08-25-2003, 02:27 PM
I think the two most talked about relocation areas have been D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Forget Montreal, because they can't get support up there, based on attendance ususally being under 10,000 people, even when they're being competitive.
Any move to Florida would be a disaster. There are already two teams there who are basically glorified triple-A (despite the Marlins doing well this year), adding another one there would be horrible. And it seems odd, because Florida is an excellent baseball region, but the two "experiments" called the Devil Rays and Marlins have really ruined it.
California already has four teams. MLB would probably not allow another one there, or any other far West locale (such as Portland or Las Vegas), because they lose ratings and money from East Coast viewing. And Las Vegas is most likely really never going to get it because MLB is trying to avoid association with gambling (so they won't plunk a team in the heart of Gambling Central).
Indianapolis wouldn't be such a bad choice. Midwest location makes it easy for East and West Coast teams to travel to it. And there are already successful football and basketball teams there, so the city can obviously handle its sports franchises well.
But if I had to make a prediction, I would go with the D.C. area. Provided <a href=http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/neyer_rob/1506813.html target=new> Orioles owner Peter Angelos doesn't try to block the move</a>, claiming it infringes on his teams' market fan base. It's an absurd argument, of course, since several other cities and/or regions host multiple babseball teams (and occasionally other sports franchises as well). The Orioles simply do not have the right to be an exclusive franchise.
Puerto Rico would be a bit difficult, but still possible. the only thing the other teams would really have to worry about is travel time. Most likely all teams would land in Florida, play the Marlins or Devil Rays, and then take a quick flight to P.R. The last thing you want is for the Mariners to have to fly directly from Seattle to P.R. to play a 3-game interleague on no rest. Still, the argument is this move won't happen unless the facilities are upgraded considerably, to MLB specifications (which wouldn't really be that hard to do).
And, as for any team moving to Mexico... :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
Forget Montreal, because they can't get support up there, based on attendance ususally being under 10,000 people, even when they're being competitive.
Any move to Florida would be a disaster. There are already two teams there who are basically glorified triple-A (despite the Marlins doing well this year), adding another one there would be horrible. And it seems odd, because Florida is an excellent baseball region, but the two "experiments" called the Devil Rays and Marlins have really ruined it.
California already has four teams. MLB would probably not allow another one there, or any other far West locale (such as Portland or Las Vegas), because they lose ratings and money from East Coast viewing. And Las Vegas is most likely really never going to get it because MLB is trying to avoid association with gambling (so they won't plunk a team in the heart of Gambling Central).
Indianapolis wouldn't be such a bad choice. Midwest location makes it easy for East and West Coast teams to travel to it. And there are already successful football and basketball teams there, so the city can obviously handle its sports franchises well.
But if I had to make a prediction, I would go with the D.C. area. Provided <a href=http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/neyer_rob/1506813.html target=new> Orioles owner Peter Angelos doesn't try to block the move</a>, claiming it infringes on his teams' market fan base. It's an absurd argument, of course, since several other cities and/or regions host multiple babseball teams (and occasionally other sports franchises as well). The Orioles simply do not have the right to be an exclusive franchise.
Puerto Rico would be a bit difficult, but still possible. the only thing the other teams would really have to worry about is travel time. Most likely all teams would land in Florida, play the Marlins or Devil Rays, and then take a quick flight to P.R. The last thing you want is for the Mariners to have to fly directly from Seattle to P.R. to play a 3-game interleague on no rest. Still, the argument is this move won't happen unless the facilities are upgraded considerably, to MLB specifications (which wouldn't really be that hard to do).
And, as for any team moving to Mexico... :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
<center><IMG SRC="http://members.aol.com/darkmoonchild23/images/the_brain_magnet.jpg" alt="Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" height=250 width=250></center><br />
<br />
<marquee behavior=alternate> <A href="mailto:[email protected]"><center><i>"ARE YOU PONDERING WHAT I'M PONDERING?"</i></center></a></marquee><br /><a href="aim:goim?ScreenName=DarkMoonchild23&Message=NARF!!!!!"><center>I think so, Brain...</center></a><br /><i><font color=4e4e4e>I'll conquer the world long before Kingpin ever finds "Pinky"</i></font><br /><font color=white><b><i>Now, I must return to the Lab to prepare for tomorrow night...</b></i></font><font color=4d4d4d size=-5>
<br />
<marquee behavior=alternate> <A href="mailto:[email protected]"><center><i>"ARE YOU PONDERING WHAT I'M PONDERING?"</i></center></a></marquee><br /><a href="aim:goim?ScreenName=DarkMoonchild23&Message=NARF!!!!!"><center>I think so, Brain...</center></a><br /><i><font color=4e4e4e>I'll conquer the world long before Kingpin ever finds "Pinky"</i></font><br /><font color=white><b><i>Now, I must return to the Lab to prepare for tomorrow night...</b></i></font><font color=4d4d4d size=-5>