One of Rob Manfred's goals as Major League Baseball's commissioner has been to spread the sport beyond its current demographic. For instance, the league under Manfred has taken a more aggressive approach to hosting games internationally.
It only makes sense then that Manfred hopes to see the league expand to 32 teams during his reign as commish. On Tuesday, Manfred expressed those desires during an appearance on FS1's "First Things First." Manfred went so far as to name some potential markets, some falling outside of the United States.
Per the Nashville Business Journal:
"We have a real list of cities that I think are not only interested in having baseball, but are viable in terms of baseball — places like Portland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville in the United States, certainly Montreal, maybe Vancouver, in Canada," Manfred said. "We think there's places in Mexico we could go over the long haul."
Manfred mentioned that getting to 32 teams would help logistically, enabling for an easier schedule-making process and the ability to realign to four four-team divisions in each league. He also noted that those tweaks would allow for an altered approach to the playoffs.
If MLB is to add teams, it's not likely to happen until after the league helps the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays secure new ballparks -- be it in their current markets or elsewhere. Why? Because baseball is a business, and they're unlikely to sacrifice the leverage that comes with having as many viable alternate markets as possible.
