What are some good cities for two new Major League Baseball expansion team?

Question

Tell me yes or no for each of these:
New York (Long Island)
Newark, NJ
Indianapolis, IN
Charlotte, NC
Montreal, Quebec
Portland, OR
Sacramento, CA
Memphis, TN

Give me some ideas on what the team nicknames would be.

Thank you H H!
How about the Louisville Sluggers!!!!

To H H:

Well yeah!
Louisville Slugger is the name of the bat manufacturer.

Here are a couple cities that I forgot to put on the list above:
Orlando, FL
Nashville, TN
Omaha, NE
Vancouver, British Columbia
San Juan, PR
San Antonio, TX

To d town:
It would be a bad idea to even out the leagues. There would have to be interleague almost every day just like the NBA and NHL or there would always be one team from each league taking a day off.

How does this sound:

Las Vegas Blue Sox

It would complete our nation's colors

Boston Red Sox
Cincinatti Reds
Chicago White Sox
Las Vegas Blue Sox

Oh yeah!
We already have the Blue Jays but what about a Blue Sox team as I mentioned above?

To Ken K:
Are you dumb?
There is a Kansas City team!
The Kansas City Royals!!!

Having a Blue Sox team would be interesting.
Think about it!
Blue Sox vs. Red Sox
or
Blue Sox vs. White Sox
It could create a rivalry between these 3 teams. Obviously the Red Sox already have a big rivalry with the Yankees.

Answer 1

While I like to speculate about more baseball teams ultimately I think it's a bad idea. The pool of available talent is just too watered down right now. Pitching would suffer, big money teams would just become more dominant and ultimately I think it would do more to hurt the MLB brand.

That being said. This is fun to talk about anyway.

New York (Long Island) -- Probably not. I don't any of the East Coast owners would allow another team in New England. Baltimore had a fit about the Washington Nationals!! They would see it as a loss of revenue.

Newark, NJ -- Ditto.

Indianapolis, IN -- I like this idea. I've wished for a MLB team in Indy for a long time. The midwest loves baseball. I think Indy would be a good fit. They could have some kind of complimentary mascot with the Colts. The Rough Riders or something like that.

Charlotte, NC -- Not bad. I think they tried to get the Expos.
Call them the Yellowjackets.

Montreal, Quebec -- Nah, I don't think MLB would try Montreal again.

Portland, OR -- Okay, the girl who said you couldn't put a team here because it rains too much needs a smack. You could bring back the Pilots. The Portland Pilots.

Sacramento, CA -- Never thought of this. You could name them the Sacramento Governors.

Memphis, TN -- I suppose so. The Memphis Twang.

Orlando, FL -- Not an expansion team. If anything, move the Devil Rays here. It would be a Disney team. The Orlando Genies or the Mouseketeers.

Nashville, TN -- The Nashville Hillbillys.

Omaha, NE -- Never Happen.

Vancouver, British Columbia -- I doubt it. Canada is probably done. Too much legalities with television rights and all that.

San Juan, PR -- I don't think the owners like this idea. It's a long, long flight and the California teams would be at a disadvantage. I like the idea but I don't think it would happen.

San Antonio, TX -- I don't think Texas has the market.

A few others:

Las Vegas -- Probably the most likely candidate. The name couldn't have anything even remotely to do with gambling though. So no High Rollers, or Blackjacks, or Luckies or anything like that. Probably a desert thing like the Sidewinders or the Mesas.

Salt Lake City -- I've heard this mentioned a few times. Would it work? I don;t really know anything about SLC. Name them the Flats....the Badlanders. Are the Badlands in Utah?

Monterrey, Mexico -- Next best idea after LV. Still have the travel issue but at least it's more central. The TV deal would probably be easier to work because I would think Mexico would WANT it to work.. Give them a latin name.

Fun topic!!

Note: Don't like Blue Sox for a team name. And the guy who was talking about Kansas City was making a joke.

Answer 2

First off... there is a team in Kansas City Missouri but not in Kansas City Kansas so maybe thats where he was talking about if he wasnt joking about the team in Missourt sucking so bad they arent really a major league team. Second... expansion is the worst idea for baseball. The league needs to contract. There are several teams that can not support themselves and the fans there wont support them. Most of the cities you mentioned already have minor league teams and some of them are having a hard time finding fan support. Depleting talent once more by requiring 48 new jobs in the majors and adding hundreds more in the minor leagues is rediculous. If forced to pic a place to put one or two more major league teams then I would have to say Newark, NJ or Buffalo for eastern area and Las Vegas for the west. I dont think Newark is going to happen though because there are two territorial teams in that market who wouldnt want to give up their rights. Much like the fight that occured when Montreal moved to Washington DC. The Orioles didnt want to give up their rights to that market. I think unless you get a state of the art indoor stadium that Canada is out as a prospect. Vegas would be a sketchy place to go because its more of a tourist destination than a fan base. I think they might support major league baseball though. As far as a foreign local other than Canada I think both Mexico City and San Juan are very good choices the only question is will the local economy allow fans to attend games for a reasonable price while allowing the teams to be competetive. I say contract. Get baseball out of Florida, Colorado, and Arizona. Hell get it out of New York lol.

Answer 3

Kansas City could use a Major League Baseball Team.

Answer 4

I don't agree with expansion... still, it's a hypothetical question, so here's a hypothetical answer.

I like the idea of Latin American expansion, but the repressed economy makes financial backing and continued support difficult as a team may not generate enough income to field and contract star players (unless Latin stars flocked here and played for less out of pride).

The best unexplored markets (not really checking your list) are Las Vegas (but you have to get around the whole gambling thing), Portland, OR, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Oklahoma City, Memphis, TN, and Charlotte, NC. These are the ONLY cities with enough surrounding population and enough internal income and interest to support MLB.

Florida has shown us two things: even with a World Series caliber team, people will still not attend games, and expansion teams executed poorly will not win games. Florida, like Texas, is a football state. Basketball and Hockey are supported - but just barely. They're hanging on by a lifeline...

Portland and Vancouver are both considered part of the Seattle market in regards to MLB, but may stand up on their own, as both support other professional sports franchises.

Sacramento, Newark, and some of the other cities you mentioned are too close to other oversaturated markets (Newark near New York City, Sacramento near Oakland and San Francisco) and will not be able to maintain a team. Besides, Sac is a Kings town and the people only have enough interest for one sport - trust me - I live here.

You might be able to make a case for San Antonio, Edmonton, AL, Canada or Calgary, AL, Canada - they all have had long term, strong AAA affiliations. Boston, Philly and St. Louis have all had both NL and AL teams, but I think the towns are all behind their current solo squads and would probably not back expansion.

In those cases, I would have to go with (just talking out of my *** here):
Memphis Sound
Charlotte Hurricanes
Portland Roses (LOL)
Vancouver Cannucks (same as hockey)
Oklahoma City Cowboys or Rattlers
Calgaary Stampede (same as CFL)
Edmonton Mountaineers
San Antonio Cavalry or Scorpions

Answer 5

Will the rules also be changed so that a starter can be awarded a win after 3 innings instead of 5? That, after all, is the inevitable result of more and absolutely unnecessary expansion - that there simply aren't enough arms around the world to put together real pitching staffs.

Take Montreal off your list for ever and ever. It's not just because they've failed before. It's about ratings, and no matter how good the ratings may be in Canada, they don't count for Fox, ESPN or any other US network. Ditto any city in Mexico.

And please, please, PLEASE, stop putting these foolish ideas into people's head, particularly the heads of people affiliated with MLB.

Answer 6

I don't think they should be adding more teams. The season is already 162 games tooooo looooong and it gets boooooring (playing some 15 plus games against one another in each division????). If I had any say in baseball, I'd combine the Dodgers with the Angels, then the Giants and A's, the Cubs with White Sox, Yankees with Mets, and so on and so forth. There's just too many ball clubs within driving minutes of each other. If they did this, I bet you each new club would be swimming in $$$$$$$$$. I am not trying to be funny. Mr. Selig, are you listening?

Answer 7

I'd put another team in the New York/East Coast area - Newark, Long Island, or even Hartford, just to break up the market a bit there. It'll never happen, though.

I think a team in Mexico City would make a lot of sense - it's the largest city in the world, in a strong baseball country, and would give MLB a strong toehold into the Latin American market.

Answer 8

Bring the Stros or Brew Crew to Portland, they could join the AL west (along with Seattle, Oakland, LAA, Texas), the fit would be perfect!

And by the way, it doesn't rain here in Portland as much as people think... Here are some rough averages for cities with MLB teams, Portland has a average rainfall of 35" a year...

NYC- 45"
Boston-42"
Pitts- 37"
Seattle-37"
KC- 38"
Tampa-44"
Philly-40"

We could build a stadium with a retractable roof, like Safeco Field in Seattle, and never have a rain out/delay...

Answer 9

Indianapolis, Indiana.

Columbus, Ohio.

Both are well populated cities missing a good baseball team.

Answer 10

HEY, READ THIS! I think MLB needs to expand more, exspecially northern mexico city's. How bout Mexicali or Tijuana. But if you dicide to head North, Indianoplis/Vancouver name em the green sox! ALSO, Arizona is growing so fast, i would consider a crosstown rivaly in scottsdale. Good luck mate!