# MLB to shrink League? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2001, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783 "2001-10-31T20:37:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/1 "2001-10-31T20:37:45Z")
Did I hear correctly the Major League Baseball organization has plans to remove two teams from the League instead of expanding? Why, it’s UnAmerican! :mad: - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![nth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/2 "2001-10-31T20:42:59Z")
it is all about money and how the small market teams cannot compete cuz the market is too small to support an overpaid team. supposedly, with 50 players becoming free agents will also make the league more competitive. i really doubt the deal will go thru tho. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/3 "2001-10-31T20:43:33Z")
Also seems unlikely, unless the teams themselves requested it. Part of the reason Baseball is allowed to exist as a monopoly, IIRC, is that they pretty much have to allow any city that applies for a team to get it. That said, there is a certain team on the North Side of Chicago that hasn’t been in the World Series since WWII and then only because they had a bunch of draft dodgers. We don’t need them, do we??? 😉 But, I suppose a couple of teams could have said “We tried. It was a bad idea. We quit.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/4 "2001-10-31T20:45:45Z")
Since one of the teams that’s discussed is Montreal, I guess it would be unNorth american. The less smartass response, is yes, Bud Selig has floated the idea of shrinking the Major Leagues by probably two teams. Candidates mentioned include Montreal, Minnesota, Tampa Bay or Miami (Pittsburgh seems to have saved itself for a couple of years with its new stadium.) Reasons include: a) Perennial lack of attendence for those franchises b) TV revenues nowhere as good as what the NFL gets However, remember that MLB is currently in negotiations with the players union for a new contract, and this could all be a ploy to gain leverage. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/5 "2001-10-31T20:46:54Z")
UnAmerican, yes … I’d heard that one of the teams on the potential chopping block is the Expos :D. But will they really do it? Truth can be stranger than fiction. ---
**Author:** ![nth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/6 "2001-10-31T20:48:26Z")
Part of the reason Baseball is allowed to exist as a monopoly, IIRC, is that they pretty much have to allow any city that applies for a team to get it. * * * Not true at all. St. Petersburg built a stadium and yet they failed to get a team. I can go down the list… I am not too sure why monopoly was granted but one of the arguments were that MLB cannot survive without one. They need to invest in minor league system…etc a lot of money to train players that may or may not succeed. the minor league system is not profitable without mlb money. i doubt this is the real reason, but that is from my rumor mill. ---
**Author:** ![nth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/7 "2001-10-31T20:50:24Z")
don’t forget the A’s… Angel’s might be one too. Kansas might too. marlins? ---
**Author:** ![jillamina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jillamina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jillamina)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/8 "2001-10-31T20:51:35Z")
Look at this article from the AP: [http://wire.ap.org/APnews/?SITE=CALOS&FRONTID=HOME](http://wire.ap.org/APnews/?SITE=CALOS&FRONTID=HOME) According to them “Bud Selig says it’s possible two major league teams could be eliminated by the start of next season… Some owners want to eliminate teams that are losing money and receiving a large part of the $160 million in the revenue-sharing fund this year. If owners approve, they would eliminate the Montreal Expos plus one other team, with the Florida Marlins and Minnesota Twins among the candidates mentioned most often… Owners plan to meet in Chicago the week following the World Series, and Selig said he wasn’t sure if any decisions on shrinking the league would be made then.” Sorry for the bad news. ---
**Author:** ![DynoSaur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DynoSaur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DynoSaur)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/9 "2001-10-31T21:00:27Z")
I don’t really want to turn this into a debate (ok, maybe I do, but…) This is a lameass blackmail attempt by Selig and a couple of the other owners, plain and simple. Notice that the teams being discussed for elimination are only teams whose cities voted against giving them new stadiums (Oakland was on this list, too, up until they got really good and started drawing despite their crappy stadium). Minnesota drew just fine when they were, y’know, winning, a little bit. So did Florida, although I wouldn’t really blame fans in Miami for never going to see a game again after the post-WS debacle. Montreal, now…as far as I know, they’ve never really drawn well. But, there’s room for a team in the Northern Virginia/DC area (if they can get Peter Angelos to shut the hell up about territorial rights for 15 seconds, at least), so relocation would be a better option, there. The other thing to consider is that all the really good blackmail spots that owners counted on to help them get new stadium deals have been filled. How long do you think it takes for Minnesota to start rumors about moving to Miami if the Marlins are folded? [/rant] ---
**Author:** ![jillamina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jillamina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jillamina)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/10 "2001-10-31T21:00:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jillamina \* > \*\*Look at this article from the AP: > > [http://wire.ap.org/APnews/?SITE=CALOS&FRONTID=HOME](http://wire.ap.org/APnews/?SITE=CALOS&FRONTID=HOME) > > \*\* Okay, so I’m a moron who can’t post a link correctly, but if you go to the sports section, there’s an article from 10/29 by Robert Blum titled “Selig: Team Contraction Still Viable” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/11 "2001-10-31T21:20:30Z")
Several franchises – notably Montreal – have been running in the red lately, and the idea of contraction has been mentioned from time to time the past few years (it’s not that odd a concept – the NHL had 10 teams in 1930-31, then eight the next year, and eventually only six). There is a feeling that the talent pool is spread too thin (that’s why you get 70 HRs in a season now). Of course, the MLB Players Association won’t allow a straight contraction. However, it could be made palatable to them if teams are allowed to carry two more players on their roster. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/12 "2001-10-31T21:21:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nth \* > \*\* > > Not true at all. > St. Petersburg built a stadium and yet they failed to get a team. > > I can go down the list… > > \*\* How far down the list can you go? When you get to the part where it tells you where the Devil Rays play will you let me know? ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/13 "2001-10-31T22:19:46Z")
[Here’s](http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/20011030huckabay.html) a great article about how contraction is a bad solution to a non-existent problem. [Here’s](http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/bp/1271031.html) another. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/14 "2001-10-31T22:21:29Z")
[Dammit.](http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/20011030huckabay.html) ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/15 "2001-10-31T22:29:13Z")
We have a forum for the question of whether MLB _should_ contract. This ain’t it. Thank you for your attention to this matter. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/16 "2001-10-31T22:34:18Z")
Sorry, **manny**. Those articles also offer lots of good factual information about the league’s position on contraction, the probability of contraction, and possible real-world ramifications. ---
**Author:** ![nth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nth)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/17 "2001-11-01T21:26:51Z")
adam yax, if you are going to equate results and don’t care about the means, then The Great Gazoo is correcta and I stand corrected as far as St. Petersburg. i was thinking of when a city finds a group of investors to start a MLB team, they will get it. that is far from what happen at St. Petersburg. And even then, other cities got shafted. let me give you this example, Shreveport, LA. They built a stadium too! ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-to-shrink-league/90783/18 "2001-11-03T16:39:02Z")
In a related question, what are the proposed plans for the Ottawa Lynx, Harrisburg Senators, Jupiter Hammerheads, Clinton Lumberkings, Vermont Expos, and Gulf Coast Expos, once Montreal goes under? Will they just fold, reaffiliate with another team, or become independent?