According to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, there are two roadblocks keeping MLB expansion from happening at the moment.

For Rob Manfred, who has been clear about wanting to expand MLB from thirty teams to thirty two teams, the two roadblocks involve the situations with the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics.

The Oakland Athletics have long now had difficulties trying to build a new stadium in the city of Oakland and are starting the process of applying to move to Las Vegas. If completed, this move would similarly follow the Las Vegas Raiders, who moved from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020. On Tuesday, Manfred revealed that the Athletics have begun the process of applying for relocation and submitted some information, but still have a long way to go, per Ronald Blum of apnews.com.

The Tampa Bay Rays' stadium lease ends in 2027 and there are still plenty of options on the table for where they will end up afterwards. While there is no set location on where the Rays will play once they leave downtown St. Petersburg, some options include Orlando and Tampa Bay.

Manfred believes once these two stadium and location issues are settled, expansion talks can begin. “I hope pretty shortly thereafter we would put together an expansion committee and start talking internally first about the issues,” Manfred said, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic.

Some possible cities Manfred and MLB may be interested in expanding to include Nashville, Portland, Charlotte, Montreal, and Salt Lake City. However, these new teams will have to remain on the brainstorm list until the relocation and stadium issues for the Athletics and Rays are resolved.