Ranking 6 MLB Teams That Make the Most Sense for Nashville Relocation
Plenty of ink has been spilled about Major League Baseball putting an expansion team in Nashville, but what if it simply relocated an existing team there instead?
The question is worth asking if for no other reason than the concept has been sucking up headlines since Greg Hinz of Crain's Chicago Business hinted at the Chicago White Sox possibly moving to Tennessee in a report on the team's stadium situation. It's about time they got a new one, whether it's in Chicago or elsewhere.
And as elsewheres go, Nashville is an ideal destination for a major league team.
There must be enthusiasm in the area for a major league franchise, as Oakland Athletics legend Dave Stewart otherwise wouldn't be heading an effort to make an expansion club happen there. And whether you're asking major leaguers or humble columnists, the Music City is regarded as the best place for MLB to go next.
Just so everyone's clear, relocation to Nashville doesn't appear to be on the table in any official capacity. An expansion team seems to be the preference of everyone, including MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. There should be no doubt that if Nashville does get a team, it's likely to be a whole new one named the "Stars" in honor of the Negro Leagues team.
The White Sox chatter nonetheless makes it hard not to ponder which of MLB's current franchises would be best served by a move to Nashville, so let's rank six options according to how much sense it would make.
6. Arizona Diamondbacks
1 of 6
The Diamondbacks and Chase Field have only been around since 1998, so it's a bit soon to be thinking about relocation, no?
Then again, this was also true back in 2016 when the Diamondbacks were actually threatening to relocate over their dissatisfaction with the Chase Field.
The ensuing seven years have done little, if anything, to improve the situation. Despite its relative newness, Chase Field is generally seen as one of MLB's lesser stadiums and the D-backs routinely rank in the bottom third of the National League in attendance.
Yet it doesn't sound like the team will abandon Chase Field any time soon. In lieu of moving, D-backs president and CEO Derrick Hall said in July that the team staying at a renovated version of the park is the "strongest possibility."
The club at least figures to stay in the Phoenix area, as well it should. The area is ranked by Sports Media Watch as the 11th-biggest media market in the United States and its population is only growing. The Diamondbacks leaving for Nashville or really anywhere else would be tantamount to malpractice.
5. Kansas City Royals
2 of 6
Now, here's a team that would be justified in seeking a move to a larger market.
Nashville would only be a modest step up in this regard for the Royals, who would go from the nation's 33rd-largest market to its 27th-largest. Still, a step up is a step up is a step up, and it happens that several counties around Nashville are rapidly growing in population.
Ah, but Kansas City is also experiencing population growth. It's also not as if the Royals' living situation is non-viable. Kauffman Stadium is still a jewel despite opening a half-century ago, and the franchise already has designs on a new stadium in the area anyway:
You know what looks amazing? That. Whether the ultimate location (which owner John Sherman says will be selected by the end of the summer) is in downtown Kansas City in East Village or north of the city, the Royals should totally do that.
4. Milwaukee Brewers
3 of 6
The Milwaukee Brewers began life as the Seattle Pilots, but only for one year back in 1969. They've been in Milwaukee since 1970 and have called American Family Field (formerly and better-ly known as Miller Park) since 2001.
Yet talk of relocation is in the air all the same.
First it was Rob Manfred banging the drum in May. As reported by Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, now it's the Brewers. Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors did well in summarizing how funding for improvements to American Family Field has become a political minefield. And with the lease set to expire in 2030, the clock is ticking.
All this lends some credence to the relocation threats, and then there's the matter of market size. The Brewers play in the nation's 38th-biggest market, not to mention the smallest of any major league franchise.
So even if the Brewers have made the playoffs six times since 2008 in spite of their market, one wonders if they would do even better because of their market if they moved to Nashville.
3. Chicago White Sox
4 of 6
Hinz's speculation that the White Sox, who have six years left on their lease of Guaranteed Rate Field, could move to Nashville appears to be just that: speculation.
"Nashville has proved to be a world-class sports town, and our Sounds have led the minor leagues in attendance, but there has been no communication with the White Sox about relocating to Music City," Ben Eagles, senior adviser to Nashville Mayor John Cooper, wrote in an email to Mike Organ of The Tennessean.
The mere hint of relocation emanating from White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf may be a mere negotiation ploy, a la the one that Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts employed to force approval of improvements to Wrigley Field in 2013. Nobody took his threat to move the Cubs seriously, and so it should go this time around.
Similar skepticism is warranted with the White Sox, and not just because their history in Chicago goes back nearly as long as that of the Cubs. The market both clubs are in is the third-largest in the USA. It's generally not good business to flee such places.
Still, there's at least one reason to wonder if the White Sox would be better off in Nashville. Unlike in Chicago, where they're typically an also-ran to the Cubs in attendance, at least the White Sox would have the place to themselves in Nashville.
2. Oakland Athletics
5 of 6
A move to Nashville will be a possibility for the A's only if their planned move to Las Vegas falls apart. And with stadium plans rapidly coming together and the club's application for relocation supposedly finished, that seems unlikely.
But what the heck. Let's say it does. What then?
The A's could perhaps commit to staying in Oakland for real this time, but that would be easier said than done. The Oakland Coliseum is barely habitable for non-rodent life forms, much less suitable for Major League Baseball.
A new stadium in Oakland is a great idea in the abstract, but has been hellishly difficult to turn into reality. The San Francisco Giants otherwise have territorial rights over the rest of the Bay Area and likewise dominate baseball fandom in the region.
All this plus A's owner Josh Fisher's cynicism and greed add up to why the club is looking to move, though there's at least one fault with the Las Vegas concept.
This is that there's little indication that the people of the city even want the A's. Plenty of people visit Las Vegas, of course, but the NFL's Raiders can vouch that doesn't help build a fan base. They don't draw well at Allegiant Stadium, and many fans who do show aren't there to see them.
By contrast, there does seem to be legit interest among Nashvillians in having a team to call their own. So if the A's don't get Las Vegas and Dave Stewart—who, once again, is an A's legend—doesn't get his expansion team...well, it's enough to imprint the word "maybe" in one's mind.
1. Tampa Bay Rays
6 of 6
There has, if nothing else, been plenty of smoke regarding the Rays and Nashville.
There was a rumor in 2021 that the Rays were talking internally about moving to Nashville. And this June, Mike Ozanian of Forbes reported that Trip Miller, founder of a Nashville-based hedge fund, wants to buy the Rays from owner Stuart Sternberg.
Granted, that could be mere wishful thinking on Miller's part.
"I expect we will build a ballpark in Tampa that will keep the Rays here for generations to come. I also plan on remaining the Rays owner," Sternberg told John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times in May.
Tropicana Field isn't much better than even the Coliseum, which tells you all you need to know about how badly the Rays need a new stadium. And it's perhaps as realistic a prospect as it's ever been, as there was forward momentum even before Rays fans reinforced their strength as a base.
Even still, attendance at Tropicana Field has ranked in the bottom three of the American League in each of the last 13 seasons. The actual stadium is certainly part of the problem there, but the Rays have another problem that the Miami Marlins also share. Both have their passionate fans, but much of Florida is loyal to neither.
So even if they'd technically be downgrading from the nation's 13th-biggest market, better fortunes could potentially await the Rays in Nashville. At the least, it's a better idea than that one hair-brained notion they had to play half their games in Montreal.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.
.jpg?w=600 "Breaking News")