Before there can be realignment in MLB, there needs to be expansion.<\/p>\n
Expansion to where? That’s the question the next few years will answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has stated that there could be a shuffling of teams into different divisions or leagues. Which means that, before the end of the decade, MLB will have two new teams in it to make that realignment work.<\/p>\n
There is no shortage of candidates: let’s dive in to nine (in alphabetical order) that could host an MLB team by 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte, North Carolina<\/p>\n
A Charlotte team would have a ton of fans and plenty of media behind it from the start, so it\u2019s no wonder that Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has shown an interest in\u00a0bringing MLB to Charlotte<\/a> in the recent past.\u00a0<\/p>\n North Carolina is no stranger to professional baseball: it currently hosts nine minor-league baseball teams, including four in the Carolina League, as well as an additional three MLB partner clubs on the independent circuit. The Triple-A affiliate of the White Sox<\/a>, the Knights, play in Charlotte.<\/p>\n The NFL\u2019s Carolina Panthers and NBA\u2019s Charlotte Hornets are located there, too. There’s also several soccer clubs, from MLS to NWSL to various USL outfits on the men\u2019s and women\u2019s side.<\/p>\n Of all the American cities on this list, it has the largest media market, and its metro population places it in between the likes of Denver, Baltimore and St. Louis. It shouldn\u2019t be discounted, either, that Raleigh (where the NHL’s Hurricanes play) is also an in-state city with its own significant metro population.<\/p>\n Mexico City, Mexico<\/p>\n In 2016, Manfred mentioned North America’s most populous city as an international expansion possibility. Consider its sheer size: Over 9 million residents, nearly a full million more than New York City, while the metro area has nearly 22 million people. That makes it the sixth-largest in the entire world \u2014 the whole region is so heavily populated that, despite being a city, it has the same federally recognized rights as Mexico\u2019s 31\u00a0states.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mexico City has hosted MLB games but would it actually be feasible as an expansion team? (Photo by Mary DeCicco\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n If Mexico City were to host an MLB team, be prepared for a stadium that makes Denver’s Coors Field look almost normal in comparison: its altitude is even higher than that of the Mile High City. There is a feasible stadium as Estadio Alfredo Harp Hel\u00fa hosted big-league games in 2023 and 2024 as a part of the MLB Mexico City Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n The problem for Mexico City, however, is not a lack of potential fans, but that Manfred\u00a0also said<\/a> in 2023 that he has “never been close to the idea of Mexico as an expansion opportunity.” Which is not the same thing as saying it can never happen \u2014 nothing has been close, but also MLB hasn\u2019t expanded or actively attempted to during that stretch, either.\u00a0<\/p>\n Montreal, Quebec, Canada<\/p>\n We’d all love to see the return of Expos and the beloved mascot Youpii. From 1969 through 2004, Canada’s second-largest city and media market (behind Toronto) was home to an MLB club before the Expos became the Washington Nationals<\/a> for the 2005 season. With fresh ownership in place, however, it\u2019s possible big league baseball could work in Montreal again as it did during its best times, when it drew well over two million fans per season on four occasions.<\/p>\n Youpii, once the Expos’ beloved mascot, has since found a new home in Montreal with the NHL’s Canadiens. (Photo by Vitor Munhoz\/NHLI via Getty Images) <\/p>\n There have been private equity groups attempting to bring MLB back to the city, as well, most recently when the Tampa Bay Rays considered a two-city solution to their ballpark woes involving both St. Petersburg and Montreal. But any return to Montreal would require a new venue as the Olympic Stadium is well behind any MLB ballparks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Commissioner Manfred has also\u00a0spoken in the past<\/a> about the possibility of further expanding MLB on an international level, and even mentioned Montreal,\u00a0specifically<\/a>, as a place where “we could go plan on a sustained basis.”<\/p>\n Nashville, Tennessee<\/p>\n The city is already looking for an MLB team, with the Music City Baseball project aiming to name the team after the Negro League club, the Stars. MLB recently played a regular-season game in Tennessee \u2014 albeit not Nashville \u2014 when the Braves<\/a> and Reds<\/a> played in the first Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway \u2014 so they have their eye on the region already.<\/p>\n Tennessee\u2019s capital and largest city is around the size of Washington D.C. and Denver, with a metro area that compares well to Cleveland, Kansas City and Cincinnati. The NFL\u2019s Tennessee Titans already play in Nashville, as do the NHL\u2019s Predators. Nashville SC is the city\u2019s MLS club, and they already have a long history of Triple-A baseball in the form of the Nashville Sounds. Thanks to the existing sports teams, the media market is already on par with that of Pittsburgh and Baltimore.<\/p>\n Oakland, California<\/p>\n There is no MLB team in Oakland anymore, not with the Athletics<\/a> currently in Sacramento awaiting their new ballpark in Las Vegas, but that doesn\u2019t have to be the case forever. Oakland attempted to keep the A\u2019s around, but they also tried to negotiate with MLB for the rights to a future expansion team, and to even keep the club\u2019s name intact for future use. This is a city that would very much still like to have an MLB team in it.<\/p>\n Oakland shares a media market with San Francisco and the Giants, but it\u2019s a massive one, ranking 10th right behind Boston. It can be split once again, as it was when the A\u2019s were in town, and the new ballpark that was necessary when the Athletics were negotiating with the city of Oakland can be discussed once more. And there\u2019s plenty of room for them these days, too, with the NBA\u2019s Golden State Warriors now across the East Bay, and the NFL\u2019s Raiders now in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n Would MLB entertain the thought of returning to Oakland? (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n Portland, Oregon<\/p>\n Portland was a potential landing spot for the Expos back in the early part of the century. Also, it was unclear whether the Marlins<\/a> would get the funding needed for a new stadium, Portland once again came up as a possible destination.\u00a0<\/p>\n Portland, with over 2.5 million people in its metro area, can support something much larger than the Diamondbacks’ High A-ball team they currently have. The Seattle Mariners<\/a> are all alone in the northwest, but they don\u2019t have to be. Portland is the most populous city in Oregon, and only second behind Seattle as far as American cities in the region \u2013 not to mention a natural rivalry across several sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are groups actively working to bring an MLB<\/a> team to Portland, and the governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek,\u00a0signed a bill<\/a> in June 2025 promising $800 million toward the construction of a stadium should Portland end up with an MLB team.\u00a0<\/p>\n While their media market isn\u2019t massive, it\u2019s larger than that of a number of existing MLB clubs, including St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and the city is already home to the NBA\u2019s Portland Trail Blazers, MLS<\/a>\u2019 Portland Timbers and NWSL\u2019s Portland Thorns FC, with the WNBA’s Portland Fire set to begin play in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Salt Lake City, Utah<\/p>\n For the longest time, Utah wasn\u2019t seen as a destination for major professional sports teams, with only the NBA\u2019s Utah Jazz taking up residence there. That\u2019s changed this century, though, and especially in the last decade: MLS club Real Salt Lake<\/a> arrived in 2004, then NWSL\u2019s Utah Royals FC and then the NHL\u2019s Utah Mammoth in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next up could very well be an MLB club: Salt Lake City is making a concerted push for one, to the point that they already have a proposed ballpark construction site and the support of the former owners of the Jazz, the Miller family. While the city itself has just under 200,000 citizens, the metro area of 1.3 million people puts it near the likes of Milwaukee\u2019s, and its media market is comparatively larger than the likes of Baltimore and San Diego.<\/p>\n Sacramento, California<\/p>\n There is already an MLB team in Sacramento. There are extenuating circumstances, of course, and the Athletics are only there temporarily, but the point is that MLB agreed that, even if it was just for a few years, the A\u2019s could play their games in Sacramento. And just as importantly, Sacramento wanted the A\u2019s to be there \u2014 it\u2019s not like the Athletics just rolled up and took over the stadium without permission.<\/p>\n Now, for the city to get an expansion team, it would need a brand-new ballpark, if not at first, then at least eventually. You could see MLB wanting to make it happen, however, as it\u2019s the sixth-largest city in California, with the third-largest metro population in the state. It\u2019s been Portland, OR and Pittsburgh on a national level, and is right behind Miami and Cleveland in media market size, as well as ahead of expansion candidates Charlotte, Portland and Salt Lake City.\u00a0<\/p>\n Until there’s actually construction of an MLB ballpark in Las Vegas, the A’s look destined to stay in Sacramento. (Photo by Scott Strazzante\/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) <\/p>\n The NBA\u2019s Sacramento Kings are already in town, as well as the USL\u2019s Sacramento Republic FC, the San Francisco Giants<\/a>\u2019 Triple-A affiliate, the River Cats, and \u2014 again, temporarily \u2014 the Athletics. A more permanent MLB team would fit in well with the existing setup, with the A\u2019s stay something of a trial run for this future that other expansion candidates can\u2019t point to.<\/p>\n San Antonio, Texas<\/p>\n San Antonio is the second-largest city in Texas, and already has the NBA\u2019s Spurs, the UFL\u2019s Brahmas and USL\u2019s San Antonio FC. It\u2019s between San Diego and Kansas City in U.S. media markets, while its metro population puts it ahead of Portland, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Cincinnati and more cities that are either vying for an MLB expansion team or already have their own club.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like with Charlotte and Raleigh, San Antonio also has another major city nearby that could help sweeten the pot here: Austin. They are right near each other in media market size, and rank directly next to each other in metro population \u2014 even a stadium built in San Antonio itself would be around 90 minutes from fans in Austin, which is to say no further than many in New England need to go in order to attend a Red Sox<\/a> game, if they aren\u2019t within Boston\u2019s city limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is already a group attempting to bring MLB baseball to Austin \u2014 the Austin Baseball Commission \u2014 and it might take both cities joining forces to get the league\u2019s attention away from other candidates that don\u2019t already have Astros<\/a> fans in them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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