Tbh I don’t see the Rays staying How are they going to privately finance a stadium that costs one billion dollars with no subsidies? I just don’t see baseball working in florida
An AL East with the Expos, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Red Sox would be absolutely incredible, and Montreal deserves a 2nd chance considering how ownership pretty much sabotaged the Expos towards the end.
No, it’s embarassing enough that 1 Canadian team has been allowed. The orioles are a better geographic fit, better ball park and more relevant than the frogs or red coats
A division with the two most iconic teams paired up with two Canadian teams is NEVER I repeat NEVER going to happen. I’m a Blue Jays fan and would love it but I’m also a realist
Even if the Expos existed to this day, if he decided to come to Canada it would be to the Blue Jays as the city actually has a large Japanese population unlike Montreal.
I saw the Expos play the Mets in Montreal back in 1991 when I was 13. I hope Montreal gets their team back, now that I'm an adult and live only a couple hours away in northern New York I'll get season tickets.
I've been to all the MLB stadiums and Montréal was by far the most unique experience and I'd go as far to say perhaps the best. I'll never forget it. I loved the city, the cultural vibe at the game, everything (didn't even mind the stadium). I was truly heartbroken when they moved the team (and I'm a Mariners fan). It would truly be a waste if MLB were to expand without one of the cities being Montréal.
I'm also a Mariners fan from Seattle and I attended a handful of Expos game in Montreal. Loved the vibe, everything about it. "Maintenant, le prochain frappeur, numero sept, Rondell White!"
@@derekjohnson77 It was great wasn't it? I'd love to hear an announcer introduce a batter like that just one more time! Actually, I ended up getting a minor in French and spent a summer studying in Québec because of my experience at Expos games! I'm glad the Expos got to play in Seattle during interleague play and that the Mariners had Jose Vidro and Brad Wilkerson (even though both were way past their prime). I'm from Pennsylvania by the way, I love Seattle and would love to live out there someday! I get out there to see a game when I can.
Man, I feel so guilty! LOL! Here I am a Blue Jays fan and there's nothing I enjoy more than seeing my team beat our expansion cousins from Seattle. We need to see a return of the Expos! I remember Andre Dawson's mammoth blast into the top deck of the Astrodome 40 years ago like it was yesterday!
@@SpookySimsAs a Mets fan who has to watch us play the Braves, I’d love it! Those guys destroy the Mets every year, the less I have to see that the better.
Am I the only one who actually likes that NL South tho? Like that lineup on paper would be some fierce geographic rivalries, and y'all can still meet in the playoffs. Yes, the other divisions have issues of their own, but that one division is really good IMO
As won't stay in Oakland, and I don't believe an expansion in Vegas would keep them there. As could have, at one point, stayed, but Oakland needed to pay for a stadium when the Raiders left.
Seriously? No one wants to be in Oakland. Maybe Sacramento can get a team in expansion and one back to Montreal. I feel bad for Oakland fans but the city sucks period. Much more economic sense to be in Vegas anyway.
@@jibbjabb43hey’d move somewhere else if there was an expansion team in Vegas added before they moved Idk where tho. South seems underused Charlotte, Nashville or even New Orleans perhaps
Montreal without a doubt! Really is more than time for them to get a franchise brought back, the way most other once-owned MLB cities who having been awarded a second one!👈💯
@@HoshizakiYoshimasa maybe so but in the MLB players' poll Nashville received the majority of the votes with 69%. Montreal (10%), Charlotte (5%), Austin (5%), Portland (4%), Vancouver (2%) and Salt Lake City (2%)
@@wizzerwiser2056which is why Nashville is miles ahead as the favorite to get a team, they have far more money coming in than ANY NC team, Charlotte barely made the top 10 for a new team's potential, Nashville will definitely get it and all these ridiculous NC fanboys can cry more 😂
I understand the Phillies in the NL since 1883 moving to the American League would be a real eye opener. But I’d be okay with that. Phil’s, Yankees, Red Sox and Mets in the same division? Holy shit. It would be the most entertaining division in MLB every year. I don’t need to see MLB in Montreal ever again. They couldn’t draw a stick figure. There were 3,000 people in attendance to see Tony Gwynn get his 3,000th career hit. They were embarrassing. Nashville deserves the opportunity.
Man I was with this so hard until I saw the teams switching from AL to NL and vice-versa. No WAY the Phillies go to the AL, or the Guardians to the NL. Swap the AL and NL teams that are "swapped" already in the East divisions, and I 100% agree wholeheartedly with your division realignment. Not saying you're wrong, like you said, it's your way of doing it. I just can't see that happening. Those fanbases would lose their minds! Orioles fans would die at the thought of not getting to face their division rivals, even if they haven't been competitive in a decade. I'd also swap the Rays back to the AL and the Rockies back to the NL, personally.
The divisions have a ton of issues. I get what the attempt was, but they'd sooner move no one than go the route. Both NYC teams in one division will certainly literally never happen, and most professional leagues try to leave the same state cities separate for draw purposes. Also, conceptually, take issue with San Fran not being in the Seattle Portland division if we're going hard geographic.
In a hockey city, I was an Expos fan and was at their 2nd ever home game at the old Jarry Park. (where a street very close by is now named for Gary Carter). Grew up with the team, went to many games at both stadiums. We got ripped off in 1994 with the baseball strike, so we deserve a second chance. Would love to see them back. But they would need an owner who'd be willing to spend to compete, so as not to end up with the same situation the team went through their last number of years.
@@smith041958 I am envious! I was too young to travel to Montreal then, so I am relegated to old videos and a few audio recordings from Jarry. When I did travel to Montreal, my wife and I visited Parc Jarry, which I believe was a tennis center. I certainly hope there will be Expos redux before I die or get too old.
I think the best set-up is to have 4 regional conferences, like your N,S,E,W with the conferences rotating pairings annually. Every team would get a home and away every three years with every other team, and travel for teams (and fans) is significantly less. It might actually have an impact on local tourism if teams are within a half-days drive from each other.
Would love to see baseball return to Montréal, but don't see it happening without a stadium deal in place. Olympic Stadium was outmoded 30 years ago. Maybe play there til the new stadium is ready but this would need to be worked out.
Olympic Stadium was outmoded before the first pitch was ever thrown there. Just a horrible, overly complex roof design that never worked. Designed by an architect who cared more about looks than functionality. Also the wrong shape for baseball. Baseball stadiums need to be either V-shaped like Dodger and Kauffman Stadiums, or square-shaped like most of the retro parks built since Camden Yards. Circular, horseshoe, or oval stadiums don’t work well for baseball.
@OldRustySteele Yeah, the "roof" is literally a tarp. Went there a few times and it didn't have the feel of being at a ballpark. You almost expected them to announce the runners in the 100 meters.
Montreal or Vancouver for the next Canadian team. It be cool to have a west coast Canadian team, start that rivalry up with the Mariners.. But at my heart, I want a Montreal franchise back, and they gotta be in the National league lol
@@clg0003 Besides, given the spitting antipathy both those cities have for each other, it could be the next great MLB rivalry if they're in the same division.
Your graphic at 5:42 is confusing and misleading. The team that is now based in DC was originally admitted as the Montreal Expos in the NL in 1969. The Astros were not an original AL team; they moved over from the NL after being admitted as the Colt 45's in 1962. The Brewers did not originate in the NL; they were added to the AL as the Seattle Pilots. Several current teams have relocated and changed names. This information could have been presented much better with little effort.
MLB is not going back to Montreal due to Quebec politics! Especially the french language law. I'm in Vancouver and have credible sources telling me vancouver is getting a team.
@@anthonys3631 Holy smokes. Get over it already. What is it about Quebec politics that you don't like? That they speak French? You're the reason people in Quebec wanted to separate from Canada. Grow up already.
Louisville would be a cool unlikely small market team, but Nashville, New Orleans, Austin, or Charlotte would all be cool too. I feel like it's really weird that there aren't more southern teams
The Round Rock Express is one of the top minor league teams,the city is a suburb of Austin.Move them into the National League South.However,San Antonio would be more likely to be a third MLB location for Texas.
Have to say, I'd despise the idea of killing the NL and AL as we know them and going geographical...but I also despised giving both leagues the same rules and thus killing the fun weirdness and rivalry that once existed between them, and MLB owners are cheapskates who'll pull every penny out of every couch cushion they can, so I'm sure it's a fait accompli. I'm also in the NYC market, and the idea of the Mets and Yankees sharing a division is anathema to me. I did read a Hardball Times article a few years back that argued that a 36 team league would actually make sense (given population growth, market sizes, etc. over the last number of decades), and if that could be done while eliminating interleague I'd love it, but again, I realize that horse is out of the barn at this stage. In such an extreme situation, though, I'd likely go Portland, Nashville, Montreal, somewhere in North Carolina, and maybe some places like New Orleans or Vancouver for the last couple...or Vegas, if by some miracle the A's were somehow kept in Oakland.
Should the MLB expand to 32 teams, I hope they realign into 2 divisions of 8 instead of 4 divisions of 4. That's the NFL format and I don't like because it allows for poor division winners to take playoff spots from better wild card teams. Two divisions per league would actually work perfectly with the current format in place. Both division winners would get a bye and the wild card round would once again be a true wild card round. There is also no need for the two leagues to be overhauled. Just give one expansion team to the AL and the other to the NL.
Just don't hitch the wagon on obvious duds as division winners. People get too caught up in a winning division guaranteeing a playoff spot. The point to the concept is the number of H2H games driving to create rivalries, and you can't seing that in massive divisions.
I think Montreal is the leading contender to get a team. Indianapolis is a highly underrated expansion city as well. Also back in the 90’s the Mariners almost moved to Indy/Kokomo
I remember when Dick Lugar was criticized for pushing the Hoosier Dome, which moves Indy into big-time sports with the Colts. That's what a city or area needs - a visionary leader. I agree that the city could be a dark-horse candidate for the major North American sports leagues.
As an Indiana resident, it would be neat to see Indy get a team. After all, it’s downtown area is built to handle big events like Colts games and the NCAA tournament. But, I think its close proximity to preexisting teams is its biggest drawback. The fact that it already has the NFL and NBA is a minor miracle.
I heard from an interview that they want a team in Montreal to open the market for French speaking countries (especially in Africa and Europe). Montreal had low attendance (6000) only at the end and event compared the the Oakland A's (2000) the crowd was 3 sizes bigger. Maybe 1 or 2 seasons before their last season in MTL, I remember when the Olympic stadium had 30 000 people per game when they had a bit of success during that year (I think it was the last season of Vladimir Guerrero before he left The Expos for the Angels). I'm sure it could work. except they need a nice outdoor stadium outside downtown. Montreal in summer is one of the best place in North America. People don't wanna be crammed inside a boring dome.
@@FUGP72 Yeah but the con job the owners pulled at the end there was a factor too. To deny that is to not know what went on. The stadium was only part of the reason.
It's Vancouver. I know so. I am employed at their city hall and half inside information on it. MLB is not going back to Montreal. They are put off at Quebec politics. Especially their french language laws. As well Olympic Stadium needs a $500 million dollar upgrade and no one in Montreal government or private $ is willing to cough up that money to pay to fix it.
Also I think it makes most sense to keep Tampa in the AL East (as a Rays fan), since a non-negligible portion of its stadium attendance comes from interdivisional series (especially against Boston and NYY). With so many northeastern transplants in the Tampa area, there will always be more turnout at those games than a series against Miami or Nashville (for example)
That's a good point. It's like how the NFL kept the Cowboys in the NFC East to maintain the rivalry, despite the geographical distance. Except, here you have an even stronger argument about demographics.
Nashville has some hurdles. It takes forever to get places in that town. Public transportation sucks. Hockey isn't as big of an issues since it's half as many home games as MLB and a lot fewer seats. The Titans typically play on Sundays which helps with traffic. Getting 30-40k to a ballpark on a weeknight in Nashville is going to be a nightmare.
A's will probably move to Sacramento in the same area. Nashville and Salt Lake City is more realistic. Portland is a basket case right now with a flat lining population if not decreasing.
Our Founder is a former ball player heavily recruited by the Expos at 16. He has not watched an MLB game since they left. We will be first inline to bring the Expos back to Montreal.
Get your facts straight!! The 1969 expansion of the Natonal League included the Montreal Expos, NOT the Washington Nationals. The Expos (sadly) moved to Washington for the 2005 season, and your summary @5:45 should reflect that.
New teams and division could look something like this: (New teams Jacksonville, Montreal and Las Vegas via Oakland) AL West: Seattle, Las Vegas A's, LA Angels, Colorado AL East: NY Yankees, Boston, Baltimore, Kansas City AL North: Toronto, Montreal Expos, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota AL South: Houston, Texas, Detroit, Cleveland NL West: LA Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona NL East: Philly, NY Mets, Pittsburgh, Washington NL North: Cincinnati, St Louis, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee NL South: Miami, Tamp Bay, Jacksonville, Atlanta. It will be interesting to see which teams get moved, I have Cleveland and Detroit but it could easily be the White Sox and Twins. There's just so many teams up north, at least 2 will have to move to a division that's not aligned perfectly with their location.
As someone who goes to school in montreal it would be amazing and I think they wouldn’t have a problem with attendance. Just look at events like F1 there and it’s a very cosmopolitan city with people looking for things to do.
The attendance problem with the last few yrs of the expos was the olympic stadium...the wast part of montreal is more hockey driven....while the west part of Montreal is mostly baseball based.....if the team comes back we will have to build an outdoor statium downtown which would fit in terms of the fanbase and vibes of the city alot more
Portland has zero chance of getting a team. The internal politics of that city make it extremely difficult to get all the decision makers rowing in the same direction. My guess is Salt Lake City and Nashville. SLC is growing by leaps and bounds and has a large, deep pocketed population that is very sports oriented. In addition, their tentative ownership group is stable and can write the check for the team as we speak. Nashville is in a similar situation and has already proven itself as a real deal, major league sports town.
I hope Portland gets a team! I've lived in Oregon for 22 years. But, I lived west of Seattle for 14 1/2 years growing up! All my sports loyalties are still in Washington state. Huskies, Seahawks, Sonics, Kraken, Sounders, and Mariners are my favorite teams in each category. I know the Sonics don't exist right now. But, they are still my favorite NBA team. All that to say it would be nice for the Mariners to have a closer opponent!
Not sure how to make it happen but Nashville is a big rivalry with St. Louis, it started with hockey over the years, and now mls. Would be good to expand on this. Also somehow bring Atlanta into the mix with St .Louis and Nashville. I think it’s easy to overlook other rivalries outside what you think is traditional.
Your chart at 5:38 incorrectly identifies the Milwaukee Brewers as an expansion team in 1969. Actually, this team started as the Seattle Pilots before moving after only one season to Milwaukee.
3:03 "Until 1952, in fact, none of these teams were located west of the Mississippi River." St. Louis, a city in the southwest corner of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers: "Am I a joke to you?"
Yes, Nashville. It's far enough away from Atlanta and Cincinnati and TN deserves another professional sports team since all the ones there have flourished. Portland would give another team to the Pacific NW. If the Rays move, it should be to Orlando where they could put a multipurpose stadium similar to Sofi in CA.
Gotta go with the Expos! They have the ownership with deep pockets already lined up, but still need to figure out the stadium location and financing...I think the MLB brass knows Montreal got a raw deal and deserves a second chance
Another mistake on this video is that the Milwaukee Brewers did not enter the league in the 1969 expansion. The Seattle Pilots were the expansion team in '69. They went bankrupt after one season, and were sold to Bud Selig who moved them to Wisconsin. Go Go You Pilots! (that was the team's fight song).
Sure, technically, but you're missing the point. St. Louis is *on* the Mississippi, or on the dividing line between on what people traditionally consider the east and the west. The city is the "Gateway to the West", but not the West, and he was making a point about baseball being almost entirely based in the northeast quadrant of the country.
@@smirkypantsI'm not missing the point. It's just factually inaccurate. Everything you said could have been easily explained by saying something like, "there were only 2 teams west of the Mississippi and they were both in St. Louis."
Here's actually realistic reorg if anyone is interested. AL East: NYY, BOS, TOR, BAL South: TEX, HOU, TB, KC Central: MIN, CHC, CLE, DET West: SEA, Portland, LAA, OAK//LV NL East: NYM, PHI, PIT, WSH South: ATL, MIA, Nashville, STL Central: CIN, CHC, COL, MIL West: LAD, SL, SD, ARZ It changes as little as physically possible while not creating any absurd geographical borders between divisions
8:17 "next stop is Nashville".. but the image shows Montreal (you see Molson Brewery and Olympic Stadium behind and Jacques-Cartier Bridge). I wish the Expos to come back, but that would be very surprising. Portland seems very close to have a team.
@@davidhaws9015 Read about the 94 strike. We were going for it, after that strike, the owners got fed up and sold the team player by player. Fans got sickened by it all. It was a cheap shot, montreal got tricked out.
@@davidhaws9015 Montreal Expos suffered from poor ownership that frequently sold its star players and the stadium wasn't the greatest experience for fans in its latter years. They were basically having similar problems as the A's have nowadays.
@@jordans9303Charlotte has zero potential lmao it's not happening, putting Nashville up against Charlotte or any NC team is like putting Muhammad Ali in his prime vs a preschooler
@@jordans9303no we wouldn’t! I’m from Nashville born and raised. I now live in North Carolina and I can tell you that Nashville and Charlotte literally have the same market size. Charlotte doesn’t stand a chance against Nashville in anything if we are being honest! You act like we are Raleigh or something 😂😂
Or Tim Raines and Andre Dawson. I always thought that Andre Dawson was the perfect name for a Canadian baseball player. Andre is French, and Dawson is a city in the Yukon Territory.
There's been strikes of we know 1972 and 1981 didn't really affect a team to move like 1994 with Montreal Expos which cost them a possibly season of world series victory along with Tony Gwynn late Hall of famer hitting 400 average of Ted Williams 1941 batted 406 average with AL mvp joe Dimaggio hit 56 game hitting streak both world war two veterans.
Montreal isn't getting a team without a new stadium first. That's a deal breaker for the fans. Olympic Stadium is neither a fun nor comfortable place to spend 3 hours, and the fans won't keep showing up long-term if that's where the games are being played. When ground is broken for a new ballpark, then and only then will I get excited bout the prospects of my beloved Expos returning.
The Rothman family is worth billions and they are willing to build a new stadium. They even have the land ready. They are working with mlb on the new stadium in case Tampa falls through.
The only thing I (personally) don't like about the idea of an expansion is 4 team division I really like the five teams per division but I am willing to give that up to get two more MLB teams. I also think there should be more then just one team in Canada
Canada should have their own separate Pro league. Like what Japan told Korea when Korea asked about Japan's league expansion. "Get lost and form your own league". It ironically would have been better for Baseball within Canada as even midsized Canada cities would have teams instead of nothing at all.
Montreal would need a few things to make an MLB team viable there: 1) A new retractable roof stadium. You want outdoor baseball for most of the Montreal baseball season since the summers are lovely there. However, springtime comes late to Montreal and fall comes early, so early and late season games would be very cold and rainy. Design that retractable roof for SIMPLICITY. Don’t make it complicated like Miller Park in Milwaukee or Olympic Stadium. The best model to mimic is Minute Maid Park in Houston. That roof is functional, opens wide (unlike Miller Park) to let more sky in, and wasn’t incredibly expensive to build. They could temporarily play in Olympic Stadium while a new stadium was being built, but the Big O is NOT a long-term solution and I’m sure MLB leadership would not approve a Montreal team without a new stadium commitment. 2). Put Montreal in the AL not the NL. You’d have the rivalry with nearby cities like Toronto, Boston, New York, and to a lesser extent, Detroit and Baltimore. The first 4 are rivals in hockey, so there is a good fit there. Also, there are a lot of Quebec snowbirds who go to Florida in the winter, so there might be some Montreal-Tampa connection as well.
Lots of interesting history there. If there’s going to be a second Canadian team it should be Vancouver. I’m not from there and I’m a Jays fan so I don’t have a dog in the fight but with the balance you mentioned a couple times it would make sense to have an eastern Canadian team. And it’s impressive to see the way they take over Seattle when the Jays are in town
Canada should have their own Pro Baseball League instead. Japan told Korea and Taiwan to get lost and for their own leagues when they asked Japan's league about expansion, and they did. In hindsight MLB should of did the same within Canada. That way even midsized Canada cities would have teams instead of nothing. And Montreal would have a team still. Sure Canada's league wouldn't be as elite as MLB but Japan Korea Taiwan all support their leagues
I'm from Boston and remember making the trek across the border for an Expos game as a kid. The vibe was friendly, in contrast to Habs games, and Montréal remains the only place in North America where I saw casual sports fans drinking wine at the stadium. In hope they get their Expos back. Besides the Nordiques in Quebec City I don't think I've seen a defunct team with more merchandise being worn around the city than the 'Spos.
Here's how I would go about MLB expansion: I'd expand to 36 teams instead of 32 and go to four divisions (NL East, NL West, AL East, AL West) with nine teams each. Montreal would get the Expos back in the NL East and the NL West would get a team in Vancouver. Portland would get an AL team with a home field in the suburbs (due to the insane crime in Portland itself) to form a natural rivalry for the Mariners, and Oakland or Vegas would likely get an AL team depending on whether the As relocation succeeds. Brooklyn would get an NL team if the likely territorial disputes with the Yankees and Mets could be resolved, and the last team would be an AL team in either Charlotte or Nashville. This is how the divisions would break down: NL East: Montreal, NY Mets, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Washington, Atlanta, Miami NL West: Milwaukee, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Colorado, Arizona, San Diego, LA Dodgers, San Francisco, Vancouver AL East: Toronto, Boston, NY Yankees, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Charlotte/Nashville, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago White Sox AL West: Minnesota, Kansas City, Texas, Houston, Las Vegas, LA Angels, Oakland, Portland, Seattle
Here in Sioux Falls South Dakota there was news that we may be getting a professional baseball team soon. But that was nixed when we found out that if we got one, then Minnesota would want one too.
There are only 5 MLB teams in the South (most populous part of the country with 120 million plus people). Nashville, Charlotte, and Austin should be added first before even thinking about Portland or Canada.
Wow, a person with some common sense on here. You think like me. The South actually has about 130 million as of last year. It has a larger population than the northeast and midwest COMBINED as of this year. I've long said that these southern cities should have teams: Charlotte Raleigh Nashville Orlando Austin
@@FUGP72 Florida has the issue, not the rest of the South. The Braves are near the top in attendance, averaging over 39,000 a game. The Astros are also near the top, just below the Braves in attendance. More MLB players are from the South than any other region. More children participate in youth baseball in the South than any other region.
For the postseason, just add 2 more spots as wild cards for a total of 8 per each league (exactly like in the 2020 MLB playoffs), with a best-of-three game series (i.e.: the Wild Card Series) as its first round tier, then the best-of-5 LDS, the best-of-7 LCS and the best-of-7 World Series. For the two expansion teams, one of them is the no-brainer in the return of the Montreal Expos (similar to the Cleveland Browns on the NFL after the original was relocated and rebranded as the Baltimore Ravens), being placed in the NL; and the other one would be either Carolina (based in Charlotte) or Tennessee (based in Nashville) in the AL. I'll get to that one in a moment. And for division alignment purposes, it should be each league having four divisions of four teams each, but with some twists and tweaks: AL East: Baltimore, Boston, NY Yankees, Pittsburgh AL North: Chi. White Sox, Cleveland, Minnesota, Toronto AL South: Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Texas, Nashville/Charlotte AL West: Arizona, Anaheim (or LA Angels), Oakland (or Vegas), Seattle NL East: Montreal, NY Mets, Philadelphia, Washington NL North: Chi. Cubs, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee NL South: Atlanta, Florida (I mean Miami), Houston, St. Louis NL West: Colorado, LA Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco In the interleague games, the divisions that share the same name for each league have a natural rival of some extent (i.e.: Baltimore/Washington or Chicago Cubs/W.Sox or KC/St. Louis or Anaheim/LA, etc.). Plus, there would be a balanced number of series of games for scheduling; so no more 4-game series or 2-game series. All are 3-game series. Total games: 168 Interleague: face all 16 teams in a one 3-game series [home park advantage swaps each year in a 2-year span] for a total of 48; plus another 3-game series towards teams of same division name for an additional 12, equalling a total of 60 Same league, but non-division: face all 12 teams in two 3-game series [one home and one road] for a total of 72 Same league, within same division: face all 3 division foes in four 3-game series [two home and two road] for a total of 36
Vancouver, Portland, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Austin, San Antonio, Albuquerque, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Orlando, Calgary, Honolulu, are just some off the top of my head.
It makes sense that some teams would have to move from NL to AL, but I think the NL East as depicted here wouldn’t work. I would move Cleveland to the NL North and put Baltimore and Washington in the AL East, leaving Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, NY Mets, and Philadelphia as the NL East. I think Portland and Nashville end up in.
Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are too far away from Queens and Philly, especially when Mets & Phillies fans travel well. They aren’t going all the way out there for games.
@@lovesgucci1 Have to disagree with you, at least on the Pirates, as they, along with the Cubs and the Cardinals, before 1994, were once members of the NL East. So, Phils' fans would go to Pittsburgh, just to see the Phils and Bucs beating up on each other like they did during the mid to late 70s and early 80s. Heck, I remember the two teams playing a douhleheader against each other every Labor Day.
No one from Philly and Queens are going to Pittsburgh more than once a season. At least with Miami and ATL, there’s a ton of cheap flights. They have large airports and there’s also a lot of transplants in those two cities.
@@lovesgucci1 Well, the NL East from 1969 to 1994 had six teams, Montreal, the Mets, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, the Cubs and St. Louis. And, during that time, the airlines were not cheap, so you could forget that, at least til the late 80s. To be honest, MLB, back in the day, were expecting only local fans to support each of those ball clubs, not expect fans from the opposing team's city come to those ballparks to watch a game or several games. That's a more recent thing.
@MrLeoni2 I agree traveling is new and teams didn’t expect fans of other teams to fill their ballparks but that was almost 30 years ago. I was too young to remember a rivalry between the Phillies and Pirates. I probably wasn’t even born when they were competitive at the same time. They should stay with the midwestern/Appalachian town in the NL Central.
I would disagree with your alignments, specifically the LA teams. They should be in the same division because they are both in LA and to have a LA battle every year for 12 or so games would be cool
@@penguinsfan251 Yes , and quite actually .. The Milwaukee Braves were the first team to draw in over 2 million fans for a season . (Thus ..saving MLB in the 50's and 60's ...The Milwaukee Miracle )
If Montreal bring the Expos back. They have to promise a new ballpark. And the return of the team will have to play at Olympic Stadium the 1st 3 or 4 seasons until the new park is ready. Likewise in Las Vegas. They'll get the A's next baseball season. Nashville and Orlando are trying to decide what areas a ballpark can be built. Either city can expand or buy a existing team.
Raleigh would be such a better option in NC than Charlotte. Nike, Amazon, and Google all are moving there and the business is going to be booming. The TV Market is larger than St. Louis and the the community would be awesome. The Hurricanes are packed every night.
In a world where markets are markets and there's no cap on teams, Raleigh and Charlotte would both get teams. But in a world where they have to pick one, Charlotte will always be the easy winner
@@jibbjabb43 Ehh, population favors Raleigh now. While Raleigh proper is smaller than Charlotte, the triangle itself has more population than Charlotte does... that is Wake county = Mecklenberg county in terms of population, and then Raleigh also gets Durham and Chatham counties too with their sizeable populations on top of Wake. Either way, I'll be glad to be out of the Nationals' market so I can watch games without blackouts lol.
Raleigh… just no… I’m from Nashville and Charlotte would be a great pick but they are not beating out Nashville and Raleigh is very laughable to even be mentioned in this conversation. Raleigh is tiny and has no draw. Nobody would come to Raleigh to watch a game. Charlotte is like Nashville, very large and has the space and capitol and support for the team to sell out seats during the week. Raleigh cannot do that. Raleigh would probably build a stadium in the middle of nowhere just like pnc arena that has no sense of community and nothing really around it plus Raleigh doesn’t have the infrastructure to support a stadium. Neither do they have plans for a stadium and Nashville does. Raleigh literally has one interstate running through it, and they can barely support that so I digress. I live in Raleigh it’s just not a good fit!
I only have an issue with your chart at about 5:40. You noted the Astros were actually the Colt 45s for a few years, and the Brewers didn't become the Brewers until 70 when the Seattle Pilots - an American League team, moved to Milwaukee after just one year in Seattle as an American League team. They started American league until 1997 when they switched over to the NL. And of course the Other team in 1969 was the Montreal Expos not the Nationals. They moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005. The Marlins were the Florida Marlins for quite awhile before becoming the Miami marlins, and Tampa Bay started as the Devil rays for quite some time.. Maybe it is later in the video but it would be nice to see the times/moves of names, name changes, city changes (for example, the Current Oakland and future Las vegas Athletics have played under that same name in Kansas City and Philadelphia, and the Twins being the Washington Senators and - hey, the Texas Rangers being the Washington senators (take 2!). Or the moves of the Braves from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta.
The most common complaint in MLB is the small and mid market teams cannot compete with the large market teams. So what does MLB want to do? Add more small market teams. The best idea MLB had in the last generation was contraction.
I supported the Expos until 1994 - going to as many as 40 games a season. No chance of getting a team now without the millions/billions needed for a franchise and a decent stadium. Private money is needed - governments won't get involved - there would be too much of a backlash by the general public. .
I thought about this recently, and here is my proposed expansion/realignment plan: NL East: Mets Phillies Reds Pirates AL East: Yankees Red Sox Blue Jays Orioles NL South: Braves Marlins Nationals Nashville/Charlotte expansion team AL South: Rays Royals Rangers Astros NL Central: Cubs Cardinals Brewers Rockies AL Central: Guardians Twins Tigers White Sox NL West: Giants Dodgers Diamondbacks Padres AL West: Mariners Angels Oakland/Las Vegas A's Portland/Vancouver expansion team The American and National Leagues are restored as independent organizations with their own rules, umpires, and management structure. The regular season schedule will be weighted towards intra-divisional play, with each team playing each other team in its division 18 times, and playing other teams within its league 9 times each for a full 162 game schedule. There will be no more regular season interleague play. The playoff format will consist of a 5 game Division Series, to include the 4 division winners from each league, seeded by win-loss record, then the 7 game League Championship Series, then the 7 game World Series. Home field advantage in each series will be awarded to the team with the better record (with appropriate tie-breaking rules in place). This arrangement isn't perfect, but it is probably the most optimal when it comes to the most likely sites for expansion while keeping the current teams' league designations.
@willp.8120 Philly and NYC can take a plane to Atlanta or Miami for fairly cheap & there’s a lot flights to each city (all 4) for fans to travel. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have small airports and way lesser flights scheduled to each city. NYC & Philly fans, especially, travel well & it doesn’t make economical sense for MLB to put them in the same division.
As a native Northwesterner it's hard to imagine a team in Portland. Of course they would support a new team for awhile but in the long run they just don't seem to have the necessary passion for the game a smaller market needs. This season the Portland metro area of about 2.5 million didn't even have a radio outlet for the Mariners. Call it civic pride to NOT support a nearby team if you want but the lack of interest is striking. And Portland is so much closer to Seattle than areas to the east where there is strong support. Vancouver has about the same metro population as Portland and they have the passion but I don't know how hard it would be to get a proper stadium built. Montreal is a no-brainer I think: If you build it they will come. Salt Lake City is interesting but a significantly smaller population base that would be challenging for baseball. Nashville makes sense. Here's the idea that really makes sense: Once you're sure the A's are leaving, the Bay Area has everything you want for a second team. So many people with so much money, and a difficult trip from the South Bay to San Fran.
The whole division structure needs to be relooked at. The AL East this year is the prime example how it hurts good teams while propping up bad teams like in the AL Central. MLB should look at the NHL-style approach.
The Expos should’ve never left in the first place! Even though, as a Phillies fan, i enjoy have two ballparks - one in my backyard, in Philly and 1 in DC.
I agree ! As an Expos fan I do miss the games against the Phillies back in the old days ... I was a kid but I had the chance to see Mike Schmidt play back in the 80's
According to a former MLB GM and current insider who has played a major role in the Field of Dreams games, he says that expansion has two tiers at the present time. Portland and Nashville are the next two expansion teams unless one or both blows their chance with issues involving ownership, ballpark, etc. Should one or both mess up their chances, then San Antonio, Charlotte, Montreal, Vancouver, and Salt Lake City, in no particular order, will be the next tier. He mentioned that the expansion committee will have to go through the collective bargaining process, so the player's union will have a say. He also expects that the Winter Meetings in Nashville next month will be too soon to include expansion on the schedule. He also doesn't expect Portland or Nashville to make any announcements concerning ownership groups, and he expects these would not be made public until the city is ready to present its proposal, because the longer the ownership groups are known, the more time there is for antagonists to present negative views on these groups.
i think Vancouver BC would be a good expansion city, however, there isnt a feasible place to put a huge baseball stadium like that. the Vancouver Canadians draws sellout crowds a TON in the summer they had to add more bleachers and places to hangout.
@@poopshoes7579 haha, yeeeaah. Living in the pacific northwest i grew up cheering for seattle... id be content with giving portland a team to get that rivalry going
Growing up as an Expos fan, it was hard to see them leave. Ever since then, I always hope that one day, the Expos would return. As long as they get a new stadium, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Montreal will support the team, regardless of their play. Just like in Oakland, the fans were screwed over by bad stadiums and bad ownerships. It's certainly not the fans. I can only hope it's sooner than later.
@@poopshoes7579 "would rather see a 3rd Florida team than Montreal get another try" Rays barely fill the seats and theyre a top team. Horrible opinion. Easily the worst opinion on this comment section
Nashville would be an interesting draw especially since Vandy has a great collegiate program too. Not to mention that they already have an NFL team & NHL team as well which makes it prime for this to happen.
Dude, there are way easier ways you could have realigned the leagues at the end. MLB teams are not known for liking league switching, which is why it happens so infrequently and always to younger teams. Here's a much less disruptive alignment that still prioritizes travel time/cost and rivalries: AL East: Boston NY Yankees Toronto Baltimore AL North: Detroit Cleveland Chi White Sox Minnesota AL South: Tampa/Orlando Texas Houston KC AL West: Seattle Portland Las Vegas LA Angels NL East: NY Mets Philadelphia Cincinnati (edit: changed from Washington) Pittsburgh NL North: Chi Cubs Milwaukee St. Louis Colorado NL South: Atlanta Washington (edit: changed from Cincinnati) Miami Nashville/Charlotte NL West: San Fran LA Dodgers Arizona San Diego
Swap Cincinnati and Washington (as pointed out perfectly by youtubeemployeesarestupid below), and you've got it. The Cincinnati and Pittsburgh rivalry must be preserved.
I'd honestly want a new team either in portland or Vancouver because it would give the Mariners some new teams to make a rivalry and they wouldn't be the only team in the PNW
@@1dilligaf They didn't blow it. It was a con job that took the team out of there. Yes they could have supported more but that wasn't the main reason. I'd love to see Vancouver get a team and I think it would be supported fairly well. The problem is, any potential owner has to commit to a baseball stadium. BC Place just won't cut it. And the stadium needs to be similar to Seattle's. Retractable mostly open, only shut when it rains. This brings up another problem in that any Billionaire owner is going to want welfare to build the stadium, so it probably will never happen.
@@doublestrokeroll I believe what you say I do think major-league baseball had a big play in it because they were scared of an all Canadian World Series
I live in British Columbia and there’s no way Vancouver gets a team. We would need a brand new stadium that would be ridiculously expensive, especially with the value of real estate here. Much better chance of getting the grizzlies back (which is also, still a pipe dream. No matter how much I would love it😂)
as a New Orleans resident . I really want a team here , I know about the bad weather but with enough money we can make a hurricane proof stadium it could take a while but it could happen . The Orleans Expos has a nice sound to it than Montreal . it would bring more tourists than we have now and it will be a win win for the MLB , the Expos and new Orleans . sorry this comment is long I just got really excited when he mentioned new Orleans .
Cajuns trace their descent from 18-Century French Canadian immigrants (though mostly from Nova Scotia rather than Quebec), so it’s an interesting link to the Expos name. However, the Expos were named after a 1967 futurist world fair held in Montréal so the Expos name might be a little too anachronistic.
@3:06 "Until 1952, none of these teams were located west of the Mississippi River." I know it's pedantic, but the St. Louis Cardinals, established in 1882, are very much west of the Mississippi River.
I would rather see four, 8 team divisions, AL East/West, NL East/West. Having eight divisions you'll see weak teams win divisions just as what's happening now in the AL Central with six divisions.
@@danielpenrodii2389 In the AL there are currently 5 teams in the wild card race with a better record than Central leader Cleveland. Also, in the NL there are 3 teams in the NL wild card with better records than Cincinnati. With more divisions there will be a higher probability of good teams missing the post season because of weak divisions a weaker teams making the post season.
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Tbh
I don’t see the Rays staying
How are they going to privately finance a stadium that costs one billion dollars with no subsidies?
I just don’t see baseball working in florida
You can't take Toronto out of the the AL East, you will regret this!
Bring back Montreal
Maybe Montreal residents prefer hockey to baseball.
@@thegamingnetwork896The Marlins don't have these issues, compared to The Rays.
An AL East with the Expos, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Red Sox would be absolutely incredible, and Montreal deserves a 2nd chance considering how ownership pretty much sabotaged the Expos towards the end.
I approve this message ✔️
No, it’s embarassing enough that 1 Canadian team has been allowed. The orioles are a better geographic fit, better ball park and more relevant than the frogs or red coats
@@poopshoes7579 Blue Jays are 8th in attendance across the league 🗿
A division with the two most iconic teams paired up with two Canadian teams is NEVER I repeat NEVER going to happen. I’m a Blue Jays fan and would love it but I’m also a realist
@@HOLES69 They used tp set attendance records back in the early 90s
Expos and SuperSonics are sorely missed iconic teams
Quebec Nordiques and Hartford Whalers too
@@dehavillandcanadatwinotter9621Pittsburgh Pipers
Houston Oilers.....why the Titans even want to keep the namesake is one of the pettiest thing in all of Sports. OKC didn't keep the Sonics.
and Houston Oilers.
@@NoNo-ng9sltechnically yes. By the NBA’s standards they still use all of the sonics stats, etc. they consider the championship won by them too.
Ohtani in a Montréal uniform is crazy
Never will happen enjoy the photo
@@mikes7446 bro no way it just happened: Ohtani signed to the Montreal expos
in a parallel universe yes it happened😂
Make it so!
Even if the Expos existed to this day, if he decided to come to Canada it would be to the Blue Jays as the city actually has a large Japanese population unlike Montreal.
I saw the Expos play the Mets in Montreal back in 1991 when I was 13. I hope Montreal gets their team back, now that I'm an adult and live only a couple hours away in northern New York I'll get season tickets.
I've been to all the MLB stadiums and Montréal was by far the most unique experience and I'd go as far to say perhaps the best. I'll never forget it. I loved the city, the cultural vibe at the game, everything (didn't even mind the stadium).
I was truly heartbroken when they moved the team (and I'm a Mariners fan).
It would truly be a waste if MLB were to expand without one of the cities being Montréal.
I'm also a Mariners fan from Seattle and I attended a handful of Expos game in Montreal. Loved the vibe, everything about it. "Maintenant, le prochain frappeur, numero sept, Rondell White!"
@@derekjohnson77 It was great wasn't it? I'd love to hear an announcer introduce a batter like that just one more time! Actually, I ended up getting a minor in French and spent a summer studying in Québec because of my experience at Expos games! I'm glad the Expos got to play in Seattle during interleague play and that the Mariners had Jose Vidro and Brad Wilkerson (even though both were way past their prime). I'm from Pennsylvania by the way, I love Seattle and would love to live out there someday! I get out there to see a game when I can.
@@ironclad8093 Nice! Also, an M's fan in Pennsylvania. Will wonders ever cease?
They would definitely need to have a better stadium
Man, I feel so guilty! LOL! Here I am a Blue Jays fan and there's nothing I enjoy more than seeing my team beat our expansion cousins from Seattle.
We need to see a return of the Expos! I remember Andre Dawson's mammoth blast into the top deck of the Astrodome 40 years ago like it was yesterday!
My first little league team was the Expos. I was so sad when they moved to Washington.
So was mine!..that’s how I became an Expo fan!
Lethbridge, Alberta, where I grew up had a team in the Pioneer League called the Expos where I saw Andre Dawson play. Montreal all the way!
Feels criminal getting rid of Mets v Braves and Orioles vs Blue Jays
Yeah none of the current NLE teams are in this version on the NL east
Yeah I’m a Mets fan and it’s bizarre to think of a baseball division without the Braves. I honestly don’t know if I’d like it
yea as an Astros fan I miss the Cardinals sometimes.
@@SpookySimsAs a Mets fan who has to watch us play the Braves, I’d love it! Those guys destroy the Mets every year, the less I have to see that the better.
Am I the only one who actually likes that NL South tho? Like that lineup on paper would be some fierce geographic rivalries, and y'all can still meet in the playoffs. Yes, the other divisions have issues of their own, but that one division is really good IMO
I got a crazy idea for the expansion:
Montreal and Vegas
1. Montreal gets its team back
2. Fischer gets a team in Vegas, and the As stay in Oakland
Stop making too much sense this is Manfred we're talking about
As won't stay in Oakland, and I don't believe an expansion in Vegas would keep them there.
As could have, at one point, stayed, but Oakland needed to pay for a stadium when the Raiders left.
Seriously? No one wants to be in Oakland. Maybe Sacramento can get a team in expansion and one back to Montreal. I feel bad for Oakland fans but the city sucks period. Much more economic sense to be in Vegas anyway.
A’s ain’t stayin in Oakland no shot
@@jibbjabb43hey’d move somewhere else if there was an expansion team in Vegas added before they moved
Idk where tho.
South seems underused
Charlotte, Nashville or even New Orleans perhaps
Montreal without a doubt! Really is more than time for them to get a franchise brought back, the way most other once-owned MLB cities who having been awarded a second one!👈💯
In a recent MLB players poll, a majority of players would like to see expanision to Nashville and Montreal.
Charlotte is bigger than Nashville though. Carolinas have more TV markets too.
@@HoshizakiYoshimasa maybe so but in the MLB players' poll Nashville received the majority of the votes with 69%. Montreal (10%), Charlotte (5%), Austin (5%), Portland (4%), Vancouver (2%) and Salt Lake City (2%)
@@smith041958 It's not the players that make these decisions. It's the owners. If they see more money in Charlotte they'll vote for Charlotte
@@wizzerwiser2056which is why Nashville is miles ahead as the favorite to get a team, they have far more money coming in than ANY NC team, Charlotte barely made the top 10 for a new team's potential, Nashville will definitely get it and all these ridiculous NC fanboys can cry more 😂
@@Lucas6l5 They said the same about Florida and all of their sports teams have trouble selling tickets.
You can’t move the Phillies out of the National League having been in the league from the start.
1883!
Not only that, but can you just imagine a division with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets & Phillies?! The bases alone could cause a new civil war! Haha
*fan bases
@@lovesgucci1no division in sports would have a higher level of shit talk
I understand the Phillies in the NL since 1883 moving to the American League would be a real eye opener. But I’d be okay with that. Phil’s, Yankees, Red Sox and Mets in the same division? Holy shit. It would be the most entertaining division in MLB every year. I don’t need to see MLB in Montreal ever again. They couldn’t draw a stick figure. There were 3,000 people in attendance to see Tony Gwynn get his 3,000th career hit. They were embarrassing. Nashville deserves the opportunity.
Man I was with this so hard until I saw the teams switching from AL to NL and vice-versa. No WAY the Phillies go to the AL, or the Guardians to the NL. Swap the AL and NL teams that are "swapped" already in the East divisions, and I 100% agree wholeheartedly with your division realignment.
Not saying you're wrong, like you said, it's your way of doing it. I just can't see that happening. Those fanbases would lose their minds! Orioles fans would die at the thought of not getting to face their division rivals, even if they haven't been competitive in a decade.
I'd also swap the Rays back to the AL and the Rockies back to the NL, personally.
Swap Guards and Blue Jays for sure.
The A’s come back home to Philly
The divisions have a ton of issues. I get what the attempt was, but they'd sooner move no one than go the route. Both NYC teams in one division will certainly literally never happen, and most professional leagues try to leave the same state cities separate for draw purposes.
Also, conceptually, take issue with San Fran not being in the Seattle Portland division if we're going hard geographic.
Completely agree here. He made some wacky division swapping with that graphic.
I also find the idea of St. Louis being "north" absolutely hilarious.
@@austintomlinson7863reminds me of when the Braves routinely won the NL West 😂😂
In a hockey city, I was an Expos fan and was at their 2nd ever home game at the old Jarry Park. (where a street very close by is now named for Gary Carter). Grew up with the team, went to many games at both stadiums. We got ripped off in 1994 with the baseball strike, so we deserve a second chance. Would love to see them back. But they would need an owner who'd be willing to spend to compete, so as not to end up with the same situation the team went through their last number of years.
Amen! Expos Toujours!
I also saw a few games at Jarry Park. 😊
@@smith041958 I am envious! I was too young to travel to Montreal then, so I am relegated to old videos and a few audio recordings from Jarry. When I did travel to Montreal, my wife and I visited Parc Jarry, which I believe was a tennis center. I certainly hope there will be Expos redux before I die or get too old.
Love this comment
The uniform is indeed iconic!
I think the best set-up is to have 4 regional conferences, like your N,S,E,W with the conferences rotating pairings annually. Every team would get a home and away every three years with every other team, and travel for teams (and fans) is significantly less. It might actually have an impact on local tourism if teams are within a half-days drive from each other.
Would love to see baseball return to Montréal, but don't see it happening without a stadium deal in place. Olympic Stadium was outmoded 30 years ago. Maybe play there til the new stadium is ready but this would need to be worked out.
Yeah they definitely need a new stadium Olympic stadium is terrible
Olympic Stadium was outmoded before the first pitch was ever thrown there. Just a horrible, overly complex roof design that never worked. Designed by an architect who cared more about looks than functionality. Also the wrong shape for baseball. Baseball stadiums need to be either V-shaped like Dodger and Kauffman Stadiums, or square-shaped like most of the retro parks built since Camden Yards. Circular, horseshoe, or oval stadiums don’t work well for baseball.
@OldRustySteele Yeah, the "roof" is literally a tarp. Went there a few times and it didn't have the feel of being at a ballpark. You almost expected them to announce the runners in the 100 meters.
Montreal or Vancouver for the next Canadian team. It be cool to have a west coast Canadian team, start that rivalry up with the Mariners..
But at my heart, I want a Montreal franchise back, and they gotta be in the National league lol
I'd prefer 40.
If Montreal makes it back in, they will be in a division with Toronto. Neither MLB nor Fox wants any part of a potential Canadian World Series.
@@clg0003 Besides, given the spitting antipathy both those cities have for each other, it could be the next great MLB rivalry if they're in the same division.
@@retstakit could mean that at least for those series played between Montreal and Toronto Montreal’s stadium might not be empty
@@clg0003especially Fox haha
Your graphic at 5:42 is confusing and misleading. The team that is now based in DC was originally admitted as the Montreal Expos in the NL in 1969. The Astros were not an original AL team; they moved over from the NL after being admitted as the Colt 45's in 1962. The Brewers did not originate in the NL; they were added to the AL as the Seattle Pilots. Several current teams have relocated and changed names. This information could have been presented much better with little effort.
One of my biggest dream is to see the Montreal Expos back. Hope i live long enough to see that 🤞
MLB is not going back to Montreal due to Quebec politics! Especially the french language law. I'm in Vancouver and have credible sources telling me vancouver is getting a team.
@@anthonys3631 Holy smokes. Get over it already. What is it about Quebec politics that you don't like? That they speak French? You're the reason people in Quebec wanted to separate from Canada. Grow up already.
@@robinchase2141 figures you don't even got any balls to come back to respond, later dummy.
After 20 years give it up with Montreal Olympic Stadium won't work it didn't work in 1977 when it opened up for baseball
Not only did you diss the Expos by saying they won’t get an expansion spot, but you didn’t even include them in the league (5:40) at all!
Louisville would be a cool unlikely small market team, but Nashville, New Orleans, Austin, or Charlotte would all be cool too. I feel like it's really weird that there aren't more southern teams
The Round Rock Express is one of the top minor league teams,the city is a suburb of Austin.Move them into the National League South.However,San Antonio would be more likely to be a third MLB location for Texas.
The Louisville Sluggers gimme that
@@thekrazyhatter5063 They would more likely be the Colonels.
New Orleans is the least likely because of its vulnerability to floods and hurricanes.Another Katrina and the Big Easy will be the American Pompeii.
Have to say, I'd despise the idea of killing the NL and AL as we know them and going geographical...but I also despised giving both leagues the same rules and thus killing the fun weirdness and rivalry that once existed between them, and MLB owners are cheapskates who'll pull every penny out of every couch cushion they can, so I'm sure it's a fait accompli. I'm also in the NYC market, and the idea of the Mets and Yankees sharing a division is anathema to me.
I did read a Hardball Times article a few years back that argued that a 36 team league would actually make sense (given population growth, market sizes, etc. over the last number of decades), and if that could be done while eliminating interleague I'd love it, but again, I realize that horse is out of the barn at this stage. In such an extreme situation, though, I'd likely go Portland, Nashville, Montreal, somewhere in North Carolina, and maybe some places like New Orleans or Vancouver for the last couple...or Vegas, if by some miracle the A's were somehow kept in Oakland.
It is not going to happen. ZERO chance of the Mets and Yankees together, or the Mets leaving the NL. This guy is an idiot.
Should the MLB expand to 32 teams, I hope they realign into 2 divisions of 8 instead of 4 divisions of 4. That's the NFL format and I don't like because it allows for poor division winners to take playoff spots from better wild card teams. Two divisions per league would actually work perfectly with the current format in place. Both division winners would get a bye and the wild card round would once again be a true wild card round. There is also no need for the two leagues to be overhauled. Just give one expansion team to the AL and the other to the NL.
I'd agree, but then geographical realignment could get complicated
@@dunderdude3482 AL East, Red Sox, Yanks, O's, Jays, Rays, Nashville, Guards, Tigers. AL West, Sox, Twins, Royals, Angels, A's, Rangers, M's, Astros. NL East Braves, Phils, Mets, Marlins, Nats, Pirates, Reds, Brewers. NL West, Cubs, Cardinals, Portland, Dodgers, Pads, Giants, Dbacks, Rockies.
Agreed. I like the NHL division splits far more than the NFL's.
Just don't hitch the wagon on obvious duds as division winners. People get too caught up in a winning division guaranteeing a playoff spot. The point to the concept is the number of H2H games driving to create rivalries, and you can't seing that in massive divisions.
This guy gets it.
I think Montreal is the leading contender to get a team.
Indianapolis is a highly underrated expansion city as well. Also back in the 90’s the Mariners almost moved to Indy/Kokomo
Indianapolis has zero chance of ever getting a team in MLB. The city has never even tried.
I remember when Dick Lugar was criticized for pushing the Hoosier Dome, which moves Indy into big-time sports with the Colts. That's what a city or area needs - a visionary leader. I agree that the city could be a dark-horse candidate for the major North American sports leagues.
As an Indiana resident, it would be neat to see Indy get a team. After all, it’s downtown area is built to handle big events like Colts games and the NCAA tournament. But, I think its close proximity to preexisting teams is its biggest drawback. The fact that it already has the NFL and NBA is a minor miracle.
@@JohnScaer True. Many of us are Cubs or Reds fans with a few White Sox fans as well
The reason we could handle the MLB is because we support our Colts. Remember in the 90’s Indiana almost got an MLB team
I heard from an interview that they want a team in Montreal to open the market for French speaking countries (especially in Africa and Europe). Montreal had low attendance (6000) only at the end and event compared the the Oakland A's (2000) the crowd was 3 sizes bigger. Maybe 1 or 2 seasons before their last season in MTL, I remember when the Olympic stadium had 30 000 people per game when they had a bit of success during that year (I think it was the last season of Vladimir Guerrero before he left The Expos for the Angels). I'm sure it could work. except they need a nice outdoor stadium outside downtown. Montreal in summer is one of the best place in North America. People don't wanna be crammed inside a boring dome.
Except actual facts don't back you up. For the last 7 years, they averaged a paltry 12,000 or less. And hadn't been above 25,000 since 1983.
@@FUGP72 Yeah but the con job the owners pulled at the end there was a factor too. To deny that is to not know what went on. The stadium was only part of the reason.
Put that stadium downtown and it works! The Big O was way too faraway for so many.
It's Vancouver. I know so. I am employed at their city hall and half inside information on it. MLB is not going back to Montreal. They are put off at Quebec politics. Especially their french language laws. As well Olympic Stadium needs a $500 million dollar upgrade and no one in Montreal government or private $ is willing to cough up that money to pay to fix it.
@@anthonys3631 Really....so who is willing to build a stadium in Vancouver? Where will it be built?
The Nashville Smoked Ribs jerseys are gonna be dope
Also I think it makes most sense to keep Tampa in the AL East (as a Rays fan), since a non-negligible portion of its stadium attendance comes from interdivisional series (especially against Boston and NYY). With so many northeastern transplants in the Tampa area, there will always be more turnout at those games than a series against Miami or Nashville (for example)
Moving from St Pete to Tampa would work, or moving them to charlotte/Nashville could work too..a lot of the north east has been flooding charlotte
That's a good point. It's like how the NFL kept the Cowboys in the NFC East to maintain the rivalry, despite the geographical distance. Except, here you have an even stronger argument about demographics.
Montéral and Nashville would be cool and then with the a’s in Vegas it would really shake things up
I know a lot of Braves fans, myself included, that want an AL team in Nashville. Really hoping they get a team!
I think MTL and NSH will compete for an Eastern expansion team
In the West, it’s POR clearly over SAC, SJ, and VAN.
Nashville has some hurdles. It takes forever to get places in that town. Public transportation sucks. Hockey isn't as big of an issues since it's half as many home games as MLB and a lot fewer seats. The Titans typically play on Sundays which helps with traffic. Getting 30-40k to a ballpark on a weeknight in Nashville is going to be a nightmare.
A's will probably move to Sacramento in the same area. Nashville and Salt Lake City is more realistic. Portland is a basket case right now with a flat lining population if not decreasing.
@@w8stralgotta disagree, especially with the A's already set on relocating to Vegas
Our Founder is a former ball player heavily recruited by the Expos at 16. He has not watched an MLB game since they left. We will be first inline to bring the Expos back to Montreal.
Get your facts straight!! The 1969 expansion of the Natonal League included the Montreal Expos, NOT the Washington Nationals. The Expos (sadly) moved to Washington for the 2005 season, and your summary @5:45 should reflect that.
New teams and division could look something like this: (New teams Jacksonville, Montreal and Las Vegas via Oakland)
AL West: Seattle, Las Vegas A's, LA Angels, Colorado
AL East: NY Yankees, Boston, Baltimore, Kansas City
AL North: Toronto, Montreal Expos, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota
AL South: Houston, Texas, Detroit, Cleveland
NL West: LA Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona
NL East: Philly, NY Mets, Pittsburgh, Washington
NL North: Cincinnati, St Louis, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee
NL South: Miami, Tamp Bay, Jacksonville, Atlanta.
It will be interesting to see which teams get moved, I have Cleveland and Detroit but it could easily be the White Sox and Twins.
There's just so many teams up north, at least 2 will have to move to a division that's not aligned perfectly with their location.
As someone who goes to school in montreal it would be amazing and I think they wouldn’t have a problem with attendance. Just look at events like F1 there and it’s a very cosmopolitan city with people looking for things to do.
The attendance problem with the last few yrs of the expos was the olympic stadium...the wast part of montreal is more hockey driven....while the west part of Montreal is mostly baseball based.....if the team comes back we will have to build an outdoor statium downtown which would fit in terms of the fanbase and vibes of the city alot more
Portland has zero chance of getting a team. The internal politics of that city make it extremely difficult to get all the decision makers rowing in the same direction. My guess is Salt Lake City and Nashville. SLC is growing by leaps and bounds and has a large, deep pocketed population that is very sports oriented. In addition, their tentative ownership group is stable and can write the check for the team as we speak. Nashville is in a similar situation and has already proven itself as a real deal, major league sports town.
I hope Portland gets a team! I've lived in Oregon for 22 years. But, I lived west of Seattle for 14 1/2 years growing up! All my sports loyalties are still in Washington state. Huskies, Seahawks, Sonics, Kraken, Sounders, and Mariners are my favorite teams in each category. I know the Sonics don't exist right now. But, they are still my favorite NBA team. All that to say it would be nice for the Mariners to have a closer opponent!
Not sure how to make it happen but Nashville is a big rivalry with St. Louis, it started with hockey over the years, and now mls. Would be good to expand on this. Also somehow bring Atlanta into the mix with St .Louis and Nashville. I think it’s easy to overlook other rivalries outside what you think is traditional.
Your chart at 5:38 incorrectly identifies the Milwaukee Brewers as an expansion team in 1969. Actually, this team started as the Seattle Pilots before moving after only one season to Milwaukee.
3:03 "Until 1952, in fact, none of these teams were located west of the Mississippi River."
St. Louis, a city in the southwest corner of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers: "Am I a joke to you?"
Yes, Nashville. It's far enough away from Atlanta and Cincinnati and TN deserves another professional sports team since all the ones there have flourished. Portland would give another team to the Pacific NW. If the Rays move, it should be to Orlando where they could put a multipurpose stadium similar to Sofi in CA.
Gotta go with the Expos! They have the ownership with deep pockets already lined up, but still need to figure out the stadium location and financing...I think the MLB brass knows Montreal got a raw deal and deserves a second chance
The St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns both existed in 1951. St. Louis is, in fact, west of the Mighty Mississipi!
Another mistake on this video is that the Milwaukee Brewers did not enter the league in the 1969 expansion. The Seattle Pilots were the expansion team in '69. They went bankrupt after one season, and were sold to Bud Selig who moved them to Wisconsin. Go Go You Pilots! (that was the team's fight song).
Sure, technically, but you're missing the point. St. Louis is *on* the Mississippi, or on the dividing line between on what people traditionally consider the east and the west. The city is the "Gateway to the West", but not the West, and he was making a point about baseball being almost entirely based in the northeast quadrant of the country.
@@smirkypantsI'm not missing the point. It's just factually inaccurate. Everything you said could have been easily explained by saying something like, "there were only 2 teams west of the Mississippi and they were both in St. Louis."
@@ZackfromNoHohe used the current names rather than the original so it’s still mostly accurate
Here's actually realistic reorg if anyone is interested.
AL
East: NYY, BOS, TOR, BAL
South: TEX, HOU, TB, KC
Central: MIN, CHC, CLE, DET
West: SEA, Portland, LAA, OAK//LV
NL
East: NYM, PHI, PIT, WSH
South: ATL, MIA, Nashville, STL
Central: CIN, CHC, COL, MIL
West: LAD, SL, SD, ARZ
It changes as little as physically possible while not creating any absurd geographical borders between divisions
8:17 "next stop is Nashville".. but the image shows Montreal (you see Molson Brewery and Olympic Stadium behind and Jacques-Cartier Bridge). I wish the Expos to come back, but that would be very surprising. Portland seems very close to have a team.
I would LOVE to see the expos to return to Montreal.
Given what the Nationals have become, you would be more than welcome to take them back.
Via the Tampa bay rays moving
Montreal coming back would be cool. Curious to see where else would be considered
Are you serious ? This is exactly what this video is about !
@@dopy8418 I’m curious what the mlb actually wants
My thought is Montreal had it's opportunity and lost it. Ain't worth a second chance . . . especially when they produce EMPTY stadiums.
@@davidhaws9015 Read about the 94 strike. We were going for it, after that strike, the owners got fed up and sold the team player by player. Fans got sickened by it all.
It was a cheap shot, montreal got tricked out.
@@davidhaws9015 Montreal Expos suffered from poor ownership that frequently sold its star players and the stadium wasn't the greatest experience for fans in its latter years. They were basically having similar problems as the A's have nowadays.
I want to see Salt Lake City personally and Nashville would be cool
Nah charlotte
@@jordans9303Charlotte has zero potential lmao it's not happening, putting Nashville up against Charlotte or any NC team is like putting Muhammad Ali in his prime vs a preschooler
@@Lucas6l5 Nashville market is trash and smaller
@@Lucas6l5 people In Tennessee would still root for the braves obviously
@@jordans9303no we wouldn’t! I’m from Nashville born and raised. I now live in North Carolina and I can tell you that Nashville and Charlotte literally have the same market size. Charlotte doesn’t stand a chance against Nashville in anything if we are being honest! You act like we are Raleigh or something 😂😂
"Next up is Nashville" accompanied by a photo of Montreal. But he did at least get the part about MLB never coming back to Montreal right.
San Antonio would go nuts if they got a team, they treat their Spurs like their baby
Portland couldn't support a MLB team. Nobody with money could possibly support that idea.
Portland is moe ANTIFA and less MLB 😂😂😂 no team will be successful there.
Nike is headquartered there!
@@lovesgucci1last I heard they were shutting down in Portland?
@@BryantBaudelaire I heard that too. I feel for the local economy but city elected officials need to clean that place up.
Can't believe you left Layree Wawkare of that list of Expos players.
Or Tim Raines and Andre Dawson. I always thought that Andre Dawson was the perfect name for a Canadian baseball player. Andre is French, and Dawson is a city in the Yukon Territory.
One large city that wasn't mentioned that loves baseball is Indianapolis. Just a thought. I'd like to see baseball back in Montreal too.
Indianapolis' best shot would be the White Sox, but good luck with that.
I’d love to see a Carolina mlb team & a Toronto nfl team
@@psychopathyoutubeemployees280 The Whitf Sox will never ever leave Chicago!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
A 35,000 seat stadium in Montreal will absolutely work.
A’s move to Vegas and Nashville and Montreal gets the 2 extension teams.
There's been strikes of we know 1972 and 1981 didn't really affect a team to move like 1994 with Montreal Expos which cost them a possibly season of world series victory along with Tony Gwynn late Hall of famer hitting 400 average of Ted Williams 1941 batted 406 average with AL mvp joe Dimaggio hit 56 game hitting streak both world war two veterans.
Montreal isn't getting a team without a new stadium first. That's a deal breaker for the fans. Olympic Stadium is neither a fun nor comfortable place to spend 3 hours, and the fans won't keep showing up long-term if that's where the games are being played. When ground is broken for a new ballpark, then and only then will I get excited bout the prospects of my beloved Expos returning.
The Rothman family is worth billions and they are willing to build a new stadium. They even have the land ready. They are working with mlb on the new stadium in case Tampa falls through.
The only thing I (personally) don't like about the idea of an expansion is 4 team division I really like the five teams per division but I am willing to give that up to get two more MLB teams. I also think there should be more then just one team in Canada
Canada should have their own separate Pro league. Like what Japan told Korea when Korea asked about Japan's league expansion. "Get lost and form your own league". It ironically would have been better for Baseball within Canada as even midsized Canada cities would have teams instead of nothing at all.
looking at the graphic at 5:41 Where are the Expos? They joined in 69 didn't become the Nationals til 05 (?)
Montreal would need a few things to make an MLB team viable there:
1) A new retractable roof stadium. You want outdoor baseball for most of the Montreal baseball season since the summers are lovely there. However, springtime comes late to Montreal and fall comes early, so early and late season games would be very cold and rainy.
Design that retractable roof for SIMPLICITY. Don’t make it complicated like Miller Park in Milwaukee or Olympic Stadium. The best model to mimic is Minute Maid Park in Houston. That roof is functional, opens wide (unlike Miller Park) to let more sky in, and wasn’t incredibly expensive to build.
They could temporarily play in Olympic Stadium while a new stadium was being built, but the Big O is NOT a long-term solution and I’m sure MLB leadership would not approve a Montreal team without a new stadium commitment.
2). Put Montreal in the AL not the NL. You’d have the rivalry with nearby cities like Toronto, Boston, New York, and to a lesser extent, Detroit and Baltimore. The first 4 are rivals in hockey, so there is a good fit there. Also, there are a lot of Quebec snowbirds who go to Florida in the winter, so there might be some Montreal-Tampa connection as well.
Lots of interesting history there. If there’s going to be a second Canadian team it should be Vancouver. I’m not from there and I’m a Jays fan so I don’t have a dog in the fight but with the balance you mentioned a couple times it would make sense to have an eastern Canadian team. And it’s impressive to see the way they take over Seattle when the Jays are in town
Having lived in both cites you're out of you mind if you think a baseball team would be better off in Vancouver than Montreal
Canada should have their own Pro Baseball League instead. Japan told Korea and Taiwan to get lost and for their own leagues when they asked Japan's league about expansion, and they did. In hindsight MLB should of did the same within Canada. That way even midsized Canada cities would have teams instead of nothing. And Montreal would have a team still. Sure Canada's league wouldn't be as elite as MLB but Japan Korea Taiwan all support their leagues
I agree. I would love to see Montreal Expos again. There could be 2 new Texas teams lol
I'm from Boston and remember making the trek across the border for an Expos game as a kid. The vibe was friendly, in contrast to Habs games, and Montréal remains the only place in North America where I saw casual sports fans drinking wine at the stadium. In hope they get their Expos back. Besides the Nordiques in Quebec City I don't think I've seen a defunct team with more merchandise being worn around the city than the 'Spos.
Here's how I would go about MLB expansion: I'd expand to 36 teams instead of 32 and go to four divisions (NL East, NL West, AL East, AL West) with nine teams each. Montreal would get the Expos back in the NL East and the NL West would get a team in Vancouver. Portland would get an AL team with a home field in the suburbs (due to the insane crime in Portland itself) to form a natural rivalry for the Mariners, and Oakland or Vegas would likely get an AL team depending on whether the As relocation succeeds. Brooklyn would get an NL team if the likely territorial disputes with the Yankees and Mets could be resolved, and the last team would be an AL team in either Charlotte or Nashville. This is how the divisions would break down:
NL East: Montreal, NY Mets, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Washington, Atlanta, Miami
NL West: Milwaukee, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Colorado, Arizona, San Diego, LA Dodgers, San Francisco, Vancouver
AL East: Toronto, Boston, NY Yankees, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Charlotte/Nashville, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago White Sox
AL West: Minnesota, Kansas City, Texas, Houston, Las Vegas, LA Angels, Oakland, Portland, Seattle
Here in Sioux Falls South Dakota there was news that we may be getting a professional baseball team soon. But that was nixed when we found out that if we got one, then Minnesota would want one too.
woof!
Excuse me….
Will never ever happen!! Not in this life time or the next!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
The 10 minute mark of this video is gonna enrage so many people and I am here for it
How so?
It has zero chance of happening, so.
All he did was show he knows nothing about MLB, and doesn't do any research.
There are only 5 MLB teams in the South (most populous part of the country with 120 million plus people). Nashville, Charlotte, and Austin should be added first before even thinking about Portland or Canada.
Hopefully Charlotte 🙏 Right now we have to travel to Atlanta or Baltimore/DC to see an MLB team.
Wow, a person with some common sense on here. You think like me. The South actually has about 130 million as of last year. It has a larger population than the northeast and midwest COMBINED as of this year.
I've long said that these southern cities should have teams:
Charlotte
Raleigh
Nashville
Orlando
Austin
Most populous means nothing if they don't watch baseball.
@@FUGP72 Florida has the issue, not the rest of the South. The Braves are near the top in attendance, averaging over 39,000 a game. The Astros are also near the top, just below the Braves in attendance.
More MLB players are from the South than any other region.
More children participate in youth baseball in the South than any other region.
For the postseason, just add 2 more spots as wild cards for a total of 8 per each league (exactly like in the 2020 MLB playoffs), with a best-of-three game series (i.e.: the Wild Card Series) as its first round tier, then the best-of-5 LDS, the best-of-7 LCS and the best-of-7 World Series.
For the two expansion teams, one of them is the no-brainer in the return of the Montreal Expos (similar to the Cleveland Browns on the NFL after the original was relocated and rebranded as the Baltimore Ravens), being placed in the NL; and the other one would be either Carolina (based in Charlotte) or Tennessee (based in Nashville) in the AL. I'll get to that one in a moment.
And for division alignment purposes, it should be each league having four divisions of four teams each, but with some twists and tweaks:
AL East: Baltimore, Boston, NY Yankees, Pittsburgh
AL North: Chi. White Sox, Cleveland, Minnesota, Toronto
AL South: Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Texas, Nashville/Charlotte
AL West: Arizona, Anaheim (or LA Angels), Oakland (or Vegas), Seattle
NL East: Montreal, NY Mets, Philadelphia, Washington
NL North: Chi. Cubs, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee
NL South: Atlanta, Florida (I mean Miami), Houston, St. Louis
NL West: Colorado, LA Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco
In the interleague games, the divisions that share the same name for each league have a natural rival of some extent (i.e.: Baltimore/Washington or Chicago Cubs/W.Sox or KC/St. Louis or Anaheim/LA, etc.). Plus, there would be a balanced number of series of games for scheduling; so no more 4-game series or 2-game series. All are 3-game series.
Total games: 168
Interleague: face all 16 teams in a one 3-game series [home park advantage swaps each year in a 2-year span] for a total of 48; plus another 3-game series towards teams of same division name for an additional 12, equalling a total of 60
Same league, but non-division: face all 12 teams in two 3-game series [one home and one road] for a total of 72
Same league, within same division: face all 3 division foes in four 3-game series [two home and two road] for a total of 36
Vancouver, Portland, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Austin, San Antonio, Albuquerque, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Orlando, Calgary, Honolulu, are just some off the top of my head.
It makes sense that some teams would have to move from NL to AL, but I think the NL East as depicted here wouldn’t work. I would move Cleveland to the NL North and put Baltimore and Washington in the AL East, leaving Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, NY Mets, and Philadelphia as the NL East.
I think Portland and Nashville end up in.
Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are too far away from Queens and Philly, especially when Mets & Phillies fans travel well. They aren’t going all the way out there for games.
@@lovesgucci1 Have to disagree with you, at least on the Pirates, as they, along with the Cubs and the Cardinals, before 1994, were once members of the NL East. So, Phils' fans would go to Pittsburgh, just to see the Phils and Bucs beating up on each other like they did during the mid to late 70s and early 80s. Heck, I remember the two teams playing a douhleheader against each other every Labor Day.
No one from Philly and Queens are going to Pittsburgh more than once a season. At least with Miami and ATL, there’s a ton of cheap flights. They have large airports and there’s also a lot of transplants in those two cities.
@@lovesgucci1 Well, the NL East from 1969 to 1994 had six teams, Montreal, the Mets, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, the Cubs and St. Louis. And, during that time, the airlines were not cheap, so you could forget that, at least til the late 80s. To be honest, MLB, back in the day, were expecting only local fans to support each of those ball clubs, not expect fans from the opposing team's city come to those ballparks to watch a game or several games. That's a more recent thing.
@MrLeoni2
I agree traveling is new and teams didn’t expect fans of other teams to fill their ballparks but that was almost 30 years ago. I was too young to remember a rivalry between the Phillies and Pirates. I probably wasn’t even born when they were competitive at the same time. They should stay with the midwestern/Appalachian town in the NL Central.
I would disagree with your alignments, specifically the LA teams. They should be in the same division because they are both in LA and to have a LA battle every year for 12 or so games would be cool
Weren't the Brewers originally an AL team?
Yes. And the Astros were N.L.
There was NL history in Milwaukee because of the Braves.
@@penguinsfan251 Yes , and quite actually .. The Milwaukee Braves were the first team to draw in over 2 million fans for a season . (Thus ..saving MLB in the 50's and 60's ...The Milwaukee Miracle )
Nashville and Portland would be my guesses for the next 2 expansion teams.
If Montreal bring the Expos back. They have to promise a new ballpark. And the return of the team will have to play at Olympic Stadium the 1st 3 or 4 seasons until the new park is ready.
Likewise in Las Vegas. They'll get the A's next baseball season. Nashville and Orlando are trying to decide what areas a ballpark can be built. Either city can expand or buy a existing team.
In Canada, consider Montréal, Calgary, or Vancouver. Not Portland! Nashville yes!
Raleigh would be such a better option in NC than Charlotte. Nike, Amazon, and Google all are moving there and the business is going to be booming. The TV Market is larger than St. Louis and the the community would be awesome. The Hurricanes are packed every night.
In a world where markets are markets and there's no cap on teams, Raleigh and Charlotte would both get teams.
But in a world where they have to pick one, Charlotte will always be the easy winner
@@jibbjabb43 Ehh, population favors Raleigh now. While Raleigh proper is smaller than Charlotte, the triangle itself has more population than Charlotte does... that is Wake county = Mecklenberg county in terms of population, and then Raleigh also gets Durham and Chatham counties too with their sizeable populations on top of Wake.
Either way, I'll be glad to be out of the Nationals' market so I can watch games without blackouts lol.
@@andrewhawkins6754even better if they move the Rays or Marlins there
The ‘Canes are only packed when they play well. There have been periods of time when they haven’t drawn well.
Raleigh… just no… I’m from Nashville and Charlotte would be a great pick but they are not beating out Nashville and Raleigh is very laughable to even be mentioned in this conversation. Raleigh is tiny and has no draw. Nobody would come to Raleigh to watch a game. Charlotte is like Nashville, very large and has the space and capitol and support for the team to sell out seats during the week. Raleigh cannot do that. Raleigh would probably build a stadium in the middle of nowhere just like pnc arena that has no sense of community and nothing really around it plus Raleigh doesn’t have the infrastructure to support a stadium. Neither do they have plans for a stadium and Nashville does. Raleigh literally has one interstate running through it, and they can barely support that so I digress. I live in Raleigh it’s just not a good fit!
As a Mets fan the prospect of the Braves being in a different division gives me hope for the future lol
Actually before the leagues went to 3 divisions the Braves and Mets were in different divisions (Mets in the NL East and Braves in the NL West).
As a Phillies fan, you still would blow it half way through the year
Go Braves!
Filthadelphia, Boston and both NY teams would be violent. And you know our mets would be still the mets
The Mets should be relocated and renamed since they’re garbage
I only have an issue with your chart at about 5:40. You noted the Astros were actually the Colt 45s for a few years, and the Brewers didn't become the Brewers until 70 when the Seattle Pilots - an American League team, moved to Milwaukee after just one year in Seattle as an American League team. They started American league until 1997 when they switched over to the NL. And of course the Other team in 1969 was the Montreal Expos not the Nationals. They moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005. The Marlins were the Florida Marlins for quite awhile before becoming the Miami marlins, and Tampa Bay started as the Devil rays for quite some time.. Maybe it is later in the video but it would be nice to see the times/moves of names, name changes, city changes (for example, the Current Oakland and future Las vegas Athletics have played under that same name in Kansas City and Philadelphia, and the Twins being the Washington Senators and - hey, the Texas Rangers being the Washington senators (take 2!). Or the moves of the Braves from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta.
"Next up is Nashville" while showing up a view of Montréal
The most common complaint in MLB is the small and mid market teams cannot compete with the large market teams. So what does MLB want to do? Add more small market teams. The best idea MLB had in the last generation was contraction.
I supported the Expos until 1994 - going to as many as 40 games a season. No chance of getting a team now without the millions/billions needed for a franchise and a decent stadium. Private money is needed - governments won't get involved - there would be too much of a backlash by the general public. .
I thought about this recently, and here is my proposed expansion/realignment plan:
NL East:
Mets
Phillies
Reds
Pirates
AL East:
Yankees
Red Sox
Blue Jays
Orioles
NL South:
Braves
Marlins
Nationals
Nashville/Charlotte expansion team
AL South:
Rays
Royals
Rangers
Astros
NL Central:
Cubs
Cardinals
Brewers
Rockies
AL Central:
Guardians
Twins
Tigers
White Sox
NL West:
Giants
Dodgers
Diamondbacks
Padres
AL West:
Mariners
Angels
Oakland/Las Vegas A's
Portland/Vancouver expansion team
The American and National Leagues are restored as independent organizations with their own rules, umpires, and management structure. The regular season schedule will be weighted towards intra-divisional play, with each team playing each other team in its division 18 times, and playing other teams within its league 9 times each for a full 162 game schedule. There will be no more regular season interleague play. The playoff format will consist of a 5 game Division Series, to include the 4 division winners from each league, seeded by win-loss record, then the 7 game League Championship Series, then the 7 game World Series. Home field advantage in each series will be awarded to the team with the better record (with appropriate tie-breaking rules in place).
This arrangement isn't perfect, but it is probably the most optimal when it comes to the most likely sites for expansion while keeping the current teams' league designations.
Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are way too far away from Queens and Philly. That’s not happening
Not jazzed about 18 games against division rivals. That gets pretty boring!
I'm glad they went back to the more balanced schedule this year!
@@lovesgucci1 Atlanta and Miami are eleven hours apart by car, and we are in the same division.
@willp.8120
Philly and NYC can take a plane to Atlanta or Miami for fairly cheap & there’s a lot flights to each city (all 4) for fans to travel. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have small airports and way lesser flights scheduled to each city. NYC & Philly fans, especially, travel well & it doesn’t make economical sense for MLB to put them in the same division.
Go back to just east and west…the Central is just a pile of mediocre teams
The San Antonio Missions upgraded to MLB.
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Probably will never happen but a guy can dream.
Is it just me or does your chart at 5:38 exclude The Montreal Expos?
Bring back the Expos ⚾❗👍
Would love to see Charlotte, NC get a team and have that team in the Yankees division :)
Baltimore, Boston, NYY, and Toronto have battled for decades in the toughest division.
Why change that?
Hopefully 🙏 Right now we have to travel to Atlanta or Baltimore/DC to see an MLB team.
Charlotte or Raleigh would be great!
@@congresssux9766 Right!! As an Orioles fan, leave the AL East as is!!
I hope the Knights get upgraded to the Major League
Also Yankees and Mets in the same division feels like blasphemy
AGREED
As a native Northwesterner it's hard to imagine a team in Portland. Of course they would support a new team for awhile but in the long run they just don't seem to have the necessary passion for the game a smaller market needs. This season the Portland metro area of about 2.5 million didn't even have a radio outlet for the Mariners. Call it civic pride to NOT support a nearby team if you want but the lack of interest is striking. And Portland is so much closer to Seattle than areas to the east where there is strong support.
Vancouver has about the same metro population as Portland and they have the passion but I don't know how hard it would be to get a proper stadium built. Montreal is a no-brainer I think: If you build it they will come. Salt Lake City is interesting but a significantly smaller population base that would be challenging for baseball. Nashville makes sense.
Here's the idea that really makes sense: Once you're sure the A's are leaving, the Bay Area has everything you want for a second team. So many people with so much money, and a difficult trip from the South Bay to San Fran.
The whole division structure needs to be relooked at. The AL East this year is the prime example how it hurts good teams while propping up bad teams like in the AL Central. MLB should look at the NHL-style approach.
I think it’ll be Nashville and Utah, but I kinda want to see Texas get a third franchise and put it in Austin.
Please bring back The Montreal Expos! I’m a Phillies fan, but I always loved the club from up north.
The Expos should’ve never left in the first place! Even though, as a Phillies fan, i enjoy have two ballparks - one in my backyard, in Philly and 1 in DC.
I agree ! As an Expos fan I do miss the games against the Phillies back in the old days ... I was a kid but I had the chance to see Mike Schmidt play back in the 80's
Tax payers paying for a private person’s stadium is mind boggling
According to a former MLB GM and current insider who has played a major role in the Field of Dreams games, he says that expansion has two tiers at the present time. Portland and Nashville are the next two expansion teams unless one or both blows their chance with issues involving ownership, ballpark, etc. Should one or both mess up their chances, then San Antonio, Charlotte, Montreal, Vancouver, and Salt Lake City, in no particular order, will be the next tier.
He mentioned that the expansion committee will have to go through the collective bargaining process, so the player's union will have a say. He also expects that the Winter Meetings in Nashville next month will be too soon to include expansion on the schedule. He also doesn't expect Portland or Nashville to make any announcements concerning ownership groups, and he expects these would not be made public until the city is ready to present its proposal, because the longer the ownership groups are known, the more time there is for antagonists to present negative views on these groups.
i think Vancouver BC would be a good expansion city, however, there isnt a feasible place to put a huge baseball stadium like that. the Vancouver Canadians draws sellout crowds a TON in the summer they had to add more bleachers and places to hangout.
Vancouver is WAY too far, the only team that would be happy is Seattle
@@poopshoes7579 haha, yeeeaah. Living in the pacific northwest i grew up cheering for seattle... id be content with giving portland a team to get that rivalry going
Growing up as an Expos fan, it was hard to see them leave. Ever since then, I always hope that one day, the Expos would return. As long as they get a new stadium, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Montreal will support the team, regardless of their play. Just like in Oakland, the fans were screwed over by bad stadiums and bad ownerships. It's certainly not the fans. I can only hope it's sooner than later.
History would say otherwise. Montreal while a cool city is not a baseball town, would rather see a 3rd Florida team than Montreal get another try
@@poopshoes7579 "would rather see a 3rd Florida team than Montreal get another try"
Rays barely fill the seats and theyre a top team. Horrible opinion. Easily the worst opinion on this comment section
Nashville would be an interesting draw especially since Vandy has a great collegiate program too. Not to mention that they already have an NFL team & NHL team as well which makes it prime for this to happen.
At the 539 mark you list the expansion teams incorrectly with 1969 Washington Nationals, they were the Montréal Expos.
Dude, there are way easier ways you could have realigned the leagues at the end. MLB teams are not known for liking league switching, which is why it happens so infrequently and always to younger teams. Here's a much less disruptive alignment that still prioritizes travel time/cost and rivalries:
AL East:
Boston
NY Yankees
Toronto
Baltimore
AL North:
Detroit
Cleveland
Chi White Sox
Minnesota
AL South:
Tampa/Orlando
Texas
Houston
KC
AL West:
Seattle
Portland
Las Vegas
LA Angels
NL East:
NY Mets
Philadelphia
Cincinnati (edit: changed from Washington)
Pittsburgh
NL North:
Chi Cubs
Milwaukee
St. Louis
Colorado
NL South:
Atlanta
Washington (edit: changed from Cincinnati)
Miami
Nashville/Charlotte
NL West:
San Fran
LA Dodgers
Arizona
San Diego
Swap Cincinnati and Washington (as pointed out perfectly by youtubeemployeesarestupid below), and you've got it. The Cincinnati and Pittsburgh rivalry must be preserved.
@@psychopathyoutubeemployees280 Sure, makes sense to me (I grew up in an AL area, so I'm less familiar with NL rivalries)
I'd honestly want a new team either in portland or Vancouver because it would give the Mariners some new teams to make a rivalry and they wouldn't be the only team in the PNW
I agree Vancouver should get a team before Montreal Montreal had their team and they blew it
@@1dilligaf They didn't blow it. It was a con job that took the team out of there. Yes they could have supported more but that wasn't the main reason.
I'd love to see Vancouver get a team and I think it would be supported fairly well. The problem is, any potential owner has to commit to a baseball stadium. BC Place just won't cut it. And the stadium needs to be similar to Seattle's. Retractable mostly open, only shut when it rains. This brings up another problem in that any Billionaire owner is going to want welfare to build the stadium, so it probably will never happen.
@@doublestrokeroll I believe what you say I do think major-league baseball had a big play in it because they were scared of an all Canadian World Series
I live in British Columbia and there’s no way Vancouver gets a team. We would need a brand new stadium that would be ridiculously expensive, especially with the value of real estate here. Much better chance of getting the grizzlies back (which is also, still a pipe dream. No matter how much I would love it😂)
Montreal wayyyy before Vancouver…
as a New Orleans resident . I really want a team here , I know about the bad weather but with enough money we can make a hurricane proof stadium it could take a while but it could happen . The Orleans Expos has a nice sound to it than Montreal . it would bring more tourists than we have now and it will be a win win for the MLB , the Expos and new Orleans . sorry this comment is long I just got really excited when he mentioned new Orleans .
Cajuns trace their descent from 18-Century French Canadian immigrants (though mostly from Nova Scotia rather than Quebec), so it’s an interesting link to the Expos name. However, the Expos were named after a 1967 futurist world fair held in Montréal so the Expos name might be a little too anachronistic.
@@kramalerav New Orleans held a world's fair in 1984 (officially called the Louisiana World Exposition), so the Expos name wouldn't that far fletched.
@@gregsells8549 I did not know that. You are right.
I am here for the Expos :)
8:17 "Next up is Nashville."
Proceeds to show Montreal.
lol
@3:06 "Until 1952, none of these teams were located west of the Mississippi River." I know it's pedantic, but the St. Louis Cardinals, established in 1882, are very much west of the Mississippi River.
I would rather see four, 8 team divisions, AL East/West, NL East/West. Having eight divisions you'll see weak teams win divisions just as what's happening now in the AL Central with six divisions.
Weak? You just mean smart! Why win 90+ games to win your division when you can win under 90 and still make the playoffs? Work smarter, not harder.
@@danielpenrodii2389 In the AL there are currently 5 teams in the wild card race with a better record than Central leader Cleveland. Also, in the NL there are 3 teams in the NL wild card with better records than Cincinnati. With more divisions there will be a higher probability of good teams missing the post season because of weak divisions a weaker teams making the post season.
@@smith041958 You mean more try-hard teams, not smarter teams. AL Central is playing big brains moves by losing more and still making playoffs.