November 13, 200322 yr I say leave them in Montreal and then give Washington and Portland expansion teams next time the league grows.
November 13, 200322 yr I say portland. There are too many teams on the east coast and not enough on the west coast.
November 13, 200322 yr I say portland. There are too many teams on the east coast and not enough on the west coast. I say move the Expos to Portland also. Washington D.C. has had 2 Senators franchises for a long time in the past and let them go.
November 13, 200322 yr yeah, why should DC get a third chance to support a team when Portland hasn't even had 1. And the Orioles are close enough to DC.
November 13, 200322 yr The league is not going to expand anytime soon. Especially with so many franchices having the financial problems they have.
November 13, 200322 yr Author Once all the teams that are in financial trouble have new ballparks which would be around 2010, watch, there is going to be another expansion of the AL.
November 13, 200322 yr Author exactly das, there is only a limited amount of franchises who don't have ballparks yet. NL Montreal (?) Florida (coming hopefully in 2007) St. Louis (coming in 2006) AL Minnesota (?) Oakland (?)
November 13, 200322 yr I say leave them in Montreal with an owner that cares. Except there is no such animal. Really, none of the choices work: Montreal - a fan base more tainted than SoFla and no ownership Portland - too small and too rainy Washington - two time franchise loser Puerto Rico - low per capita income and didn't exactly have great attendance for the 22 games that were there Other cities that were considered in the past (Buffalo, Orlando, Louisville) are not even mentioned anymore. I think Vegas could be viable. Or a third team in NYC or NJ, if they could come up with a stadium. Expansion is out. Like Das said, too many teams in financial trouble already. And if they can't find a decent market to move the Expos to, how are they going to find two markets for expansion?
November 13, 200322 yr Author Montreal has a possible ownership. Bell Media, The ownership of the Montreal Candians. Where is ExposRanchod with some possible owners, I don't know Montreal's business scene as well as he would.
November 13, 200322 yr Author aha here he is...former minority owner of the NFL Miami Dolphins and current owner of the NHL Montreal Canadiens. George N. Gillett Jr. http://www.canadiens.com/eng/team/redirect...m&memberID=1949
November 13, 200322 yr Portland won't even support their minor league teams, so I don't why anyone would want to give them a try any more than a Durham, NC or Rochester, NY. Washington on the otherhand has supported three top-rate minor league franchises in Bowie, Frederick and Woodbridge. Not to mention a good share of Baltimore 'we sell out 75% of our games' Orioles ticketbase. It's certainly not the most ideal city. It's main industry, the federal government, shuts down and sends many of its wealthier workers home in the summer. The state governments of metropolitan area constantly bicker and delay road and public transit improvements. It's not in any way a baseball town, you'd be lucky to see Montreal/Tampa/Miami-type figures on a Sunday home game. But it's better than Montreal, Tampa, Portland, San Juan, Monterrey or Las Vegas (hey, let's get Pete Rose to manage!) at the moment. The DC-area is the best bet for the short-term, and the best chance long-term. It also has a stadium that is up to Major League code, with RFK. Now only if MLB would stop delaying to bump the sale price further up, and stand up to Peter Angelos on this myth that he owns the entire region stretching from the Carolinas to the Delaware River.
November 13, 200322 yr Is that all it is? Standing up to Angelos? I'm a fan of the Orioles, but I'd like to see a team in D.C. again. I don't buy that D.C. can't support a franchise, considering it's been 30 years and the population has largely changed. Montreal has shown that they can't support a franchise, and the economics (and lack of overall pitching talent) mean that there shouldn't be further expansion. Has someone from D.C. made a proposal yet? Someone get Dan Snyder on the line!
November 13, 200322 yr Author alkazoid, due to scheduling problems, MLB has to expand/contract in multiples of two. Has to be an even number.
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