At the recommendation of MLB, the Oakland A’s will start exploring relocation possibilities if the Howard Terminal stadium proposal is not approved by local politicians, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Where could they move?
A few possibilities include New Orleans and Brooklyn, but it’s unlikely a third team would land so close to the Mets and Yankees.
Here are five likely cities the Athletics could call home.
Las Vegas
The obvious front runner is Sin City. Since the Athletics former stadium mates (the NFL’s Raiders) moved to Vegas, the door has opened for other sports teams to follow suit. This move makes sense, as MLB wouldn’t have to realign the divisions since they would stay out west. But for the majority of the fanbase that are also fans of the Raiders, they may feel like they were slapped in the face twice.
Nashville
The state of Tennessee, specifically the city of Nashville, doesn’t scream MLB. However, they do have an NFL franchise in the Titans as well as an NHL team, the Predators, so adding a baseball team makes perfect sense. Where they would play their home games would be the only thing to figure out. The easiest solution in Nashville is to convince the Titans to share their stadium, which has yet to be mentioned.
Portland
This is another location that wouldn’t upset the current alignment of Major League Baseball. Portland has been linked to expansion in MLB as well as in the NFL for close to a decade. The Mariners may not like this landing spot for one of their division rivals since they have cornered the baseball market north of California.
Charlotte
Charlotte has also been repeatedly mentioned as a landing spot for an expansion team for years. North Carolina (like Nashville), would cause MLB to reconfigure their current divisions. Similar to Nashville they are the current home of sports franchises in the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
Montreal
Prior to COVID-19 affecting travel between the U.S. and Canada, this would have made sense. Considering the fact that the Toronto Blue Jays have been calling Florida and Buffalo home for the last pair of seasons, the possibility of Canada once again having two Major League Baseball teams is highly unlikely. Add to the fact that MLB took control of the previous team that called Montreal home and moved them to the nation’s capital.
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