I hate adding playoff teams. I like it the way it is now (although I wouldn't object to the first round being best of 7).

 

Don't mind Houston to the AL or more interleague games.

 

I actually wouldn't mind adding two more teams to round it at at 32 - 16 in each league.

 

I feel like Vegas, Portland, Charlotte, San Juan, and Vancouver would all be good places for teams.

I feel like Vegas, Portland, Charlotte, San Juan, and Vancouver would all be good places for teams.

This subject comes up in here about once a year. I've never seen Vancouver mentioned though, Seattle is right there. The cities I usually see mentioned are:

 

Las Vegas

San Juan, PR

Portland, OR

Charlotte or other Carolinas city

San Antonio / McAllen

Albuquerque / Santa Fe

Nashville

Salt Lake City

Mexico somewhere, but that doesn't seem like a great idea right now

 

I'd guess that list is your starting point. And I'd be good with 32 teams as well, when the economy picks up again. You may also see some teams, like maybe Tampa Bay, move to one of those cities eventually as well. Every one of those areas on the list has some good reasons to get a team.

 

This subject comes up in here about once a year. I've never seen Vancouver mentioned though, Seattle is right there. The cities I usually see mentioned are:

 

Las Vegas

San Juan, PR

Portland, OR

Charlotte or other Carolinas city

San Antonio / McAllen

Albuquerque / Santa Fe

Nashville

Salt Lake City

Mexico somewhere, but that doesn't seem like a great idea right now

 

I'd guess that list is your starting point. And I'd be good with 32 teams as well, when the economy picks up again. You may also see some teams, like maybe Tampa Bay, move to one of those cities eventually as well. Every one of those areas on the list has some good reasons to get a team.

 

I think Las Vegas and Nashville are the two most ideal sites. Nashville is probably the best, as there isn't much baseball near there.

Vancouver would be AWESOME to have a team.

Vancouver would be AWESOME to have a team.

 

I'd tune in for the riots.

I think Las Vegas and Nashville are the two most ideal sites. Nashville is probably the best, as there isn't much baseball near there.

The whole "Black Sox" connection makes baseball in Vegas very unlikely in our lifetimes. Ditto Pete Rose.

 

Portland Or is wierd, because it's kinda small, but supposedly the interest in baseball in that area is through the roof.

I feel like Vegas, Portland, Charlotte, San Juan, and Vancouver would all be good places for teams.

 

I was actually thinking Portland/Vancouver to the AL (rivalry with Seattle) and one of Memphis/Charlotte/Indianapolis to the NL

I was actually thinking Portland/Vancouver to the AL (rivalry with Seattle) and one of Memphis/Charlotte/Indianapolis to the NL

Memphis won't get a team. Nashville is in the same state, almost identical population for the metro... except Nashville has a lot more money, and isn't already heavily aligned with one team (STL, just up the road from MEM, and has their AAA team). If TN gets a team, its Nashville.

 

And I just don't see Vancouver getting a team. Its less than a hundred miles from Seattle.

 

But this is a fun thread idea for The Diamond Club, I'll put one in there for this discussion.

 

With the realignment of Houston to give each league 15 teams, the topic has come up again about adding another 2 MLB teams. Plus with Tampa looking likely to move in the next few years, let's look at the cities involved and debate.

 

I'll move some of the posts on this from PHT, then give a long list to work from, and we can see what order people would put them in...

 

OK, here is a list to start from. This is my order of which cities make the most sense and are most likely to get teams. Discuss and provide your order, and/or add cities...

 

1. Charlotte / Carolinas

2. Nashville

3. Albuquerque / Santa Fe

4. Portland, OR

5. Las Vegas

6. Salt Lake City

7. San Juan, PR

8. San Antonio / McAllen

9. Indianapolis

10. Vancouver

11. Mexico somewhere

 

I'm willing to bet that three of those get teams in the next decade.

Please no expansion. It is hard enough to fill the rosters of the 30 teams we have now. I do not want to see the talent pool deluded anymore than it already is.

Please no expansion. It is hard enough to fill the rosters of the 30 teams we have now. I do not want to see the talent pool deluded anymore than it already is.

The continuing decrease in offense over the past 5 years has led a number of people to conclude that the pitching levels in MLB have finally caught up with the expansion of the 1990's.

Please no expansion. It is hard enough to fill the rosters of the 30 teams we have now. I do not want to see the talent pool deluded anymore than it already is.

 

Hence Mark Kotsay's ability to find a job again.

Hence Mark Kotsay's ability to find a job again.

 

Exactly.

"A guy who hit .270 off the bench in the national league should not be able to find a job!" is the best reason you can give for why expansion shouldn't happen?

 

Hell, line me up for 2 more teams.

Oh good, Balta and SS2K5 are here to argue something to death, so no one is willing to step in and actually talk about the question posed in the thread.

 

Oh good, Balta and SS2K5 are here to argue something to death, so no one is willing to step in and actually talk about the question posed in the thread.

Of course, the actual points made earlier get ignored as well. but hey, Mark Kotsay!

Of course, the actual points made earlier get ignored as well. but hey, Mark Kotsay!

Keep going Balta, maybe you'll win a cookie.

 

Speaking of Mark Kotsay. After his 0 for 25 season vs. LHP in 2010 for the Sox, he went 6 for 13 vs. lefties in 2011.

With the realignment of Houston to give each league 15 teams, the topic has come up again about adding another 2 MLB teams. Plus with Tampa looking likely to move in the next few years, let's look at the cities involved and debate.

 

I'll move some of the posts on this from PHT, then give a long list to work from, and we can see what order people would put them in...

BTW, doesn't Tampa have an incredibly hard lease to break?

Keep going Balta, maybe you'll win a cookie.

 

 

I don't think the league overall benefits from expansion. Sure the owners pull down another billion/billion and a half from the franchise fees, but with as hard as it is to field a 25 man roster and fill a pitching staff now, the level of talent in the league doesn't benefit from 50 more AAA players in the majors.

 

I don't think the league overall benefits from expansion. Sure the owners pull down another billion/billion and a half from the franchise fees, but with as hard as it is to field a 25 man roster and fill a pitching staff now, the level of talent in the league doesn't benefit from 50 more AAA players in the majors.

Again I'd reply that it seems to have gotten quite a bit easier to fill out a 25 man roster with legit MLB level players over the last decade.

 

They might well have overdone expansion in the 90's, but it's been 15 years, and the continuing decrease in offense (presumably no longer related to removal of drugs) suggests to me that the pitching staffs in particular are catching up.

 

Plus, if you assume continued expansion of overseas players coming over, or arriving from Latin America, you've got the NBA-type scenario setup, where there is regular arrival of new talent that wasn't represented 15 years ago.

BTW, doesn't Tampa have an incredibly hard lease to break?

That's a good point, I am not sure, and I am not sure what it costs them if they break it. I just know that even when they are winning, they can't draw fans, and Tampa won't be building them a new park anytime soon.

 

 

Again I'd reply that it seems to have gotten quite a bit easier to fill out a 25 man roster with legit MLB level players over the last decade.

 

They might well have overdone expansion in the 90's, but it's been 15 years, and the continuing decrease in offense (presumably no longer related to removal of drugs) suggests to me that the pitching staffs in particular are catching up.

 

Plus, if you assume continued expansion of overseas players coming over, or arriving from Latin America, you've got the NBA-type scenario setup, where there is regular arrival of new talent that wasn't represented 15 years ago.

 

All that still means you are finding 50 more minor league and out of work major leaguers to put on rosters. It also ignores the gigantic fall of baseball as the sport of choice for youth in the United States over the last two generations.

 

It also isn't just about pitching staffs. I have no desire to see a 48 year old Omar Vizquel on someones roster.

The whole "Black Sox" connection makes baseball in Vegas very unlikely in our lifetimes. Ditto Pete Rose.

 

Portland Or is wierd, because it's kinda small, but supposedly the interest in baseball in that area is through the roof.

 

I thought I replied to this yesterday, but it must not have gone through. If an event that happened in 1919 is a main concern to not allow a franchise in a certain city, then I don't think there's much reason to worry about putting a team there.