they lost the National League Championship Series in six games in the franchise’s lone postseason appearance. But the Expos narrowly missed the postseason in 1993, going 94-68-1.

And everyone remembers 1994. The Expo’s were 74-40, leading the Braves by six games in the NL East. That season was infamously cut short due to a strike. And the team never recovered. Attendance at Olympic Stadium climbed above 20,000 when they were competitive. The problem was that they were never consistently good. But I think this is among the more logical choices, especially since they had recently been part of Tampa’s half-baked plan to split their season between Tampa and Montreal.

Portland, Oregon

Renderings of a potential stadium in Portland.

Bet you didn’t know that Portland is actually the 25th most populated city in America. But it’s the home of only a couple of team, the biggest being the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. Portland loves their teams though. The Trail Blazers are almost a constantly sold out for games. If you need further evidence of Portland’s passion for their teams, look to the city’s two soccer teams, as the Portland Timbers of MLS boast an impressive sellout streak and Portland Thorns of NWSL have set league attendance records.

The team would also have a natural built-in rivalry with the neighboring Seattle Mariners. While the location of a potential stadium may be more challenging than other places on this list, it’s certainly not impossible. The MLB also has the advantage of this not being an overly saturated sports market, so they won’t have too many teams to compete with for attention.

Nashville, Tennessee

A proposed concept of an MLB stadium in Nashville.

Nashville has the Sounds, which is the Triple-A affiliate for the Texas Rangers, so they already have some experience with baseball. At one point, they’ve ranked number three in attendance among the minor league teams. Not bad. The city already has the Predators, Titans, and Nashville SC in town, and has proven to be a hotspot for sports fans for its bar scene, and rowdy crowds, specifically at Predators games.

Nashville is currently home to almost 700,000 people, and around 30,000 people have moved to the city since 2016. It is rapidly becoming not only a hot spot for bachelor and bachelorette parties, or country singers to chase their dreams, but for people to make their permanent home. Nashville would naturally be a hot spot.