Major League Baseball added its 29th (Arizona Diamondbacks) and 30th (Tampa Bay Rays) teams before the 1998 season and has held firm at that number for more than two decades. In a few years, MLB expansion is expected to return.
Expansion has been put on the back burner in recent years but many say that league officials are focused on growing once again. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said that the eventual goal is to have 32 teams.
There remains no specific timetable for when MLB expansion will happen. However, cities are slowly putting together efforts to become a part of professional baseball in the future.
Las Vegas hopes to get a team–many say the Oakland A’s will move there. A group in Nashville has put together a bid for an expansion team. There’s also the city of Portland which has plans to potentially construct a stadium.
Other cities in contention: Austin, San Antonio, Charlotte, and Orlando. There’s even the possibility of MLB expansion bringing the sport back to Montreal.
NEW YORK SPORTS THIS WEEK 