It is no surprise that the MLB is looking hard at adding two new teams in the next few years to take the franchise count to 32, with cities across North America putting together potential ownership groups to pitch their cases to Manfred.
The first city, Nashville, has seemed like a frontrunner from the get-go, already with a strong well of support in the state of Tennessee and the capital on bringing a major league team to it. Tennessee has become a hotbed of college baseball over the past few decades, with the Volunteers and Vanderbilt among the state’s must-see attractions.
It also adds another team in the south that the Atlanta Braves have owned for decades. The region deserves another MLB team, and Nashville seems like a surefire selection.
The other city, though, might be more of a shock: Salt Lake City.
While cities like Charlotte, Vancouver, Portland, Orlando, and others have been bandied, it is Utah that leads the second expansion slot alongside Nashville.
We’ve already seen the city embrace the Mammoth, the former Phoenix Coyotes, and with investors seeing the state as a growing commercial destination, a baseball franchise would be the logical next step.
We’re likely two to three years from teams officially being locked down for expansion, as Manfred still needs to ensure the Athletics properly transition to their new home in Las Vegas.
But change, like it has been almost every year in the sport of baseball, is coming.