I feel like Major League Baseball is both hit and miss with this one.
A management group known as the Nashville Stars has been pushing for a MLB franchise to come to their area of Tennessee for quite some time now, and they made a major move Jan. 10 to get them closer to achieving that goal by hiring a household name as an advisor.
And that high-profile individual is former American League MVP and legendary manager Don Mattingly.
This adds even more clout to the Nashville Stars, a group led by Dave Stewart — a former MLB pitcher who served 16 years in the league with five ball clubs, winning three World Series in the process, including being the 1989 World Series MVP with the Oakland Athletics. Stewart was also the general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2015-2016, according to Baseball Reference.
In 2022, Stewart said that he is targeting 2026 for the Nashville Stars to begin play, and it could come either as a franchise in the MLB or another route. In the same year, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said that he would eventually like to see the league expand from 30 teams to 32, however, he did not specify any cities nor timelines.
We’re extremely excited to announce Don Mattingly as our newest baseball advisor! He will provide counsel on key strategic matters and add decades of invaluable baseball experience to our roster. Welcome to the team, Donnie Baseball!https://t.co/veZySpuMHh
— Nashville Stars ⚾️ (@NashvilleStars) January 10, 2023
It would be pretty cool to see an old Negro league team come back into existence as a Major League Baseball team, so I’m cool with that aspect of everything, but I’m not the biggest fan of the location.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Nashville (a.k.a. Cashville), I thought they did a fantastic job hosting WWE SummerSlam in 2022, but I feel like we can put a professional baseball franchise in a better location. For starters, you have Las Vegas, and why not a team for my beloved home state of Virginia — you could even have it on the coast with palm trees, the ocean and sunshine. (RELATED: REPORT: Carlos Correa Signs 6-Year, $200 Million Contract With Minnesota Twins After New York Mets Deal Falls Through)
As a matter of fact, here are eight cities that I would like to see an MLB franchise in:
- Las Vegas, Nevada (definitely at the top of my list)
- Jacksonville, Florida (any metro in the Sunshine State will qualify)
- Orlando, Florida (see the reasoning above)
- Virginia Beach, Virginia (my home state and it has a beach, obvious choice)
- Charlotte, North Carolina (it’s the Queen City after all)
- New Orleans, Louisiana (it’s New Orleans, duh)
- Montreal, Canada (and bring the team back as the Expos)
- Havana, Cuba (post-communism)
- Bonus city: Omaha, Nebraska (because the College World Series is in Omaha)
Why choose Nashville when we have these wonderful options right here?
Major League Baseball should hire me as an advisor.