If You Could Move One Team...

[Warning Track Power]

I am not promoting the relocation of franchises. However, I do think there exists a couple of franchises who could/should be moved from their current locations and become massively popular in a new location. As I do not think expansion is a topic that will come to MLB anytime soon, I wanted to look at the teams that may benefit the most from moving and locations that would support a new MLB franchise there. My question is who should move and where should they move to?

Two rules (for obvious reasons):

#1 The team can't have a new stadium built in the past 20 years or have one under construction
Eliminates:
NL West: COL, SD, SF, ARI
NL Central: MIL, CIN, STL, PIT, HOU
NL East: PHI, NYM, WAS, ATL, FLA
Eligible:
LAD, CHC

Eliminates:
AL West: LAA, TEX, SEA
AL Central: CWS, MIN, DET, KC, CLE
AL East: NYY, BAL
Eligible:
OAK, BOS, TB, TOR

#2 The team can't be a traditional team that obviously won't move
Eliminates: LAD, CHC, BOS

That leaves us with Toronto, Oakland and Tampa Bay as the teams eligible to move.

*Toronto: I don't know if this team really qualifies as a franchise that would move. I am not real familiar with their following in Toronto and Canada. Anybody have any insight to their following and the Rogers Centre/Skydome situation? Is that still considered a decent enough ballpark even though it was only built in the late 80s? I would be interested to hear someone's perspective.

*Oakland: It seems that the Giants need to relent a little and allow this organization to move to San Jose. I know there have been territorial issues with the franchises with the Giants claiming San Jose as their territory but this seems to be the best and most ideal situation to keeping this team in the Bay Area.

*Tampa Bay: What is the story here? They have had arguably the best team in the league for a few years now and draw terribly. I know the Trop is a dump but come on. If there was one team that drastically needs to move it's these guys. At least the Marlins filled Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Land Shark when they were making the push to the playoffs. Tampa just doesn't strike me as a town that is going to ever continually support baseball. Because of this I think that for the good of the game, Tampa Bay should relocate. My initial thought of where they should go is to Portland. I have friends in the Portland area and say the support for the minor league team there is amazing. If they were to get an MLB team, an immediate rivalry is born with the Mariners. The AL West then has 5 teams. Of course that means the AL East only has 4 but other than the Jays, they all could be relatively close in payroll if the Orioles end up opening the checkbook as everyone is expecting them to over the next few years.

Is Portland a viable MLB option? I don't know but I know Tampa Bay sure doesn't seem like its one.

[Patrick425]

I could be wrong, but I believe within the next year there will be a new stadium approved for the A's.

[RockCoCougars]

Because the Brewers were always the poster boy for this kind of talk 15-20 years ago, I hate to speculate on other teams. These things go in cycles... it seems that the A's relocation rumors have been around since I was a kid- the White Sox, Twins, Indians and Giants were often rumored to be on the move as well (the A's probably still are the most likely team to move in my opinion). Despite all this talk, in my lifetime, only two franchises have moved- one out of Washington (Texas), and one back in. It's kind of weird that Montreal was the only city to lose a team, because back in the day, they had an extremely rabid fan base.

 

I don't want to go all LeBron James, but I will say that baseball should probably not expanded after '77. 26 teams was more than enough. As hard as it was to relocate the Expos, I don't see any viable options at this point in time. Perhaps the Charlotte area, but that would be it. I'm not sure whether Portland would be viable or not.... they have a long minor league tradition, and a history of fervently supporting the Blazers, but I'm not sure how Seattle would take to putting a team there.

[paul253]

I would love to see Tampa Bay move to Portland Ore. It would give another team on the West Coast and I think Portland would really support the team, much more than Tampa does. A lot of realignment would be required, but I'd like to see it. I just can't get over one 4-team division and one 6-team division. I know it works for the schedule, but still.

[RobDeer 45]

It would be the Vikings to LA!

[Warning Track Power]

It would be the Vikings to LA!

Come on Rob! We haven't had a team here in 17 years and you're offering one of the two teams I hate most in life. The only thing on the same level of awful as the Los Angeles Vikings is the Los Angeles Cardinals.

 

 

[RobDeer 45]

Haha, it was too tempting. I live in Minneapolis (for now) so I'd like to throw them out like my trash. I just want it to happen so I can make fun of all my friends that are vikings fans for the rest of their lives. Is that too much to ask?

[trwi7]

I would love to see Tampa Bay move to Portland Ore. It would give another team on the West Coast and I think Portland would really support the team, much more than Tampa does. A lot of realignment would be required, but I'd like to see it. I just can't get over one 4-team division and one 6-team division. I know it works for the schedule, but still.

I still don't think that it would be especially fair. You need to move two teams to the West so Texas doesn't have a two hour time difference for their divisional games. One I can understand, but a team from Dallas should not be in the West.

 

 

[Invader3K]

I really think the Rays are going to have to leave Florida at some point. The Florida baseball fans have shown they will barely support one MLB, let alone two. Move them out west and make the necessary re-alignment moves. Or, heaven forbid, move them to the NL and let the teams have interleague play all season. I've been an advocate of all the teams playing each other for a long time.

 

My favorite suggestion a while ago was to have the A's relocate to the New Jersey area, but I realize this will never happen.

[Warning Track Power]

My favorite suggestion a while ago was to have the A's relocate to the New Jersey area, but I realize this will never happen.

I don't think putting another team on the East Coast will happen anytime soon. If teams are going to be moved then they have to go west. Off the top of my head I will say that I would rather see MLB teams in:

*Portland

*Las Vegas

*Salt Lake City

*Vancouver

 

or if those cities cannot support MLB then:

 

*New Orleans

*San Antonio

*Memphis/Nashville

 

But the concentration of teams on the east coast is so incredibly dense that it behooves MLB to spread to the west before ever re-visiting placing a team in the east.

[endaround]

That's because the population in the East is incredibly dense. None of your cities listed could support a team as easily as a third team in the New York/NewJersey area. The only city you listed that may have a shot is Portland (of course the A's likely will end up in San Jose given enough time).

[Funketown]

Nuts to this. Move the Cubs to Gary, Indiana.

[Warning Track Power]

That's because the population in the East is incredibly dense. None of your cities listed could support a team as easily as a third team in the New York/NewJersey area. The only city you listed that may have a shot is Portland (of course the A's likely will end up in San Jose given enough time).

Everything you say is true. However, the realities of economics in my mind are to open new markets to MLB by going to areas such as Portland. Why put a team another team in New York/New Jersey, where you already have 6 teams within 200 miles of New York (Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Phillies, Nationals, Orioles), when you can put a team between Seattle and the Bay Area (700 miles) that has 2.2 million people in its metropolitan area? Portland makes far more sense to me than another NY/NJ team.

 

 

[ecjimg]

I really dont like the sound of "The San Jose A's" I hope they are called the "California A's" now that the Angels are the Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem.

Id like to see the Rays move to Vegas. Can you imagine a huge Casino/Hotel/Ballpark and corresponding ticket/travel packages (for the travelers). Most of the locals are relocated from other areas and have allegiances to other teams theyd probably like to see. Of course Pete Rose couldnt be the manager, and there would be no baseball betting.

[owbc]

I think it would be best for baseball to move the Rays to Brooklyn, NY. The Yankees and Mets would throw a fit, but they could stay in the AL East and create a huge geographic rivalry with the Yankees and Red Sox. Tampa Bay has shown that it isn't much of a sports town (several NFL crowds around 40,000 this year!). The new Brooklyn team can be marketed as the anti-Yankees--still a large payroll but somewhat reasonable ticket prices, fan/family-friendly, etc.

 

Yeah, it's far-fetched, but with the economy the way it is, I can't envision any baseball team relocating in the next ten years.

[pitchleague]

I'm pretty sure Portland lost their AAA farm team because they are getting an MLS team instead to play in their park. I've read that many Portland baseball fans are not happy with the decision.

[joepepsi]

Well, I think Houston should move to the AL West. Then have an interleague game every day.

Each team from the AL plays a 3 game series against each team in the NL: 45 games.

Each team plays 6 games against every team in their league outside their division(2-3 game series): 60 games.

Each team plays the other 4 teams in their division 15 times; 60 games. Total: 165 games.

If that's too many games, then reduce inter-divisional play to 12 games instead of 15. That cuts the season to 152 games. Then you can add another round of playoffs.

 

Oh, and move Tampa to Jersey. Florida doesn't deserve major league baseball. And move Oakland to Portland.

[jjkoestler]

Move the Cubs to Hell and the Cards to Chernobyl.

[DHonks]

Portland's AAA ballpark was built intentionally in phases, with the ability to complete phases 2 and 3 if an MLB team were ever to move there.

 

I still think by 2020 we'll see 32 teams giving us 16 in each league in 4 divisions per league

[Alexpos]

 

That leaves us with Toronto, Oakland and Tampa Bay as the teams eligible to move.

 

*Toronto: I don't know if this team really qualifies as a franchise that would move. I am not real familiar with their following in Toronto and Canada. Anybody have any insight to their following and the Rogers Centre/Skydome situation? Is that still considered a decent enough ballpark even though it was only built in the late 80s? I would be interested to hear someone's perspective.

 

 

Well since I'm from Montreal maybe I can help you with this case. Since my expos left, the Jays became ''Canada team'' Almost all the people I know who still follow baseball are now Jays fan (or red sox fan) I may be one of the few who don't have find another team. And for the jays their owner(Rogers communication) are a very big corporation who got their own sport channel (sportsnet) So I don't think Toronto will move soon.

[Warning Track Power]

Portland's AAA ballpark was built intentionally in phases, with the ability to complete phases 2 and 3 if an MLB team were ever to move there.

 

I still think by 2020 we'll see 32 teams giving us 16 in each league in 4 divisions per league

I like your ideas DHonks. Not sure MLB can expand, but I will play along.

 

Here is my proposal for that...

#1 I assume Tampa Bay goes to Portland

#2 Colorado goes to the AL. It makes sense from the standpoint of geographical rivalries with Texas and Kansas City.

#3 Expansion needs to occur. Two new teams need to be added, one in the AL South (New Orleans?) and one in the NL South (Charlotte?)

 

 

AL WEST	AL NORTH	AL EAST	AL SOUTH
Los Angeles Angels	Minnesota Twins	Baltimore Orioles	Texas Rangers
Oakland Athletics	Chicago White Sox	Toronto Blue Jays	Kansas City Royals
Seattle Mariners	Detroit Tigers	New York Yankees	Colorado Rockies
Portland/TB Rays	Cleveland Indians	Boston Red Sox
NL WEST	NL NORTH	NL EAST	NL SOUTH
San Francisco Giants	Milwaukee Brewers	Washington Nationals	Miami Marlins
San Diego Padres	Chicago Cubs	Pittsburgh Pirates	Atlanta Braves
Los Angeles Dodgers	St. Louis Cardinals	Philadelphia Phillies	Houston Astros
Arizona Diamondbacks	Cincinnati Reds	New York Mets

 

[berniebrewer4life]

I expect Montreal to have a team again. In fact, i think the Rays(or A's) move to Montreal within the next few years.

[endaround]

New Orleans can't support a team. Baseball isn't going to want to move into a market smaller than say Pittsburgh. A link to metro sizes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...census_statistical_areas

 

New York/New Jersey could easily support a 3rd if not a 4th team. The LA area might take a 3rd team. Maybe a second team in Dallas. But when you start reaching KC city size you have issues, and that's where Portland and San Antonio are (Las Vegas is a special case).

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I'd like to see a team in Brooklyn just to piss off the Steinbrenners'.

[Funketown]

New Orleans can't support a team. Baseball isn't going to want to move into a market smaller than say Pittsburgh. A link to metro sizes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...census_statistical_areas

 

New York/New Jersey could easily support a 3rd if not a 4th team. The LA area might take a 3rd team. Maybe a second team in Dallas. But when you start reaching KC city size you have issues, and that's where Portland and San Antonio are (Las Vegas is a special case).

One place I'm curious about is Raleigh-Durham. It's not a huge metro (~1,700,000), but the Winston-Salem/Greensboro metro (~1,500,000) is only about an hour from Durham, and having Charlotte just over two hours away wouldn't hurt. The nearest team to Raleigh is the Nationals, and that's over a 5-hour drive. That's a pretty big pocket without a ball club.