5 Cities Vying to be MLB’s Newest Expansion Team

MLB's new collective bargaining agreement is currently being worked out, so it seems unlikely that expansion teams will be introduced anytime soon. That being said, once the CBA gets hammered out, MLB has a very clear path towards adding two more cities to their ranks. Commissioner Rob Manfred has repeatedly cited the stadium issues for the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays as the primary focus for the time being. But it's believed that Manfred will turn his gaze to expansion once those two teams are dealt with. The A's are closer than ever to moving in to their new home in Las Vegas, and Tampa Bay just got $796 million worth of public funding approved for their new ballpark. With Manfred retiring in 2029, it's plausible that his dream of adding two more expansion teams could ramp up quickly.

The History of Expansion

If you know anything about baseball, you probably know that MLB has 30 teams. That includes two leagues (the American and National) with six divisions that have five teams apiece. What's less known is that MLB as we know it today started with just 16 teams in 1901. Things stayed that way until 1961, when the first expansion teams came. Enter the Los Angeles Angels and Washington Senators. Those two opened the door for more to follow, as MLB decided that they were going to colonize the entire United States with baseball.