Major League Baseball In Portland? It's Possible, MLB Commissioner Says

PORTLAND, OR — A major league baseball team could be in Portland's future, according to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. At a Wednesday press conference in Seattle, Manfred was asked whether Portland was on "a short list" of cities being considered as part of the MLB's expansion to 32 teams.

"I think Portland's a possibility," he told reporters. "If we were to go to 32 we would need a Western time zone team. We'd need at least one more and you can think about the prospects on the west coast probably about as effectively as I can."

Issues with stadiums in Oakland and Tampa Bay would need to be resolved before any expansion efforts would begin, but "Portland would be on a list," Manfred said.

WATCH: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred answers whether Portland could get a baseball team

The last time the MLB expanded was in 1997 when it brought in the Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks as the 29th and 30th teams. Portland vied for the Montreal Expos in 2003 when the team was looking relocate, but team officials ultimately settled on Washington D.C. — thus establishing the Washington Nationals.

Portland was on the commissioner's list in 2015 as well, the last time expansion talk was in the news. Along with Portland, however, were also the cities of Montreal, Charlotte, North Carolina, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, northern New Jersey, Mexico City or Monterrey, Mexico, according to a July 2015 ESPN article.

In his article on the possibility of an MLB Portland team, the Seattle Times' Ryan Davish wrote:

That possibility would likely be met with opposition from the Mariners. It would cut directly into the Mariners’ television market, something they wouldn’t prefer. The organization has long counted Oregon and Portland as part of their fan footprint.

Portland is in fact the 25th largest television market in the nation, according to 2017 Nielsen Designated Market Area rankings. That puts the Portland ahead of several cities already with multiple major league sports teams, including San Diego, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. But none of that really means anything unless MLB officials actually decide to incorporate two more teams into the league.

Nevertheless, with money in the city's coffers to build a new stadium — thanks to the passage of House Bill 3606 in 2003, which set aside roughly $150 million to build a stadium for the Expos — there's always going to be someone with their fingers crossed for Rip City baseball.

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