If Montreal ever wants another MLB team...

[six4three]

For some reason, and this has been discussed ad nauseum over the years, Selig had it in for the Expos. Maybe it was Loria pulling off the deal for Florida. Maybe it was Brochu when he pocketed the revenus-share $$$. Who knows! All we know is that Selig wanted the Expos out of Montreal.

Doesn't matter how much it has been discussed on InterWeb message boards, it still isn't true. I know that conspiracy theories are more comforting, not to mention more fun, but it's important not to lose sight of reality.

The reason that Montreal lost the Expos is all-too prosaic. They didn't build a new stadium. Had the city and/or province sprung for Labatt Park, NL East clubs would still have to make regular trips north of the border.

[PF#9]

If I recall correctly the Sharks got a bunch of North Stars players as part of it. It was somewhat full circle. The sad part is Cleveland never got another shot at the NHL.

The Columbus Blue Jackets practically represent the entire state of Ohio. Wouldn't hurt though to play a few games in Cleveland each year.

[DeltaBoy]

I wish that Major League Baseball had let the Expos do what the NFL did for the Cleveland Browns after the 1995 season when owner Art Modell moved the team to Baltimore and became the Ravens: let the team and players move but the team history and colors (colours) stay in Cleveland. MLB should have had the team move to Washington but be treated as a new team, yet keep the history of Les Expos in Montreal.

With a new stadium, Montreal could have still been in MLB, but with Loria's dirty dealings and a mostly Francophone Quebec government that didn't seem to care about baseball, a fine city is without baseball. I'm glad Washington, DC has a baseball team, I just wish it wasn't at the expense of the Expos.

The only way Montreal will ever get back into Major League Baseball is if it gets a new park and a new team, be it by expansion (NL adds two more teams, AL four in one scenario, AL gets two teams in another, or if Milwaukee and Washington move to the AL and the NL gets two more cities in yet another) or an existing team that is having trouble getting a new ballpark moves to Montreal (either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Oakland Athletics. I don't know what the French word for ray [or stingray] is but the Athletics name could be either Les Athletiques or, to account for bilinguism [meaning the same in English and French], going to the A's nickname [you thought I could put a Canadian joke there and the team be called the "Eh's"?]).

[Chicoutimi CP]

I don't know what the French word for ray [or stingray].

Ray is raie in French.... Now let me ask : what do you French guys here think of a name such as «les Raies de Montréal»?... :S

[Augustin_"Gus"]

It would be hilarious to say the least. There could be a different dirty joke in the paper for every game that they loose Du genre: "Les raies se sont fait man... " je peux même pas finir, faudrait que je me censure moi-même!

My plan stays the same. The Montréal Royals 2.0

[aqib]

No WAY MLB allows a Western team to move East. We barely have a Western Division in the AL as it is. If Oakland moves it'll be to San Jose, or if it has to move out of state, it'll probably go to Vegas or Portland.

Well what you could so is move the A's to Montreal and the AL East, move the Jays to the Central and the Royals to the West. The downside is Montreal and Toronto would only play 7 times a year but on the upside the Jays would be annual contenders in the Central, which as a Jays fan makes me say YEA!

[aqib]

The Columbus Blue Jackets practically represent the entire state of Ohio. Wouldn't hurt though to play a few games in Cleveland each year.

I would love for them to play a few games a year here, but I don't think Cavs ownership will allow it. They own the minor league team, and if there were 5 NHL games a year the hockey fans will just go to those and never go to a minor league game. The thing with Cleveland (and no one loves the city more than I do), is that its been economically decimated. It had a resurrgence in the late 90s but thats long gone. So it barely supports the three teams it has now and a lot of people doubt if thats going to be able to continue beyond the next 10-15 years.

[gbittar]

I disagree with the first poster, that the Expos name should be retained. Big mistake imo. Expos, the exposition, really has nothing to do with Montreal or baseball. I think if they could get another team, the name and colors should reflect Montreal. So, the fleur d'lis, gold and royal blue, and too bad they can't use Mount Royals, but I'm sure something else could be thought of. Maybe a French name, ya know. After all, that's one of the great things about Montreal. A North American city where English isn't the main language.

[gbittar]

They need to be in the same division as the Blue Jays. All baseball should be realigned around geography, to stoke rivalries. For teams in places where there's no native interest in baseball, time to stop leaning on the Yanks, Sox, Mets, Dodgers, etc. for revenue. Those teams' fans don't get excited watching Tampa Bay and Kansas City play.

[DeltaBoy]

As posted, I would want to see Montreal get a team in the NL, but an AL team would be fine. If Tampa Bay can't get a new ballpark, then Montreal would be a good city, and they would not have to change divisions (although baseball would want a Canadian NL team and a Canadian AL team).

If they can't get the Expos nickname, what about Voyageurs or Concordes? (Only kidding about the Concordes!)

[Imgran]

There's a rumor that the Kansas City Royals might be up for sale in the near future.

That is all. I wish I had a link.

[superman1914]

I really hope one day we get another team.

I talk to a lot of people and everyone is cannot wait to get the Expos back.

With a new stadium downtown Montreal with good ownership like (Pierre Karl Péladeau) owner of Quebecor Media Inc. and Sun Media Corporation i am sure we would have 25K to 35K every night.

Go Expos Go

[Mr. Laser Beam]

There's a rumor that the Kansas City Royals might be up for sale in the near future.

That is all. I wish I had a link.

No, actually, there isn't. I live in Royals country and there isn't anything even close to a rumor like that. The Royals are not going anywhere.

Especially not now that they spent all that money renovating Kauffman Stadium. They wouldn't do that and then leave it empty...