Back in January, Major League Baseball announced it was looking to expand to 32 teams by 2027. It appears now that the two cities who are frontrunners to get those expansion teams are not former MLB cities.

Ever since the Montreal Expos moved from Canada to Washington, D.C., in 2005, there has been a group of baseball loving investors in Quebec who have been trying to put a new stadium package together with the hopes of bringing an MLB team back to their city. They now have the agreement of provincial and city governments to fund a stadium if Montreal is awarded a new MLB franchise. However, it doesn’t appear that Montreal is on the short list of expansion cities.

The Oakland Athletics are in the process of moving and are playing their first of three seasons in Sacramento, while the team’s new ballpark in Las Vegas is being built. Oakland was the home of the MLB team from 1968 to 2024. The problem is, their stadium had been around just as long and little renovations had taken place over the years. The owner couldn’t get the local politicians to get onboard with a new stadium project, so he stopped spending money on the facility and the team. He opted to move the team instead.

Well, Oakland isn’t on the MLB expansion list either.

Another city that has been vying for an MLB team is Charlotte. The Queen City is home of the Hornets of the NBA and Carolina Panthers of the NFL, so the Charlotte area has long considered itself a major league city. However, Charlotte is not getting serious consideration from Major League Baseball at this time.

The two cities that seem to be almost assured of an MLB expansion team are Nashville and Salt Lake City.

Almost 30 years ago, Nashville became a top-level sports city. The Houston Oilers relocated to Nashville in 1997 and became the Tennessee Titans. The following year, the NHL expanded to Nashville and the Predators were born. In 2020, the Nashville Soccer Club was elevated from the USL to Major League Soccer.

The population of Nashville and its popularity as a vacation destination have certainly boomed in the past 30 years. Just try driving through Nashville along I-40 during morning or afternoon rush hours and you’ll understand what I mean. So, a case can certainly be made for Nashville to be the leading candidate for an MLB franchise.

Salt Lake City, up until recently, has only been home to one major sports team, the Utah Jazz. The NBA club began as an expansion team in New Orleans in 1974 and moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. In 2024, the Arizona Coyotes NHL team moved to Salt Lake City and are now known as the Utah Mammoth, giving Salt Lake City its second major sports franchise, that plays a winter season. So, it stands to reason that Salt Lake City could support a team that plays during the spring and summer months. The growth in the Utah valley has been remarkable over the past 20 years and if the sports base can support two winter sports teams, an MLB franchise should do just fine.

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Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. This week my guest will be Greg Jeffries who will give us an update on the ministry of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ). The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.