Montreal being seen as legitimate baseball relocation candidate

[lefty]

Still



:lol baseball



From Nick Cafardo's Sunday baseball notes column in the Boston Globe





Montreal now seen as a viable alternative


We’ve written before about a Montreal baseball revival. But now there’s some real talk about the possibility that the Rays, for instance, could see Montreal as a real alternative if plans for a new stadium don’t work out in the Tampa area.

The reason?

As we’ve pointed out, the Montreal business community is much different than it was in the past. There are large telecom companies and financial institutions with big money. The city would need a new stadium, but Montreal baseball has a very strong grass-roots movement to explore the possibility.

As one AL executive pointed out recently, “Other cities — Washington D.C. and Seattle — have received second chances for franchises. It appears that Montreal would be a viable second-chance city given the financial opportunity there now. There have always been great baseball fans there. They never had a venue that was desirable for baseball and the economics never allowed them to keep the great talent they developed over the years.”

Former Expos outfielder Warren Cromartie, one of those spearheading the return of major league baseball to Montreal, said the group he’s formed will soon announce the results of a feasibility study, which Cromartie said has been positive.

Montreal will also host spring training games March 28 and 29 between the Blue Jays and the Mets, a sign that MLB sees the city as a viable option for expansion and/or relocation. Unfortunately, the games will be played at Olympic Stadium, but part of the feasibility study includes the building of a downtown stadium.

“We’ve sold 50,000 tickets for the games already,” Cromartie said. “We’re very excited about these games and a big gala we’re going to have. We hope to bring back all of the old Expos, like Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Moises Alou, and many others. We’re going to honor Felipe Alou. It’s going to be great.”

[Clipper Nation]

My Expos will come back before the Sonics ever do.... lol irishock

[crc21209]

My Expos will come back before the Sonics ever do.... lol irishock

So you're an Expos, Clippers, and LA Kings fan? WTF :lol

[monosylab1k]

lol French-Canadians
lol Quebecqueers

[lefty]

lol French-Canadians
lol Quebecqueers
lol you and your superioirity complex :lol

[Pelicans78]

Montreal got screwed the first time around. The Expos were a good organization who were about to surpass the Braves in the 90s before the strike occurred and when they got screwed out of a new stadium. I honestly miss the Expos and their logos. They had a ton of really good players in the 80s and 90s.

[lefty]

Montreal got screwed the first time around. The Expos were a good organization who were about to surpass the Braves in the 90s before the strike occurred and when they got screwed out of a new stadium. I honestly miss the Expos and their logos. They had a ton of really good players in the 80s and 90s.
yup

[Biernutz]

How old is the stadium? all the owners want new toys.......what comes first
the team then the stadium or?

[Clipper Nation]

The Expos were a good organization who were about to surpass the Braves in the 90s before the strike occurred
Truth bombs, I still maintain to this day that the Expos were fucked out of at least the 1994 World Series championship by Selig and the players' union, tbh....

[Biernutz]

In a ranking of baseball relocation candidates Montreal is ranked 8 out of 10.
City's that are rated ahead Las Vegas,San Antonio and Portland...........
They do take into account the Jeffery Loria ownership mess.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18886

[lefty]

In a ranking of baseball relocation candidates Montreal is ranked 8 out of 10.
City's that are rated ahead Las Vegas,San Antonio and Portland...........
They do take into account the Jeffery Loria ownership mess.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18886
yeah it's nice, but we have fucked up and corrupt officials

So on paper it's look great, but .... time will tell

[lefty]

How old is the stadium? all the owners want new toys.......what comes first
the team then the stadium or?
Well a stadium is 1st imo ........ well more specifically stadium location ... a downtown stadium would attract more people


This was the project before the relocation to DC

Now they are building new fancy condos there, so .....

http://www.stadiumpage.com/blog/labatt1.jpghttp://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/monbpk01.jpg

[The Gemini Method]

Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero, and Moises Alou! Love the unis as a kid and I have an Expos cap that I keep in my beisbol collection.

[T Park]

San Antonio could have them easy. Build a stadium north of SA and hand it over. That easy.

[lefty]

Good new for Expos fans


Still, lol baseball



Group Touts Baseball’s Return to Montreal





Article (http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2013/12/12/group-touts-baseballs-return-to-montreal/)
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By David George-Cosh
Can baseball make a comeback in Montreal? Mais oui.
That’s the conclusion of a study (http://www.btmm.qc.ca/en/news/return_of_baseball/) that explored the financial viability of seeing Major League Baseball return to a city that hasn’t seen a professional baseball game since the Montreal Expos flocked to Washington D.C. at the end of the 2004 season.
“Based on several realistic assumptions, including broadcasting revenues and ticket sales similar to MLB averages, baseball’s return to Montreal is definitely feasible,” Warren Cromartie, president and founder of the Montreal Baseball Project and former Expos player, said in a statement. His group, along with the Board of Trade of Greater Montreal and other partners, commissioned the study.
Before baseball could return to the city, though, Montreal needs a new baseball stadium, and one-third of the cost of the estimate total 1.025 billion Canadian dollar ($963 million) cost should come from public funds, the group said.
That might be a tough sell, especially given that the province recently pushed back its forecast (http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2013/11/28/quebec-pushes-back-target-for-balanced-budget/)for a return to a balanced budget due to a revenue shortfall. But a new stadium might just be what Montreal might need to see the sport succeed in the city.
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-AT610_expos_E_20131212143516.jpgAssociated PressMontreal Expos fans fill an outfield section during a baseball game between the Tampa Bays Rays and Toronto Blue Jays Toronto in July 2013.
The Olympic Stadium, the Expos’ old home, was lambasted by fans and players alike for decrepit fielding conditions and cavernous playing environment.
Some fans shrugged off concerns over using public funds to lure baseball back to Montreal, saying the government could see its investment paid back in eight years by using MLB’s revenue-sharing model, which wasn’t in place when the Expos were around.
“Everything in [the study] is fairly reasonable. I don’t see anything in the study that isn’t out-of-whack or far-fetched,” said Matthew Ross, founder of Expos Nation, a non-profit organization that acts as a de facto fan club for the storied franchise.
Michel Leblanc, chief executive of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, said a new team in Montreal would boost Quebec’s economy during and after construction.
Jonah Keri, the author of a soon-to-be released book on the history of the Montreal Expos, said financial backing will remain a major hurdle for baseball in the city. But he said a major corporate sponsor could materialize.
Representatives from the Quebec government couldn’t immediately be reached.
Montreal’s return as a baseball town received some added weight Wednesday when American sports agent Scott Boras told reporters during the annual MLB Winter Meetings in Florida that Montreal would make an ideal candidate for MLB action, fueling speculation among wistful Expos fans. The Expos were the first MLB team to play outside the U.S., and achieved modest success during their 40-year run. They won the National League East division in 1981 while it was the best team in the majors in 1994 until a work stoppage forced the cancellation of the rest of the season. The franchise lives on as the Washington Nationals.
Expos fan support has lived on, with grassroots initiatives such as flooding left field seats with team jerseys during Toronto Blue Jays games.

[Pelicans78]

Would love to see the Expos back.

[Clipper Nation]

http://ballparkdigest.com/201312196902/major-league-baseball/features/could-mlb-really-return-to-montreal



Many baseball insiders assume MLB will return to Montreal, but some -- like agent Scott Boras -- are pushing for an earlier return if the Tampa Bay Rays cannot solve their ballpark issues.

Boras was pretty clear about Montreal serving as a better home to the Rays, as reported by Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (http://cli.gs/0m11r9b):


“The hope in baseball is you’d have a consistent product annually, you have a group of people in ownership that are putting winning baseball on the field, and you’d certainly have to say Tampa Bay has done that,” Boras said.
“My point was that baseball, collectively, to protect the game, to protect the market, and you have a product that is so successful and the market is not responding to it, what is the reason? The reason is not the performance of the franchise or the players. The reason has to be there’s a dynamic operating here that is not consistent with what other markets do in baseball.
“Clearly if you win and you’re successful, your fan base rewards. So my suggestion of New Jersey or Montreal or somewhere ... The idea is for the betterment of the game. I think we have to look at markets that aren’t rewarding playing the game at a high level.”


Now, Boras isn't the first person to suggest the Rays should look north of the border for a new home, but he's the one with the most knowledge of baseball's finances to say MLB would be viable in Montreal. The Rays would see an attendance jump playing at initially and temporarily at Olympic Stadium versus the Trop, to be sure, and given the state of politics in Tampa Bay, one could argue there's an equal chance of a new ballpark in both areas. And, one could argue that the economic future for an MLB is considerably brighter in Montreal than Tampa when it comes to TV contracts (Bell would be a natural partner) and media exposure. The trick would be turning that five-year honeymoon into momentum for a new ballpark.

We baaaaaack, motherfuckers! :toast

[lefty]

http://ballparkdigest.com/201312196902/major-league-baseball/features/could-mlb-really-return-to-montreal



We baaaaaack, motherfuckers! :toast
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah






Still, lol Baseball

[Biernutz]

Isn't sport agent Scot Boras loosing many of his clients and is one of the most
disliked agent that the owners have to deal with. I don't think he carries much
weight anymore. Sorry Clipper :depressed

[Pelicans78]

Bring back the eLb!!!!

[Clipper Nation]

Expos will be backPERIOD

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/selig-see-montreal-bid-return-212646576--mlb.html

[lefty]

Still, lol baseball

[Clipper Nation]

Still, lol baseball
Expos > Habs

[lefty]

Expos > Habs
Of course

[xmas1997]

Montreal was also mentioned by the Oakland A's too, along with San Antonio.

[Biernutz]

Montreal was also mentioned by the Oakland A's too, along with San Antonio.

not going to happen for either city... there are other citys are better candidates than us and Montreal if they are going to move...

[lefty]

not going to happen for either city... there are other citys are better candidates than us and Montreal if they are going to move...
I agree

[Pelicans78]

Would love to see the Expos back. Miss that brand.

[xmas1997]

not going to happen for either city... there are other citys are better candidates than us and Montreal if they are going to move...

Such as?
The only two top cities I have heard mentioned were these two.

[Biernutz]

Such as?
The only two top cities I have heard mentioned were these two.

Read this it explains ....it was posted in this thread by me last Nov.......
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18886

[Clipper Nation]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/25/report-rays-owner-stuart-sternberg-has-discussed-moving-the-team-to-montreal/


Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has been frustrated in his efforts to get out of Tropicana Field in St. Pete and move to a new stadium in Tampa, but there is growing belief that the economically depressed Tampa Bay area won’t support the Rays no matter where they play. And according to sources, Sternberg has had discussions with wealthy Wall Street associates about moving the Rays to Montreal, which has been without a major-league franchise since the Expos were transferred to Washington in 2005. As one major-league official put it to me Friday: "Say what you will about Montreal, but the Expos drew well over two million fans four times there in their heyday, while the Rays did that only once, their first year."

Expos are coming backPERIOD

[Biernutz]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/25/report-rays-owner-stuart-sternberg-has-discussed-moving-the-team-to-montreal/



Expos are coming backPERIOD

Never happen!!!!!http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb270/systime/SMILEYS%20%20222/beatdeadhorse.gif

[Clipper Nation]

Manfred says that a commitment to build a new ballpark is all the MLB needs to see to return to Montreal:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12589580/rob-manfred-says-montreal-needs-new-stadium-commitment-mlb-return

We back, we stacked, get used to it.

[Clipper Nation]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/montreal-mayor-to-meet-with-rob-manfred-about-bringing-baseball-back-025212957.html


Montreal mayor Denis Coderre is set to meet with Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred at the end of the month. Among the topics they'll discuss will be baseball's return to the province (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/montreal-s-denis-coderre-to-confer-with-mlb-commissioner-1.3077434), according to the Canadian Press.

Expos are backPERIOD... lefty is already preordering his tickets as we speak and is suddenly a huge baseball fan, tbh.

[lefty]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/montreal-mayor-to-meet-with-rob-manfred-about-bringing-baseball-back-025212957.html



Expos are backPERIOD... lefty (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=6896) is already preordering his tickets as we speak and is suddenly a huge baseball fan, tbh.
:lol

Im gonna snap pics of douche Expos fans and post them on ST just for the lols

[baseline bum]

:lol

Im gonna snap pics of douche Expos fans and post them on ST just for the lols

I thought you normally only took pics of nuclear power plants, military bases, and the like. Thank God for no fly lists.

[lefty]

I thought you normally only took pics of nuclear power plants, military bases, and the like. Thank God for no fly lists.

:lol beisbol

[Biernutz]

Lefty and the yearly Expo's are back post.....Go get em' Lefty.......lol

[Clipper Nation]

:lol beisbol
You can stop greving now and pretending to hate baseball, our Expos are coming back.

:cry Nos Amours
:cry The 'Spos
:cry Fuck Rick Monday
:cry Fuck Loria
:cry Fuck Selig

[AlexJones]

Can't wait for them to move again after MTL fans quit attending the games per par

[Biernutz]

Too bad they wont come back to Montreal as no other MLB team sell Escargot Tacos

[Clipper Nation]

Too bad they wont come back to Montreal as no other MLB team sell Escargot Tacos

:lol Red Sox
:lol Garbage
:lol Expos
:lol BackPERIOD and winning it all in their first year back in Montreal

[Clipper Nation]

Montreal, once the problem, might be a solution. The city's fans remember the sabotage beginning in 2002, believing the fix was in from the inside (directions to the stadium in French and English mysteriously went missing) and outside (the commissioner's office taking ownership of the team; the trial run of regular-season games in Puerto Rico; Selig's calling Washington a prime candidate for relocation), so they have no reason to trust baseball. Still, the city has people (1.6 million, over five times as many as Tampa), sophistication and history. Not just the Steve Rogers-Andre Dawson and Pedro Martinez-Vlad Guerrero history, but dating to 1946, when Jackie Robinson made his pro debut with the Dodgers' Montreal-based minor league team. And as painful as the Expos' exodus was, it's also worth remembering that when there was magic on the field, made by Tim Raines or Larry Walker (http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/2026/larry-walker), Expos fans always represented. The game's roots run deep, and if Washington can be remade as a baseball town -- the game failed there twice before taking off -- so too can Montreal.

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/13013557/major-league-baseball-look-montreal-new-home-oakland-tampa-bay-rays

[Biernutz]

Carrot on a stick.....we need a new stadium....lets let them think we will move to Montreal....
They use us in San Antonio the same way all the time.......don't hold your breath......

[lefty]

Carrot on a stick.....we need a new stadium....lets let them think we will move to Montreal....
They use us in San Antonio the same way all the time.......don't hold your breath......
pretty much this

:lol Expos fans
:lol old fat rednecks who speak French
:lol beisbol

[Clipper Nation]

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — There are no more doubts for Mayor Denis Coderre, Montreal will renew ties with Major League baseball.
“In my mind, it’s not an if, it’s a when,” he told reporters at an impromptu press conference in Cooperstown.
Coderre was invited as a special guest to the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony which will include former Expos Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson.
He says good things are coming for 2016, with rumours circulating about the Red Sox playing two practice games in Montreal in the spring.

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/mayor-coderre-montreal-will-have-baseball-again

[Clipper Nation]

Speaking of the Expos, props to Randy and Pedro for finally getting in the Hall :worthy:

http://i.imgur.com/MttEBrJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YF5Gw8L.jpg

[Biernutz]

The Expos just could not keep the stars..Could not make enough money.
Too much frog legs, escargot and "french" fries in the concessions.

[Clipper Nation]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA9LBVdNfwc

Translation: Expos are coming backPERIOD

[lefty]

And they will leave in a few years

[Clipper Nation]

And they will leave in a few years

:lol No. The Expos will win the World Series, and you'll stop pretending to hate baseball and like floptrot.

[lefty]

:lol No. The Expos will win the World Series, and you'll stop pretending to hate baseball and like floptrot.
:lol I would rather watch t:lolday's NBA than beisbol

[Clipper Nation]

:lol I would rather watch t:lolday's NBA than beisbol
:lol You'll be a baseball fan again by Opening Day of the Expos' first season back in town.

[lefty]

:lol You'll be a baseball fan again by Opening Day of the Expos' first season back in town.
:lol no... and the fact that they have an ugly, overrated logo doesn't help

[Clipper Nation]

:lol no... and the fact that they have an ugly, overrated logo doesn't help
The Expos had the GOAT logo and uniforms in baseball history, tbh. That logo will look great on Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Corey Kluber when they deliver a ring to Montreal.

[lefty]

chirp chirp

[Clipper Nation]

821855259752628225

:cry We did it :cry

Also, Vlad Guerrero was only 15 votes short in his first time on the ballot, so he should get in easily next year.

[Robz4000]

821855259752628225

:cry We did it :cry

Also, Vlad Guerrero was only 15 votes short in his first time on the ballot, so he should get in easily next year.

How do you feel about steroid babby's Bonds and Clemens gaining steam? Also, :lmao Sosa only 6% of the vote.

[lefty]

chirp chirp

[Clipper Nation]

How do you feel about steroid babby's Bonds and Clemens gaining steam? Also, :lmao Sosa only 6% of the vote.
I'm fine with it. Bonds is in the GOAT discussion with or without steroids, so he should be in the Hall. The Hall has inducted amphetamine users, pitchers who doctored the ball, and players who sharpened their spikes in the past, so I've never understood why juicers are off-limits.

[midnightpulp]

chirp chirp

Rock is in the Hall, left!

A better athlete than ANY floptrot player to ever live. You know it, brotha.

Congrats on one of your boyhood heroes getting in :toast

[midnightpulp]

:lol You'll be a baseball fan again by Opening Day of the Expos' first season back in town.

Don't know why left keeps fronting.

He loves baseball. Used to post a lot in here a few years ago.


MLB Forum: 558

Come back to baseball, left.

[lefty]

Yeah I post here to troll tbh

[Clipper Nation]

Rock is in the Hall, left!

A better athlete than ANY floptrot player to ever live. You know it, brotha.

Congrats on one of your boyhood heroes getting in :toast
:lol Imagine that midget who's supposed to be the GOAT of floptrot trying to steal a base in the MLB. He'd probably trip all over himself and puke. Even Jon Lester could pick him off at first.

[Clipper Nation]

884569222847893504

The Expos are coming backPERIOD

[Clipper Nation]

920054361379700736

[Pelicans78]

920054361379700736

They should move those choking Nats back to Montreal.

[Clipper Nation]

lefty, get in here and celebrate this shiiiiiiiiiiiiit! Our Expos are coming backPERIOD!

1141761834434871297

[baseline bum]

lefty, get in here and celebrate this shiiiiiiiiiiiiit! Our Expos are coming backPERIOD!

1141761834434871297

Damn was just about to post this shit.

[midnightpulp]

lefty, get in here and celebrate this shiiiiiiiiiiiiit! Our Expos are coming backPERIOD!

1141761834434871297

They need to move back. The Rays organization tries their hardest and smartest to keep this team competitive and the "fans" refuse to show up because :cry muh stadium is too far :cry. Unacceptable for a competitive team to average like 10K in attendance.

[Pelicans78]

They need to move back. The Rays organization tries their hardest and smartest to keep this team competitive and the "fans" refuse to show up because :cry muh stadium is too far :cry. Unacceptable for a competitive team to average like 10K in attendance.

And it’s a still a Yankees town. Having MLB teams in Florida seems like a horrible idea.

[FrostKing]

Québécois are disinterested in baseball

[Will Hunting]

It’s not even a question imo that they Rays should move there full time and not just part time. Montreal is one of if not the coolest city I’ve ever been to. Tons of nightlife, not only are the women attractive but the ratio of hot to ugly is unlike anything you’ll ever see in America, and of the handful of times I’ve done coke, the product quality in Montreal was hands down the best. Even with the language barrier (which isn’t a big deal since there are parts of Montreal that primarily speak English and most people there are bilingual) Montreal would still be much more competitive at attracting free agents and drawing fan attendance than Tampa Bay is.

[Mark Celibate]

It’s not even a question imo that they Rays should move there full time and not just part time. Montreal is one of if not the coolest city I’ve ever been to. Tons of nightlife, not only are the women attractive but the ratio of hot to ugly is unlike anything you’ll ever see in America, and of the handful of times I’ve done coke, the product quality in Montreal was hands down the best. Even with the language barrier (which isn’t a big deal since there are parts of Montreal that primarily speak English and most people there are bilingual) Montreal would still be much more competitive at attracting free agents and drawing fan attendance than Tampa Bay is.

good enough reason enough right there IMO

[Millennial_Messiah]

It’s not even a question imo that they Rays should move there full time and not just part time. Montreal is one of if not the coolest city I’ve ever been to. Tons of nightlife, not only are the women attractive but the ratio of hot to ugly is unlike anything you’ll ever see in America, and of the handful of times I’ve done coke, the product quality in Montreal was hands down the best. Even with the language barrier (which isn’t a big deal since there are parts of Montreal that primarily speak English and most people there are bilingual) Montreal would still be much more competitive at attracting free agents and drawing fan attendance than Tampa Bay is.
Montreal is not a place you want to be outside of May to September.

[Divac Doesnt Flop]

Cue the Tampon-treal jokes.

[Clipper Nation]

It’s not even a question imo that they Rays should move there full time and not just part time. Montreal is one of if not the coolest city I’ve ever been to. Tons of nightlife, not only are the women attractive but the ratio of hot to ugly is unlike anything you’ll ever see in America, and of the handful of times I’ve done coke, the product quality in Montreal was hands down the best. Even with the language barrier (which isn’t a big deal since there are parts of Montreal that primarily speak English and most people there are bilingual) Montreal would still be much more competitive at attracting free agents and drawing fan attendance than Tampa Bay is.
Montreal fans love baseball too, as shown by how they pack spring training games like it's a World Series Game 7. Back in the good old days before the MLB sabotaged the Expos, the Big O had one of the most unique atmospheres in the league, and it could get loud as fuck too.

Take that party/festival atmosphere, put it in a ballpark that isn't a dump, with a product on the field managed by smart people who care about the franchise's wellbeing, and you have baseball's next juggernaut.

[Divac Doesnt Flop]

There's some re-writing of history here. Montreal's attendance was 1/3 that of the national average most of the time. The only time they attracted fans was in the early 80s. Montreal is a hockey town.