A Salt Lake City consortium led by former Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller plans to pursue a Major League Baseball expansion franchise in the coming years, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The Gail Miller-led consortium touts the area's population growth in the area, strong economy and baseball history as draws for the expansion spot, according to Passan.
MLB does not plan to expand until it figures out the futures of the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays, but Rob Manfred would love to expand in the future according to Passan. Both the Athletics and the Rays have struggled with solutions for a stadium
“I would love to get to 32 teams,” Rob Manfred told ESPN in July, according to Passan.
Las Vegas is considered a prime destination for a franchise, and has emerged as a strong candidate if the Athletics relocate, according to Passan. The Rays have been mentioned as a possibly moving to Montreal, but that has never come to fruition. They have also been working to get a new stadium that would keep them in Tampa Bay.
It would make sense for MLB to not expand until those situations are figured out. That way, MLB would be able to expand to cities it knows teams are not thinking of relocating to.
It will be interesting to see whether Las Vegas does get the Athletics to move there. If they do not, it seems logical that Las Vegas would be a top candidate for expansion, if and when Rob Manfred and MLB expands to 32 teams.
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