Rays split-season idea struck down

[jarman86]

Saw this and thought it was interesting. Hadn't heard about it before. Tampa Bay Rays say split-season plan with Montreal rejected by MLB (espn.com)

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, jarman86 said:

Saw this and thought it was interesting. Hadn't heard about it before. Tampa Bay Rays say split-season plan with Montreal rejected by MLB (espn.com)

Quote

a decision that stunned the organization and left Rays owner Stuart Sternberg "flat-out devastated.

 

Why would the other teams or the players' union be on board with a team having two home ball parks 1,500 miles away from each other?

If I'm an AL East team I do not want road trips to Montreal.

[jarman86]

I thought that too. I'm sure Toronto players and fans wouldn't have minded Montreal road trips. I don't know why two cities would have agreed to ballparks for half the year as the article insinuated. As a taxpayer living in either area, I would have been livid.

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, jarman86 said:

I thought that too. I'm sure Toronto players and fans wouldn't have minded Montreal road trips. I don't know why two cities would have agreed to ballparks for half the year as the article insinuated. As a taxpayer living in either area, I would have been livid.

The fans and players might not mind but if you are the Blue Jays why would you want another team in Canada?

[RZNJ]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

The fans and players might not mind but if you are the Blue Jays why would you want another team in Canada?

 

Why not?   

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

 

Why not?   

Why did the Orioles not want a team in Washington?

 

If I'm the Jays I'd rather have the country to myself. 

[RZNJ]

10 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Why did the Orioles not want a team in Washington?

 

If I'm the Jays I'd rather have the country to myself. 

 

Have you checked out a map of Canada lately?

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

 

Have you check out a map of Canada lately?

Yes.

I don't care if it's over 300 miles.  if I'm Toronto I don't want to share that TV audience.

Not if I can easily stop it.

[Frobby]

37 minutes ago, jarman86 said:

I thought that too. I'm sure Toronto players and fans wouldn't have minded Montreal road trips. I don't know why two cities would have agreed to ballparks for half the year as the article insinuated. As a taxpayer living in either area, I would have been livid.

If you think about it, that would really suck for the players.   

[Frobby]

17 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Yes.

I don't care if it's over 300 miles.  if I'm Toronto I don't want to share that TV audience.

Not if I can easily stop it.

Got curious about how baseball on TV works in Canada and found this:

The Toronto Blue Jays' blackout territory includes all of Canada. However, they must share British Columbia and Albertawith the Seattle Mariners, Saskatchewan and Manitoba with the Minnesota Twins, and the Maritimes with the Boston Red Sox. In the past, the province of Quebec was not included in Toronto's territory, as it belonged to the Montreal Expos exclusively. Toronto and Montreal shared all territory outside of Ontario and Quebec. 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_blackout_policy

I would think Toronto would like losing its exclusive rights over Quebec about as much as Peter Angelos enjoyed losing exclusivity in Washington DC and surrounding areas.   

[jarman86]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

If you think about it, that would really suck for the players.   

Don't have to go through customs....though I guess customs for pro athletes really isn't customs anymore. Worst part of foreign travel for me.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, jarman86 said:

Don't have to go through customs....though I guess customs for pro athletes really isn't customs anymore. Worst part of foreign travel for me.

I’m thinking more about living arrangements.   Particularly if you have a family.  You’re already on the road about 90 days during the season, now you’re spending another 45 in some other spot.