Manfred cancels visit to Portland but city still candidate for MLB franchise

Photo: Portland Diamond Project

November 19, 2020

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Only days after the conclusion of the recent World Series, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was scheduled to fly to Portland, Ore., to meet there with officials interested in acquiring a big-league franchise.

But the meeting was postponed until a later date because of the civil unrest that has besieged the troubled city since last spring.

The mere fact Manfred was set to visit Portland is another clear indication the folks at MLB are seriously interested in Portland as a new franchise to add to the current 30-team roster.

Any chance Manfred could be coaxed into coming to Montreal and visit officials, including prospective owners Stephen Bronfman and Mitch Garber?

"He (Manfred) was planning to see us a week after the World Series,'' Larry D'Amato, a member of the Portland Diamond Project committee, said in an interview. "It was decided that the political environment was not right for him to come. He was supposed to meet with the committee, politicians, the mayor (Ted Wheeler).''

D'Amato figures Portland and Nashville, Tenn. are the two leading cities when it comes to expansion. D'Amato thinks Charlotte, N.C. is not a viable candidate because it's ''too close to Atlanta''. Montreal, which lost its Expos in 2004, has been earmarked by MLB to be involved in a twin-sharing plan with Tampa Bay later this decade, a plan that seems far-fetched.

"Expansion is going to come. Portland has the demographics,'' D'Amato said. "We have a lot of high-tech companies here. It's a high-income area. A lot of people have moved up here (from other states).''

Portland showed serious interest in having the Expos relocated there following the 2004 season but MLB owners and then commissioner Bud Selig decided to move the team to Washington, D.C.

Portland boasts a large commercial dock system, Nike has its worldwide headquarters in the Portland area and Adidas has its North American headquarters there.

"Before Covid and all of the riots, there was a ton of momentum,'' Portland fan John Dunn told this writer about the city's passion for a franchise. "The only word I have heard lately is that commissioner Manfred cancelled his trip to Portland because of the rioting. I would never know the rioting is going on except for the news. It is pretty isolated.''

On the flip side, there are some fans like Glenn Miller, who think Portland wouldn't support a MLB team.

"There are too many things to do here,'' Miller said in an interview. "We have two major rivers here, the Willamette and the Columbia. We have the Cascade mountains about 50 miles to the east and the Pacific Ocean about 70 miles to the west.

"Mount Hood has three major ski areas. Outdoor activities are really big here, especially in the summer.''

Nashville stepped up its quest for a MLB team with the recent announcement that former Expos GM Dave Dombrowski had accepted an advisory role with Music City Baseball and has already moved to Nashville in anticipation of the city getting a team.

Where does that leave Montreal? Bronfman, Garber and Co. are intent on waiting for the Tampa Bay sharing agreement to take place. What effect the pandemic has on Manfred and the 30 owners in terms of expansion or relocation of franchises isn't known.

It's a waiting game.