Rob Manfred has been quietly planning to make MLB better. So, when he added ‘expansion’ to the mix during the Mariners-Mets Little League game, it got everyone’s attention. That one mention set off a flurry of talk in baseball. And what followed was a reaction from a club that was seen last in 2004 at the diamond.
Rob Manfred’s words weren’t just small talk either. He made his vision very clear. “I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign. I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing…because you’d be playing out of the East and out of the West. And now that the 10 o’clock time slot, where we sometimes get Boston-Anaheim, it would be two West Coast teams in that 10 o’clock slot.”
That vision was captured and re-shared by the franchise that used to shine at the Jarry Park Stadium. Yup! The Montreal Expos. The Expos shared it on their Twitter handle, with a witty caption, “Did someone say expansion.” This was the same club that had the finest season in 1994. They had the best record in baseball at 74–40, six games ahead of the Braves in the NL East. With the second-lowest payroll in MLB, experts believed they were legitimate World Series contenders.
Did someone say expansion pic.twitter.com/LATBmDxvEe
— Montreal Expos (@Montreal_Expos) August 18, 2025
Then what went wrong? The Expos experienced a major setback when the 1994 strike ended their World Series hopes. In 2002, MLB purchased the franchise, and during their final two seasons, they played some games in Montreal and others in San Juan, Puerto Rico. On September 29, 2004, MLB shut down the team and relocated it to Washington, D.C., renaming it the Nationals. Interestingly, fans want the Expos to return. Can they have their chance now?
Commissioner Rob Manfred has discussed expansion multiple times, considering cities like Portland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville, Montreal, and Vancouver. Since the Diamondbacks and Rays joined MLB in 1998, no new teams have been added.
Lately, Rob Manfred has been tweaking the future of MLB in more than one way. It is still unclear if expansion will happen or not. But his plan extends well beyond just adding teams.
From Ghost Teams to Paychecks—Rob Manfred’s Bold Moves for MLB
Rob Manfred is looking at more than just moving teams around and adding new ones. He wants to make the economy more fair, starting with a salary ceiling. The MLB has a luxury tax instead of a real cap, but the inequalities in expenditure have never been bigger. As per the reports, the Dodgers have a payroll of around $500 million, including taxes, while some teams barely have seven-figure squads.
credits: MLB.COM
Fans, especially in smaller markets, are wondering what’s going on. Manfred says he gets a lot of emails from worried fans who think the disparity is unjust. And it’s not just the fans who are worried about this. Owners are also willing to change the system. Rob Manfred even set up a group to look into adjustments to the media centralization and salary system.
But the players’ union is standing firm. Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLBPA, called a cap “institutional collusion” and said it may have significant consequences. Bryce Harper even yelled at Manfred during an All-Star media event over it.
While talks about the league’s structure and the Expos’ return are going on, the economy is also changing. Rob Manfred wants to make things fairer, but we’ll have to wait and see if this idea works or not.
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