Rob Manfred says MLB expansion could be coming to Mexico City, Montreal

The MLB commissioner specifically listed Mexico City and Montreal as possibilities for MLB expansion teams.

Expansion isn’t imminent in Major League Baseball, but it has been a topic of constant discussion since Rob Manfred assumed the mantle of commissioner last January.

Manfred again addressed the possibility of expansion Thursday during a television interview during the Chicago White Sox-Boston Red Sox game.

“My personal, sort of, frontrunner would be either Montreal or Mexico City, where we could go, play on a sustained basis, and I think it would be great for the growth of the game,” Manfred said. “I think Mexico City, in particular, would be new ground for us, obviously.”

Manfred said the league must first address two more pressing situations — the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement, and then the stadium situations for the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays. The current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, 2016.

The Houston Astros and San Diego Padres played a pair of exhibition games on March 26-27 at Fray Nano stadium in Mexico City, the first MLB games to be played in Mexico City since 2004.

MLB last expanded in 1998, when it added the Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks, two franchises that have both made World Series appearances. The Montreal Expos relocated to Washington in 2005 and became the Nationals after a largely unsuccessful 36-year run in Canada.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox played a two-game exhibition series at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium in early April. Both games drew more than 50,000 in attendance.

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