A proposal to tear down the Rio Casino pictured above and replace it with a Chase Field Phoenix type ball park with a retractable roof on the Las Vegas strip (Las Vegas Review-Journal photo)

Major League Baseball: Expansion is coming – But on Hold

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González.

Expansion in baseball is coming. However, it has been now “on the on-deck circle” for a while because the office of the Commissioner and the powers to be are focused on the Oakland A’s and the Tampa Bay Rays building new stadiums. 1998 was the last time MLB added a team it was their 29th (Arizona Diamondbacks) and then the 30th was the Tampa Bay Rays. It is over 20 years and the A’s and Rays have been holding the line of a total of 30 teams in major league baseball.

There are no timetable to tell us when the expansion will take place, however these cities are on the waiting list: Nashville, Tennessee, where a group that includes ex-A’s pitcher Dave Stewart is involved, also Austin and San Antonio, Texas, Orlando, Charlotte and a decent chance that Montreal, Canada, will be back as a major league town.

I also have to mention Portland Oregon, because they have shown interest in the past and in this crazy business of baseball, we cannot count anybody out. For the record; Portland is the #21 Media Market in the US and for your information, Las Vegas is #40.

In the MLB plans for expansion, Las Vegas is not listed as an expansion city, although even if Sin City doesn’t land the A’s, they still will have a good shot because that city keeps growing and pro-sports leagues are planning and showing interest to have a team there in the future.

For now Las Vegas is ‘rolling the dice’ on the A’s. One important thing to keep in mind. Las Vegas, Nevada is mostly desert, the building regulations there and politics are not that complicated, unlike here in the Bay Area. It is easier and cheaper to build anything in Las Vegas than in the Bay Area – as simple as that.

How about the A’s? It is December 2022 and no news from the City of Oakland or the Oakland A’s. A’s Present Dave Kaval has maintained that if by December of this year there is no “green lit” plan in Oakland for the A’s project at Howard Terminal, they are gone. In a Twitter Kaval tweeted: “It is Howard Terminal or Bust”.

Winter Meetings: For the first time in three years (none last two because of Covid) they will take place from December 4 to December 7 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California. After these meetings are over, baseball is on vacation for Hanukkah and Christmas, so it is anybody’s guess what’s is going to happen, what news we might hear on the Oakland A’s.

But the focus is on the big name free agents available and possible trades, the #1 Aaron Judge and others like Justin Verlander, Carlos Rodón, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and A’s catcher Sean Murphy are some of the high profile names in the menu.

For now I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, and see you in 2023.

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