Last week, the baseball world was stirring at reports that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to look to take a vacation from their home stadium. Because 81 home games is "a lot of games" according to Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg, they're going to split their home games elsewhere starting in 2024. [1]
The location, you ask?
Montreal.
Yes, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Granted, Montreal had a team up until 15 years ago, when the franchise was moved to Washington D.C. and became the Nationals. They had a pretty solid following before then. MLB Network did a documentary on the history of the Montreal Expos, and you can find it here. For the last several years, especially after Rob Manfred came on board as commissioner of MLB, many wondered if we were going to see another move to bringing a second team back to Canada. Well, you see, with all of the expansions and the status of baseball in 2019, there is a problem with that.
To begin with, there are 30 teams in the league. If you want a singular team, you have to add another to the other league. This would throw off the divisions and more games would have to be added to the season by default. One rumbling over the last two years has been the divisions being reconfigured entirely (4 teams in a North-East-Midwest-West setup) to make way for even divisions, but it would ultimately eliminate the Wild Card. [2] That being said, this ridiculousness ultimately justifies not affecting any teams that exist, and still getting Montreal, as well as other major western markets that MLB has been ogling over, such as Portland and Las Vegas.
When I first read the articles coming forth from the Rays' owners, this looks like a giant case of "we're expanding our 'market,' so we don't have to take the big fall if our market fails somewhere else, and if it succeeds, WOO MONEY!" While they've gone on-record saying that they're not moving out of Tampa Bay entirely, it is probably the absolute dumbest idea to have your team play half of their home games in another location that is over 1500 miles away. You're supposed to develop a knowledge of your field and to develop a faithful enough rapport with your fanbase, so you have, you know, home field advantage. switching your home field halfway through the season is a completely bogus idea in my mind.
Their idea allegedly justifies not needing a new ballpark right now, or using that "time away" to construct a more efficient ballpark that doesn't have low ceiling beams that determine certain extra-base hits. The St. Petersburg area is rather cramped as it is, and the Tampa Bay-metro area doesn't really have the space to construct another stadium right now. Even if there is a spot, freeways are rather bunched together in Western Florida, and you're going to have another Dodger Stadium situation in which you're moving people out of their homes to build a ballpark.
You can see what I mean here. Thanks, Google Maps!
As you can see, there isn't a lot of space to move around, unless you become the innovator of an underwater ballpark in Tampa Bay. [Oh no, please don't let that happen, baseball gods.]
While I can see what the owners are trying to do, it's another thing to pick a location that is not only so far away, but literally in another country. I kind of want to know what kind of mice were running around in the owners' brains in that thought process.
--
Here's a fun little bit that I'll do:
How would I fix this, despite asking myself, "...and who am I in this situation?"
I'm no expert on the baseball business, but let's give this a go. You have another team in Florida with a fairly new ballpark in the Miami Marlins, right? At the end of, say, the 2021 season, move the Miami Marlins franchise to Montreal to keep a fifth NL East team. Name them accordingly, whether it's bringing back the "Expos" name, or renaming them the "Montreal Grey Jays" (Canada's national bird, and the National League's "Jays" as Toronto is in the American League). Rename the Tampa Bay Rays the "Miami-St. Pete Hammerheads" and use both of their ballparks until 2023, when you'd have to make a final decision on what to do with Tropicana Field. By 2027--which is the original timeline as to when the Rays' deal with Trop ends--you'll most likely have a brand new ballpark by then.
I won't lie, I think I'm a genius with this idea.
But it's never gonna happen, because who am I in this situation?
--
The closest thing I can liken this situation to be is a sports separation, and Tampa is splitting custody of the Rays with Montreal to "strengthen the Montreal market." I mean, it isn't like baseball ever died in Montreal, let alone in Canada. It isn't a full-fledged divorce from Tampa, but they're thinking that business is going to be on the rise once this idea goes into effect.
Much like kids in a separation or divorce, are the players and coaching staff going to have a say in all of this? Of course not, because they're not high enough on the totem pole to really make an impact. If anything, I feel the worst for them, because you have unstable residences for half of your season. Not only that, imagine the fans in the area. It's like one of your attractions seemingly leaves and it cuts out something to do. Meanwhile, in Montreal, it's like you're an NFL fan in London, and the league is going, "Hey! Here's something you don't have! Wouldn't it be cool if you had a team of your own? Here's a free trial!" It seems sympathetic, and at the same time, kind of a cop-out.
It's still rather early in this planning process, so it's difficult to draw any conclusions as to how this is all going to go down. At face-value, this is a ballsy idea that could definitely bomb if it isn't planned from start to finish. Who knows? Maybe this idea will kill itself before it gets any further than this.
Only time will tell.
-- Stephanie
___________________
Other articles referenced:
Other articles referenced:
[1] Rays explain details of Montreal plan: "This is not a staged exit" - Tampa Bay Times - https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2019/06/25/rays-montreal-primer-what-you-need-to-know-before-todays-press-conference/
[2] If MLB considers expansion, what would a 32-team league look like? - SI.com - https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/10/19/major-league-baseball-expansion-proposal-realignment
