MLB 2018 Season

[CTWarrior]

1) No expansion
2) Vancouver
3) Portland (I'm assuming Oregon, though Maine would be cool too)
4) Montreal
5) Las Vegas
6) Nashville
7) Charlotte

I'd like to see expansion (or reduction, why is there still a team in Tampa?) to an even number in each league so we can get rid of interleague play. 

[Dish]

If MLB does realignment with expansion (one would think they'd go hand in hand), Portland seems like a near lock. Funny enough I'm in Portland right now, but they have a decent enough market size and seem to have their act together. An MLB schedule with realignment and more of a focus on reduced travel would certainly help both Portland and Seattle. I'd love for the Expos to come back because I always loved their uniforms/logos, but it seems like it'd be a coinflip between Charlotte/Nashville for the second team.

I think secretly MLB would love to relocate the Rays to Brooklyn if they could.

[RJax55]

For expansion for the sole purpose of leading to realignment that kills the unbalanced schedule. It sucks. 

[mu03eng]

All for expansion if they eliminate interleague play, balance the schedule, and shorten it to at least 154 games if not 148.

[GGGG]

I have a real good friend in Portland.  He's said that the town just isn't a big baseball town any longer. 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

The strike killed baseball in Montreal.
Olympic Stadium was an interesting place to see a game.  Montreal Steak sandwiches and poutine on the concession menu.

[jsglow]

Personally, I think Vancouver is a much better choice out west.  And I'm not so sure with Nashville but Charlotte makes sense.  Couldn't they just put a bullet in the head of the 2 FLA franchises and move 'em?

And not to insult my Chicago friends but the Sox do hang on by their fingernails.  Maybe not in comparison to the Rays but still.  Oakland is pathetic too with a team right across the bay making them vulnerable.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

All for expansion if they eliminate interleague play, balance the schedule, and shorten it to at least 154 games if not 148.

Hard to imagine the owner ever agreeing to fewer games.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Tampa are building a brand new stadium. They ain't going anywhere.

I'd pick Charlotte and Montreal if there had to be two.

[HouWarrior]

Tony Gwynn hit .415/.476/.521 in 107 plate appearences against Greg Maddux.  Without a striking out a single time.

Wow...
Both of these guys were really special.

Former MLB reliever Mike Stanton does backup color for Astros and they (Jeff Bagwell stopped by for a few innings) recently were discussing pitchers who could hit all four corners on command....like Greg Maddux (like Verlander, now w/Astros), etc...and Stanton noted how Gwynn (like Altuve) would handle Maddux and make contact at all the corners.....so ....

Stanton mentioned some other pitcher (forgot name)who did uniquely well against Gwynn...that pitcher revealing that as good as Gwynn was all over the corners the pitch he least expected was high and right down the middle. Trained to handle all the hard pitches to hit.... this guy beat Gwynn by crossing him up at key times, with the easiest pitch

Gotta love baseball....always thinking and adjusting

[#UnleashSean]

Two things to note:

Scoop has dragged this Hadar thing longer then the mlb, the brewers, and the media. Crazy

Scoop also hates interleague play, but I love it.

[rocket surgeon]

Tampa are building a brand new stadium. They ain't going anywhere.

I'd pick Charlotte and Montreal if there had to be two.

  it has been "pitched" but i wouldn't be standing in line for tickets just yet for a couple of reasons-
        1)there ain't no line anyway as they have been at/near the bottom of all attendance numbers

   http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/rays3.shtml

        2) this could be a referendum on whether or not tampa keeps a baseball team or not

the $900 million dollar stadium would have just over 28.000 fixed seats and just under 31.000 total capacity.  the dome itself is projected to cost $240 million.  at least with it's seating capacity, it wouldn't look so empty, 'ey?

    https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/10/tampa-bay-rays-new-stadium-plans-photos-ybor-city-tropicana-field

  if i were a resident near/in tampa, i'd follow the money and keep your wallet in front pocket with a biker chain on it

[Dish]

Personally, I think Vancouver is a much better choice out west.  And I'm not so sure with Nashville but Charlotte makes sense.  Couldn't they just put a bullet in the head of the 2 FLA franchises and move 'em?

And not to insult my Chicago friends but the Sox do hang on by their fingernails.  Maybe not in comparison to the Rays but still.  Oakland is pathetic too with a team right across the bay making them vulnerable.

The Sox are printing money. Financially they have zero reason to even ponder moving.

[MU82]

The Charlotte expansion talk is very interesting.

I believe we are the fastest-growing city in the country (or in the top 3), with Millennials espeicially moving here. Do Millennials watch baseball? Maybe they do - I didn't mean that snarkily at all. I legitimately don't know. It's an awfully boring game to some people, and I would have thought Millennials might fit that.

We built a cool minor-league ballpark that opened in 2014. The White Sox's AAA team plays there. They sell out most nights. It's right downtown with great views and right in the middle of "the action."

It is on too small a piece of land to be expanded to MLB size, so they'd have to start all over again.

There was a guy who repeatedly sued to get the ballpark stopped. His contention was that we should be going after an MLB team instead of the minors, and most laughed at him. I guess he's probably laughing now.

Not saying we couldn't do MLB here, but we barely support the Panthers and Hornets now.

I'd love to see it, but I can't see it happening.

[Jockey]

That was the ultimate standoff for umpires.  Greg Maddux got an extra 6 inches on both sides of the plate and guys like Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs traditionally got the corners called their way.  Must've been confusing for umpires to call those ABs.

Sorry, no pitcher has ever gotten 6 inches on either side of the plate.

Maybe it was just hyperbole cuz Maddux and Glavine did get a slightly larger zone.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Why the hate for interleague play? I love it

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Why the hate for interleague play? I love it

love it or hate it, there's no going back to NL only and AL only.  interleague is here to stay.

[rocket surgeon]

The Charlotte expansion talk is very interesting.

I believe we are the fastest-growing city in the country (or in the top 3) with Millennials espeicially moving here. Do Millennials watch baseball? Maybe they do - I didn't meant that snarkily at all. I legitimately don't know. It's an awfully boring game to some people, and I would have though Millennials might fit that.

We built a cool minor-league ballpark that opened in 2014. The White Sox's AAA team plays there. They sell out most nights. It's right downtown with great views and right in the middle of "the action."

It is on too small a piece of land to be expanded to MLB size, so they'd have to start all over again.

There was a guy who repeatedly sued to get the ballpark stopped. His contention was that we should be going after an MLB team instead of the minors, and most laughed at him. I guess he's probably laughing now.

Not saying we couldn't do MLB here, but we barely support the Panthers and Hornets now.

I'd love to see it, but I can't see it happening.

   i think charlotte would be an excellent place for a new team.  as for the millennials-ya can't make this one up-

    http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2018/07/19/millennials-outraged-after-baseball-team-advertises-millennial-night-with-avocados-participation-ribbons-and-napping-stations.html

[tower912]

I will be at our local minor league team's Millennial night next week.  Participation ribbons for the first thousand fans, etc.

[GGGG]

   i think charlotte would be an excellent place for a new team.  as for the millennials-ya can't make this one up-

    http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2018/07/19/millennials-outraged-after-baseball-team-advertises-millennial-night-with-avocados-participation-ribbons-and-napping-stations.html

Since when is napping a millennial thing?

[Lennys Tap]

Since when is napping a millennial thing?

Yeah - I'm a boomer who has always thought a good nap was underrated.

[buckchuckler]

I don't know about how realistic it is, probably not very, but I would love to see a team in the Caribbean somewhere, whether it was in Puerto Rico or the Dominican, I think that would be great.  The travel and economics may not make it feasible, but I think it would be great. 

[WarriorDad]

Thanks.  I'm a believer.  Chicago sports fan that isn't chicos that will fight until his death that LeBron James is, without a question, better than Michael Jordan.

Checks out.

I won't fight until my death. Sometimes better players come along, it is ok to admit it.  Adults do this quite easily.  I'm sure Laker fans thought Kareem was the best Laker ever, or Magic, but then I suspect some of them later in life said Kobe.  Joe Montana was the greatest QB ever, remember?  If a 49er fan now says Tom Brady is, does that make that 49er fan not legitimate? 

[WarriorDad]

I know plenty of 17 year olds. Most don't tweet racist stuff. The youth excuse is dumb.

Really Brewer fans should expect more than that.

This season doesn't seem like it's going to end well.

17 year old boys, especially, say dumb things about girls, sexuality, and any number of subjects.  Depending on where they were raised, how they were raised can play into it. 

[#UnleashSean]

Since when is napping a millennial thing?

Nor is the notion of participation trophies. The ones who ridicule millenialls for it are the same generation who came up with it.