The last thing baseball needs is
more lousy teams. And yet, in an interview with reporters, MLB Commissioner
Rob Manfred strongly hinted that he favors the first baseball expansion since 1998. The leading candidate cities most often mentioned are Portland (Oregon), Las Vegas, Charlotte, and San Antonio. Adding two new teams would arguably make scheduling easier—but, frankly who gives a crap whether it's more convenient for spoiled millionaires to fly first class? The Commissioner did at least acknowledge that expansion to 32 teams can't happen until two
existing teams—Oakland and Tampa—straighten out their stadium conundrums. Reducing the pool of possible alternate cities for those two franchises would not be prudent (as
George H.W. Bush might say). In any event, we are forthrightly against expansion—and the consequent dilution of talent that it would bring. No expansion! In fact, how about some
contraction?
