Stadium situations, teams for sale and a labor dispute are in view.
In many ways, the 2022 Major League Baseball regular season is ending much the way the 2021 Major League Baseball ended. There was a labor dispute with the players that was eventually resolved that shortened the 2022 spring training season. This off season, there will be another labor dispute that will need to be settled. Getting a collective bargaining agreement with minor league baseball players. MLB has not resolved stadium issues in Anaheim, Oakland, Arizona and Tampa Bay. MLB is threatening to revoke minor league player agreement licenses with a number of cities if local politicians don’t provide a new ballpark or fix up an existing stadium. Two teams may be for sale, one in Anaheim and the other in Washington, DC. The consensus is that Major League Baseball is in no hurry to expand although Las Vegas has emerged as a potential expansion market somewhere down the road, if indeed there is an expansion.
In order for Major League Baseball to grow from 30 to 32 teams, at least two stadium situations need to be resolved. The ongoing saga of the Oakland Athletics franchise ownership request for a new stadium continues into a fifth decade. Athletics owner John Fisher is pitting Oakland against Las Vegas looking for the best offer each can make for the franchise. Fisher has a lease that Oakland ends in 2024. It is a good bet Fisher will be in Oakland in 2025 as well because Las Vegas is not close to building a new stadium that could be ready in 2025. There seems to be nothing new happening in the Tampa Bay market, Rays’ ownership has a lease in St. Petersburg through 2027. It is quiet in Anaheim and Phoenix. An interesting off season is looming.
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