MLB 2042 (what if)

[Henry]

I saw that there was a future NFL thread, so I decided to create one for MLB, 25 years from now.

AL EAST
Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte (NEW), NY Yankees, Tampa Bay, Toronto

AL CENTRAL
Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Detroit, Memphis (NEW), Kansas City, Minnesota

AL WEST
Houston, LA Angels, Oakland, Seattle, Texas, Utah (NEW)

NL EAST
Atlanta, Miami, Montreal (NEW), NY Mets, Philadelphia, Washington

NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, San Antonio (NEW), St. Louis

NL WEST
Arizona, Colorado, LA Dodgers, Portland (NEW), San Diego, San Francisco

[hotdogPi]

It seems like you're not considering population changes over time.

[Desert Man]

No new Brooklyn team? The Yankees and Mets won't approve a 3rd NYC team, despite the history of NYC baseball from 1876 to 1958, the year the Brooklyn Dodgers left for LA and the Giants went to San Francisco.

And no new team for Montreal, eh? The first city outside the USA to host a MLB team in 1969, the Expos relocated to Washington DC to become the Nationals.

New Orleans, LA has the Superdome, but not sure they're equipped for baseball. And Puerto Rico loves beisbol, I expect a team in san Juan, if not Cuba in Havana where US major league teams once visited before the 1959 revolution.

[DTComposer]

My thinking is close to this, but I would do Montreal instead of Buffalo. Also, I would align the divisions so that each NL team would have an AL rival, either geographically or in-state. While I would like to see less interleague play, when it does happen I enjoy the rivalry of Yankees/Mets, Carindals/Royals, Dodgers/Angels, etc. more than, say, Diamondbacks/Orioles. It's not perfect (for example, the Canadian teams are not "rivals" in this setup, and several teams switch leagues, which I used to think was a non-starter, but seems to be less of a problem nowadays).

(new teams in bold)

AL EAST
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charlotte, Tampa Bay
NL EAST
Montreal, New York, Pittsburgh, Washington, Atlanta, Miami

AL CENTRAL
Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, Memphis
NL CENTRAL
Milwaukee, Chicago, Toronto, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Houston

AL WEST
Seattle, Oakland, Utah, Texas, Los Angeles, Arizona
NL WEST
Portland, San Francisco, Colorado, San Antonio, Los Angeles, San Diego

[Henry]

I could get on board with that, although Philly in the AL and Toronto in the NL sounds a little funny.

BTW, the new team names are as follows:
Buffalo Wings
Charlotte Blue Sox
Memphis Notes
Montreal Expos (Washington would give up those records, a la Cleveland Browns or Seattle SuperSonics)
Portland Pioneers
San Antonio Missions
Utah Buzz

EDIT: I replaced Buffalo in the OP with Montreal.

[Max Rockatansky]

I can't see Montreal ever getting a team again after that debacle with the Expos checking out for DC.

[Road Hog]

I think MLB will add two more teams to get to 32 with eight four-team divisions. Because it's popular, they'll keep the wild card playoff where the best second-place team will play the weakest division winner.

The Athletics and Rays will relocate. Don't see either getting stadium deals where they're at now, not in this political climate.

[Henry]

FWIW, the Raiders will relocate to Las Vegas and the Warriors will move across the Bay back to San Francisco, so the A's should get a new stadium built, since Oakland apparently has no interest in keeping their teams anymore (at least not two anyway).

[jp the roadgeek]

I can't see Montreal ever getting a team again after that debacle with the Expos checking out for DC.

A couple of exhibition games last year between the Red Sox and Blue Jays sold out Stade Olympique.  Of course, a new stadium is an absolute mortal must.  The Expos had terrible owners once Loria left to take over the Marlins.  I could see them getting another chance.  Add Charlotte and you have 32 teams.  My divisions throw out the AL and NL and bring geographical rivalry into play, while keeping most of the big natural rivalries intact:

Northeast Division: Boston, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Philadelphia
North Division: Detroit, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Toronto
Atlantic Division: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Washington
Southeast Division: Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Tampa Bay
Central Division: Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City, St. Louis
Midwest Division: Houston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Texas
Mountain Division: Arizona, Colorado, San Diego, Seattle
Pacific Division: LA Angels, LA Dodgers, Oakland, San Francisco

[1995hoo]

Loria was a terrible owner in Montreal. Among other things, he neglected to renew the team's English-language TV and radio deals, thus alienating a major part of the fan base (or maybe a major part of what hadn't already been alienated by fire sales and the like). They had actually been making progress on plans to build a new outdoor ballpark, Labatt Field, not far from the Marriott Chateau Champlain, but Loria more or less abandoned the effort. It seemed pretty clear that he got involved largely to help facilitate Selig's plan to fold the franchise in return for Selig greasing the wheels for him to take over another team.