MLB Off-Topic

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

When he brings up expansion but then says there are 2 more stadium situations they want cleaned up before it happens, I just take that to mean there won't be any expansion. The A's have been in their situation since what seems like the beginning of time and have made 0 progress. The only things I hear about the Rays situation are either that they need to move their stadium to Tampa instead of St. Pete or that they will be the ones to go to Montreal. It sounds like nothing is going to happen if those are the things holding us up.

[Majingir]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Would be a good timeframe for Montreal to get a team back. Get new CBA this upcoming offseason, Montreal hosts more ST games in 2017, hosts MLB games in 2018, and then gets a franchise(the relocated Rays) for 2019 perhaps?

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Is there an actual reason to believe things will be different in Montreal this time or would they move a team with an empty arena into another?

[Majingir]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Manfred has basically stated that a dealbreaker in Montreal ever getting a team is the new stadium. If they can at least have a proposal in place to have a new stadium under the condition they get an MLB team, they'll be in the running.

If Montreal has proper ownership this time around who aren't cheap and won't just gut the team to save money, they'll be successful.

TV wise, they'd reach all of Canada on multiple platforms. Back when Expos existed, Canada really only had 3 sports channels(Sportsnet,TSN,The Score) and other games were delegated to other channels like CBC,CTV. This time around, Sportsnet has 3 different channels(technically 7 with regional ones), TSN has 5 channels. Both of which own their own radio stations as well.

So getting a team, they'd be in a brand new baseball specific stadium, have a national tv/radio/streaming provider, and if they're in the AL East, would have major rivals in the Jays,Yankees and Red Sox(Boston specifically is just a 5hr drive,so you could see Expos fans invading Fenway).

So as long as they'd have ownership who'd be comfortable with a payroll of 100M+ on a year to year basis, everything else I think would naturally fall into place. Like the saying goes, "build it and they will come". Give them a reason to show up,they will. Show them you don't care,and they won't either.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Interesting, I'm rooting for it to a degree. Two Canadian teams make a **** ton more sense to me than 2 Florida teams, neither of which has any decent attendance numbers. That being said, if it was so easy to find an ownership group who wouldn't be cheap and people willing to finance a new stadium, the teams in trouble wouldn't need to move in the first place. Meanwhile, Texas and Atlanta are building new stadiums after 20 years. Such a bizarre landscape.

[slickdtc]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Montreal fans driving 5 hours to invade Boston? I don't think so.

[SPTO]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

There has been speculation off and on that Bell would be the most likely owners of a new Montreal team. It makes a lot of sense as Rogers and Bell basically fight tooth and nail over the TV, Internet, Phone and sports viewership in Canada. TSN also has a dearth of valuable programming in the summer. They do have a bulk of the ESPN baseball package but it doesn't get the biggest ratings here. Owning another MLB team would help TSN a lot as they'd definitely garner a lot of ratings going head to head against the Blue Jays and try to sell it as Canada's other team.

[Majingir]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Montreal fans driving 5 hours to invade Boston? I don't think so.

Why not? If they're division rivals, what makes it so hard to think they'll do that for a weekend series or something? In hockey, we see Leafs fans invading Ottawa a fair amount and that's a 5 hour drive from Toronto to Ottawa.

Red Sox are supposedly another popular team around Montreal, so if they become division rivals, that just makes it even better for those fans. And who wouldn't want to go to Fenway if they have the chance?

[SPTO]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Montreal fans driving 5 hours to invade Boston? I don't think so.

Blue Jays fans invade almost every ballpark Toronto visits. If a Montreal team is successful and contending early on you'll see something similar though certainly not to the same extent. As Majingir said the Red Sox are very popular in Quebec and indeed in Atlantic Canada so you could definitely see Montreal Expos (I hope they would bring that name back) fans going down to Boston and NY too for that matter.

[Speedy]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Manfred on possible expansion to Montreal:



Manfred is also open to the idea of Montreal hosting some regular season games in 2018 but says it's unlikely due to it being a WBC year etc etc.

Very good response...no sense in adding teams until the cities with issues are resolved.

[Majingir]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Montreal Expos (I hope they would bring that name back)

lol, can you imagine if they're not allowed to do that. Like the Nats decide to be babies and don't let Montreal use that.

Or be like the Arizona Coyotes in the NHL and not let the Winnipeg Jets take back their history.

[Redacted01]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Montreal fans driving 5 hours to invade Boston? I don't think so.

I can't speak on Montreal, but when I was in Cleveland back in July, that park was easily a third Blue Jays fans and that's a 5-5.5 drive from Toronto. The Blue Jays seem to be the exception. I've seen tons of Blue Jays fans in KC too. I don't know if they travel, or are just fans in the US like me. I don't recall seeing as many road fans for other games I've been to over the years.

The problem for them would be that they could get a transplanted team. I'm sure they'd embrace them, but I don't know if you'd get that sort of diehard fanbase that the Blue Jays have right from the start.

[Majingir]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I can't speak on Montreal, but when I was in Cleveland back in July, that park was easily a third Blue Jays fans and that's a 5-5.5 drive from Toronto. The Blue Jays seem to be the exception. I've seen tons of Blue Jays fans in KC too. I don't know if they travel, or are just fans in the US like me. I don't recall seeing as many road fans for other games I've been to over the years.

The problem for them would be that they could get a transplanted team. I'm sure they'd embrace them, but I don't know if you'd get that sort of diehard fanbase that the Blue Jays have right from the start.

The special thing about traveling Jays fans, it's not even all people from Toronto. So even in your example of Jays fans in Cleveland, it doesn't even have to be people driving 5 hours from Toronto. It could be people from Sarnia,London(Ontario), or one of the smaller cities in southern ontario. It's about a 3 hour drive from the closest part of Canada to drive to Cleveland. Even from Niagara Falls, it's about a 3.5hr drive.

Similarly with the ones going to Mariners games. It's people from Western Canada, specifically Vancouver area.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I think baseball should contract the Blue Jays and let the Expos take their place. Just my opinion.

[Speedy]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I think baseball should contract the Blue Jays and let the Expos take their place. Just my opinion.

Interesting.

I think the same thing about the Nationals.