We're not going to get into the boring little leaky pipe details in this matter. A's baseball is withing 20 miles of Giants baseball, so that could eventually be a bye bye, ...as much as MLB says it doesn't want to make little Johnnys cry like St. Louis NFL fans may have. And Oakland just lost their Raiders. Tampa is already too much Florida resort and grapefruit baseball. Make Florida the Marlins again (but a two-place team). Arizona has stadium concerns. And Phoenix without baseball would still leave the state with its Cactus League. But anyway, it is said expansion won't happen without A's and Rays stadium settlement. No more relocation, one is to suppose.
So, let's fantasize 3 other spots. Who are the top three thoughts?
Montreal, Portland and Charlotte?
Maybe San Antonio? Who outside of that?
Well, outside of those and Mexico City, there's not a whole lot. Havana is notably new, but poor. Monterrey is logistically better than the big capital.
Wildcards like Oklahoma City or Vancouver are rarely talked about. Indianapolis would love their own place in the buffer zone of Reds, Cards and Cubs. And let's be honest about Vegas. It's getting saturated, even if it could be the shortest move outside of some kind of crazy Inland Empire middle finger to the old California Angels.
Oh, how I wish a team would embrace the two-place team model like the NBA did with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. Las Vegas and Portland could have the West Coast A's that way. The Southland Band could be in the likes of Charlotte, Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans that way (instead of some empty Rays squad). In other sports, Southlakes Predators or Fishermen could play hockey in Atlanta. The apparel would be nuts! Think of all the possibilities.
