NASHVILLE is considered one of the leading prospects to host a Major League Baseball team (WIkipedia).

There have been rumblings in the board rooms lately of Major League Baseball owners and organizations.
It’s been 1998 when the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays joined the big leagues and there are several forces encouraging another expansion.

First off, the expansion fee charged to a new team means millions of dollars for each organization for doing nothing other than voting “yes.” The rules changes and the excitement from new stars like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have boosted TV viewing, which is what brings in the most revenue to America’s pastime.

There are lots of issues to consider: the right city (or area), the right owner (lots of money, some business experience), the right facility (does a new stadium need to be built, now or eventually?) and does the proposed franchise impinge on the territory of another?

There’s also the adjacent issue of possible geographical alignment. Imagine a West Coast Conference composed of the Dodgers, Angels, Giants, Padres, D-Backs and Athletics? Has possibilities, doesn’t it?

But the most fun is in guessing who the next two might be. Expansion teams don’t always do well. The Seattle Pilots failed and moved to Milwaukee as the Brewers. The Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals, a switch which meant not only changing nations but also swapping leagues.

One source names – in descending order – the most likely prospects as Nashville, Tennessee; Portland Oregon; Charlotte/Raleigh, North Carolina; Austin/San Antonio, Texas; and Sacramento.

That makes sense. But don’t forget Providence, Rhode Island. After all, the Grays won the World Series as recently as 1884.