MLB expansion an "inevitability" and two cities are frontrunners: report

MLB expansion may not be imminent, but it is an “inevitability,” according to a new report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Passan’s report comes days after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he hopes to have a process in place to add two more expansion teams before he steps down in 2029.

“Preparing for a 32-team league is an inevitability, according to owners, high-ranking league sources, and other team personnel who spoke to ESPN,” Passan reports.

Eight potential expansion cities were suggested to Passan by his sources, including one in Canada.

That city was Vancouver, not Montreal, which lost the Expos to Washington, DC, 20 years ago.

The other cities were Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland, San Jose, Austin, Charlotte, and Mexico City. MLB reportedly wants to add one team from the east and one from the west, with Nashville and Salt Lake City currently considered the frontrunners.

Most observers agree that putting an MLB team in Vancouver would require a new baseball-specific stadium, though the Arizona Diamondbacks did tour BC Place twice in the past.

Montreal has long been rumoured to be a possibility for another MLB team, but it would also need a new ballpark.

But Manfred has mentioned both Canadian cities before as potential landing spots for expansion.

“We have a real list of cities that I think are not only interested in having baseball, but viable in terms of baseball. Places like Portland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville in the United States. Certainly Montreal, maybe Vancouver in Canada,” Manfred said in 2018.

Major League Baseball’s current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in 2026. It hasn’t expanded since 1998, when Arizona and Tampa Bay joined. The Oakland Athletics appear destined to move to Las Vegas, though there are hurdles still to overcome before that happens. Tampa Bay also needs a new stadium, and their franchise could be moved if they don’t build one locally.

When MLB becomes a 32-team league, it could trigger realignment. Passan wondered if MLB would go to four divisions of eight teams each, or perhaps four teams in eight divisions. He added the possibility of “radical realignment,” which could “blow up the league structure that has existed for more than a century.”

Wouldn’t that be something?

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