Exponential Baseball to Return

[Edgy MD]

https://www.660citynews.com/video/2021/09/25/report-announcement-about-return-of-the-montreal-expos-coming-this-fall/Reports leaking out all ubber the Interwebs that MLB is planning on making an announcement after the season of a return of some version of a team calling itself the Montreal Expos.



Before getting too crazy in anticipation of a thrilling expo-ansion draft, it's worth noting that most reports indicate that the plan isn't to expand, so much as make the Rays a two-city team, and presumably call themselves "The Rays" in Tampa/St. Pete and "The Expos" in Canada.



If that's the plan, it's sounds like a goofy-assed half measure, but I'd guess the notion is to make it a test run for both cities/fan bases. Tampa gets to prove whether they deserve to keep the team, and Montreal gets to demonstrate their worthiness for an expando team.



[fimg=600]https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/10/20/sports/18jpkepner-expos1-print/merlin_10373414_72767b11-2dbe-45ff-a335-867befc4a70b-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg[/fimg]

[Chad ochoseis]

The only article I could find in the Montreal press is in French.



https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/09/25/une-banniere-pour-promouvoir-la-garde-partagee-des-rayshttps://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/09/25/une-banniere-pour-promouvoir-la-garde-partagee-des-rays



Announcement not likely to be made until after Montreal's mayoral election on November 7, but the team is planning to put up a banner promoting the plan in foul territory near right field during the playoffs (which sounds like a bit of an FU to the Tampa Bay region, but whatever).



Tampa is on board with building a new ballpark to accommodate the club for part of a season to entice them to move from St. Petersburg, so this whole thing may just be a way to put the screws to St. Pete.



Plan is to have spring training in the Tampa Bay area and have the team play regular season home games there until early June, and then move to Montreal for the remainder of the season. Does this mean Montreal gets 2/3 of the home games, or that the schedule will be written to pack half the home games in the first third of the season?



Playoff home games would alternate.



I can't see this happening until 2023, though. I think the only place the Expos could play until a real stadium is completed is Olympic Stadium. The Jays play a couple of spring training games there every year, but t don't know if it's in shape to host regular season games. And the street where it's located is completely torn up and closed to cars through the end of 2022, though there can be work-arounds to that problem. It's possible to access the parking areas from the street that runs behind the stadium, though that could get ugly.



I wonder if anyone has asked the union what they think. I gotta believe players don't want to be splitting their home games between two cities.

[Fman99]

I'd be pretty pissed if I was a Tampa fan local who was losing their team for half the season. I mean, you know, if they weren't all just shitty MFY fans there in Tampa anyway.

[whippoorwill]

That is a stupid idea

[Chad ochoseis]

Yeah. I have to figure that the Rays are trying to leverage a new ballpark in the Tampa Bay area and the city of Montreal is trying to showcase itself in case the major leagues ever expand to 32 teams.

[bmfc1]

Chad might be onto something as this leak seems fishy--right before the playoffs when interest is higher than usual in Tampa.

[Edgy MD]

And why is Steve Rogers wearing sliding pants?

[kcmets]

I'm all for baseball returning to Montreal, but not in this half-assed manner. I'm

sure the players won't be particularly pleased being away from homes (if they live in

the area) for another quarter of a year. Tampa/St Pete doesn't deserve a new stadium,

Tropicana is just fine and it's not like the citizens of the area actually go to a lot of games.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

The O when we visited some time ago doesn't really look ready for baseball again, or really anything but a wrecking ball.



BTW, same thing in St. Pete. Now they can play in both of the worst stadiums imaginable, and in front of suspicious fans in both.



Montreal would make sense in the AL East, moreso than Tampa. I don;t give a crap about anyone in Florida anyway so hopefully they leave

[Edgy MD]

Go, Ex-Rays!



https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/ex-rays.png>

[batmagadanleadoff]

=kcmets post_id=78604 time=1632671838 user_id=53]
I'm all for baseball returning to Montreal, but not in this half-assed manner. I'm

sure the players won't be particularly pleased being away from homes (if they live in

the area) for another quarter of a year. Tampa/St Pete doesn't deserve a new stadium,

Tropicana is just fine and it's not like the citizens of the area actually go to a lot of games.

[kcmets]

What is your fucking problem? It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon,

LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

[kcmets]

[kcmets]

=kcmets post_id=78619 time=1632692314 user_id=53]
What is your fucking problem? It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon,

LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

[batmagadanleadoff]

=kcmets post_id=78621 time=1632692456 user_id=53]
=kcmets post_id=78619 time=1632692314 user_id=53]
What is your fucking problem? It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon,

LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

[kcmets]

All of a sudden your reading comprehension skills diminish (EXPOnentially).



Have a good evening.

[batmagadanleadoff]

=kcmets post_id=78623 time=1632692862 user_id=53]
All of a sudden your reading comprehension skills diminish (EXPOnentially).



Have a good evening.

[kcmets]

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=78625 time=1632693074 user_id=68]
=kcmets post_id=78623 time=1632692862 user_id=53]
All of a sudden your reading comprehension skills diminish (EXPOnentially).



Have a good evening.

[G-Fafif]

No expansion in going on a quarter-century. Population's grown. Baseball is played more globally than it was in the last century. MLB really couldn't field two more teams, give Montreal a proper franchise and get us to a mathematically cohesive 32?

[Edgy MD]

Absolutely they could, but they probably want to make it part of the next CBA. If they're holding X amount of jobs just out of reach, they want to see what they can get the union to concede in exchange.

[kcmets]

What happened to 'please please please?'

Post gone.

If everyone's cool with him, I'll just leave....

[Edgy MD]

I ain't cool. I just didn't know how to say please, please in an effective manner.


=batmagadanleadoff post_id=78625 time=1632693074 user_id=68]
=kcmets post_id=78623 time=1632692862 user_id=53]
All of a sudden your reading comprehension skills diminish (EXPOnentially).



Have a good evening.

[Chad ochoseis]

Edgy MD wrote: Absolutely they could, but they probably want to make it part of the next CBA. If they're holding X amount of jobs just out of reach, they want to see what they can get the union to concede in exchange.

Does the union have an interest in creating more jobs, or just looking out for the people they currently represent? I guess there's some marginal benefit to current players in that there will be that many more places for them to catch on when they're just in the top 832 players in the world instead of the top 780.



Whatever happens, if Montreal gets a team, I hope they go all-out in keeping their history. Call them the Expos. Retire all the numbers the Nationals unretired, especially Rusty's. Bring back Youppi. And keep the logo that nobody realizes is an M until they've looked at it for four or five years.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: I ain't cool. I just didn't know how to say please, please in an effective manner. =batmagadanleadoff post_id=78625 time=1632693074 user_id=68] =kcmets post_id=78623 time=1632692862 user_id=53] All of a sudden your reading comprehension skills diminish (EXPOnentially). Have a good evening.

Yeah sure, whatever. Everything is the way you say things are just because you say so.

[kcmets]

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=78643 time=1632718215 user_id=68]
He writes a ridiculous post nixing this Ray-Expo proposal, not because it's an idea as goofy as all but because HE doesn't want players to split their home games between two cities. HIM. Not because the idea is bizarre, but because HE doesn't want the Rays to get a new stadium.

[kcmets]

=kcmets post_id=78644 time=1632743153 user_id=53]
=batmagadanleadoff post_id=78643 time=1632718215 user_id=68]
He writes a ridiculous post nixing this Ray-Expo proposal, not because it's an idea as goofy as all but because HE doesn't want players to split their home games between two cities. HIM. Not because the idea is bizarre, but because HE doesn't want the Rays to get a new stadium.

[whippoorwill]

KC's correct here, you know. Putting your thoughts in the first person isn't all that unusual. In fact, my brief post "This is stupid" would be more correct if I said "I think this is stupid".



Because some of you might not think it's stupid, and it's wrong to assume.

[kcmets]

[bLOCKQUOTE]The Tampa Bay Rays are adding a sign to the back wall of Tropicana Field for the postseason to advertise their plan to split home games in future seasons between Florida and Montreal.

Team president Matt Silverman announced the plan on Saturday's "This Week in Rays Baseball" radio show, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

"We're going to add a sign in the right field foul territory with a very simple Tampa Bay Montreal graphic," Silverman said. "Especially with the eyes of baseball on us this October, we want that visible symbol of our plan and our excitement for it. It will mark the effort subtly and keep the focus on winning."

While the plan hasn't officially been put in place, Silverman said it's the best path forward to keep baseball in the area.[/bLOCKQUOTE]

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2199110https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2199110

[Frayed Knot]

Tampa/St Pete doesn't deserve a new stadium, Tropicana is just fine and it's not like the citizens of the area actually go to a lot of games

I think the Tampa/StP area can support a team and that the stadium is an issue. But it's also largely MLB's own fault there for being more concerned with getting the initiation fees

from that expansion than they were in making sure the conditions were right in the places where they were expanding. The stadium suxx, the lighting suxx, the atmosphere suxx in

a place where special ground rules are needed because batted balls frequently bounce off the walls and off the ceiling.

Plus it's in the wrong part of the wrong town in that area. Tampa is the larger, younger, and more diverse of the two towns with a terrific tradition of youth baseball talent and a heavily

Cuban section of the city with their ties to baseball. A better park in a better location coupled with the already existing well-run org could be a major success down there and not just

with transplanted northerners rooting for the road team.



Problem is, of course, who's going to pay for it? It's not a cash-rich organization and maybe cities are starting to get at least a teensy-bit wise about simply blindly forking over money

to billionaires. It would benefit MLB to help pay the freight if the result is a strong franchise where an [off-field] weak one exists now but try to convince the other 29 owners of that.



I agree that this two-city 'solution' -- especially ones 1,500 miles apart -- is no solution at all and I can't see how the players are going to go along with it.

And while I'm not against expansion as a concept, I am cautious about what the side-effects might be -- Eight Four-Team Divisions!! -- and that they'll do it for the wrong reasons

with the same lack of long-term planning as they did last time around.

[Ceetar]

[bLOCKQUOTE]The Tampa Bay Rays are adding a sign to the back wall of Tropicana Field for the postseason to advertise their plan to split home games in future seasons between Florida and Montreal. Team president Matt Silverman announced the plan on Saturday's "This Week in Rays Baseball" radio show, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. "We're going to add a sign in the right field foul territory with a very simple Tampa Bay Montreal graphic," Silverman said. "Especially with the eyes of baseball on us this October, we want that visible symbol of our plan and our excitement for it. It will mark the effort subtly and keep the focus on winning." While the plan hasn't officially been put in place, Silverman said it's the best path forward to keep baseball in the area.[/bLOCKQUOTE] https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2199110https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2199110

Wait, the plan is to make sure every local fan can prominently see their intention to take half their home games away?



of course, because this is about TV. MLB doesn't care about people in the stadiums, that's secondary, if not tertiary. This expands the Rays tv market, presumably gets them another TV deal and a whole new set of advertisers. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some legal loophole that allows the Rays to inject themselves into that market this way. (As opposed to like, the Yankees making a deal with Fox Sports Midwest to play 15 games in like, the Field of Dreams field)



This could be problematic for some Blue Jays fans too, who might end up with their local tv picking up Rays games instead of Blue Jays, but still being in a "blackout" area for the Blue Jays.