Jumat, 23 Desember 2011

Time to Move: MLB Edition

Major League Baseball is fortunate to have twenty-seven franchises who have very supportive cities supporting those teams. The Miami Marlins also has a new stability in having a new stadium in downtown Mami. However, there are two franchises that are in bad situations and these two franchises should probably be relocated. Those two franchises are the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays. Both these teams have some common problems of a bad stadium situation and low attendance.

Oakland Athletics
The Athletics is used to moving as they moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 1955, and then to Oakalnd in 1968. The A's currently have a bad stadium situation due to playing at the old Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The city of Oakland does not have the ability to support a proffesional team anymore. Oakland has become a city that has a lot of problems with crime and this should not be a city that a MLB team should be in. Oakland also has had to limit their payroll due to being in Oakland. It is now time for the Athletics to move to San Jose. San Jose deserves a MLB team. San Jose has proven they can support a major sports team like the San Jose Sharks of the NHL. San Jose is a growing city with a lot of wealthy people which can help sell luxury boxes. MLB should move the A's to San Jose as soon as possible.

Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay is a more interesting situation then Oakland. Right now, the Rays are stuck in Tropicana Field in the Tampa suburb of St. Petersburg. One problem with this is that the stadium owners will not allow the Rays to move into Tampa until the lease is over. However, they could make a move outside of Tampa and the Tropicana Field owners could not stop the Rays. Also, there is no guarentee that the Rays attendance would rise in Tampa as the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers have struggled there. MLB should move the Rays out of Tampa Bay but the bigger question is where do the Rays go then. There are four cities that I feel would be candidates to get the Rays. Those four cities are Charlotte, Norfolk, Indianapolis, and Birmingham. Of those four cities, MLB should move the Rays to Charlotte. The city of Charlotte has proven they support their sports as a MLB team is the only major sports league team they do not have. Charlotte is a growing city with a young fan base there and in the suburb of Raleigh. Charlotte also has proven they can have a MLB team due to their strong support of the Durham Bulls. It would be great if the Rays could stay in Tampa but Charlotte is a better fit for the Rays.

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