Scott Boras: Major League Baseball Should Expand To North Jersey
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Is expansion in Major League Baseball on the horizon?
It doesn't seem imminent, but MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred sure sounds intrigued by the possibility.
"Maybe one of the reasons I got this job is, I'm bullish on this game," Manfred said on Tuesday. "I think we are a growth business, broadly defined. And over an extended period of time, growth businesses look to get bigger. So yeah, I'm open to the idea that there will be a point in time where expansion may be possible."
According to ESPN, possible destinations for new franchises include Montreal, Charlotte, North Carolina, San Antonio, Portland, Oregon, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Mexico City, Monterrey, Mexico and North Jersey.
Yep, that's right. North Jersey.
MLB agent Scott Boras believes that New Jersey is an obvious market for expansion.
"The health of the game and its franchises -- whether it be through expansion or a franchise moving to that area -- (New Jersey) would be obviously more viable than some existing cities that teams are in," Boras told NJ Advance Media.
A New Jersey club, of course, would have to compete with both the Mets and the Yankees for eyeballs.
But Boras told NJ.com that despite the presence of the Amazin's and the Bombers, there's room for a third club. The regional TV market is incredibly lucrative, the agent contended, and players would want to join a team in the greater New York area.
Fans in this market, Boras added, "are very knowledgeable fans, people that have a real history and attraction to the game." He told NJ Advance Media that despite the Mets and Yankees' passionate and loyal fan bases, North Jersey would still draw very well.
Despite all that, he doesn't expect to see baseball in the Garden State any time soon -- or ever, for that matter.
"It can be done," Boras told NJ.com, "but the reason why it won't be done is because the Mets and Yankees ... MLB won't step on them when they have viable alternatives in Texas or in the Carolinas."
