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[bryant]

We have a new contender for goofiest team relocation move ever. ESPN reports that the Montreal Expos may move to Boston for a year. This would be great for the owners of the Red Sox, since they'd get rent from the Expos. The Expos are currently owned by Major League Baseball itself, which would love to see attendance drop so that there'd be more of an excuse to contract the Expos out of existence. The fans are not deeply important in this equation.

This would be the second time in recent history that Major League Baseball has arranged for the Expos to benefit Boston. The first was the Cliff Floyd trade, which was ludicrous from Montreal's point of view but a big win for Boston.

I can't imagine that Boston would suddenly take to the Expos. Not that it wouldn't be flattering to have two baseball teams, but it would also clearly be only temporary. So who'd care? I guess I might get a lot of cheap tickets to meaningless games...

Comments

[carneggy.livejournal.com]

The Expos are currently owned by Major League Baseball itself, which would love to see attendance drop so that there'd be more of an excuse to contract the Expos out of existence. The fans are not deeply important in this equation.

Actually, MLB can't contract the Expos. Part of the labor deal was that no team can get contracted through the end of 2006.

Also, attendance doesn't need to drop; the Expos attendance did go up this year, but they were (again, for at least the last 4 years) the lowest-seen team in the league - and many people think the only reason attendance went up as much as it did (about 1/3 over last year) was due to the Expos flukily competiting for their division through around the all-star break.

What MLB is desperately trying to do, is sell the Expos, preferably to a group that will relocate the team the hell out of Montreal. In the meantime, a move for one year to Boston would at least mean not having to pay for the continuing use of Olympic Stadium; I'm *sure* Boston's owners would be happy to charge less than what the rent for OS is currently. Plus, if the Expos manage to draw a scant third of what the Red Sox bring in, it'd be their highest attendance in 5 seasons. Half the numbers of the Sox?

And hey, playing all their 'home' games in Fenway makes more sense than other proposals being floated (playing all their games in puerto rico; rotating their home games between PR, DC and portland, to see which market will support them most for a move, etc.)

That said, I gotta agree with you on the Floyd thing. Total wink-wink move.

[bryant]

I don't believe for one second that Selig isn't trying to figure out some way to reopen that. And I honestly wouldn't expect the Expos to draw any numbers of significance, even in Boston. They'd do better in DC... which makes you wonder why the DC idea isn't taken more seriously. Hell, they'd do better in Puerto Rico. Anywhere people won't look on them as an interim thing.

[carneggy.livejournal.com]

They'd do better in DC... which makes you wonder why the DC idea isn't taken more seriously.

Simple. Selig is good friends with Peter Angelos. Angelos being the Orioles owner, who is absurdly zealous about not letting a team into the DC area because it would interfere with the Orioles' fan base, or so he claims - Angelos has threatened in the past to sue MLB if needed to keep them from putting a team (moved or expansion) into DC/NoVa.

[bryant]

Exactly. These decisions are driven by Selig's friendships rather than what's best for the game. Grr!