With Las Vegas becoming an attractive destination for pro sports franchises many fans felt like a Major League Baseball team was on the horizon. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred even mentioned Las Vegas as one of the cities on his list of possible expansion sites if/when the league chooses to expand.
Unfortunately, Vegas doesn't seem to have made the cut for Manfred. He recently spoke about the three cities he sees as a viable option for an expansion team, Vegas was not one of them.
“Let me go back to a conversation we’ve had already. I think for us to expand we need to be resolved in Tampa and Oakland in terms of their stadium situations," said Manfred. "As much as I hope that both Oakland and Tampa will get stadiums, I think it would be difficult to convince the owners to go forward with an expansion until those situations are resolved.
Once they’re done, I think we have some great candidates. I know the mayor of Montreal has been very vocal about bringing baseball back to Montreal. It was not great when the Expos left. The fact of the matter was baseball was successful in Montreal for a very long time. Charlotte is a possibility. And I would like to think that Mexico City or some place in Mexico would be another possibility.”
Last year, Las Vegas was amongst 6 cities Manfred mentioned by Manfred along with Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Mexico City, Portland, Montreal and San Antonio as possible MLB expansion cities.
The MLB hasn't expanded since adding the Tampa Bay Rays in 1998, but many feel the addition of two more teams, bringing the total to 32 total squads, is on the horizon.
