The Tampa Bay Rays had an eventful expansion draft in 1997. Intriguing moments baseball historians love to recall with 20/20 retrospective vision, such as selecting Bobby Abreau and then flipping him to Philadelphia for shortstop Kevin Stocker. It’s an interesting way to shake up the baseball world.
Portland, Montreal, Nashville, these are just a few cities that have been vocal about wanting a major-league team. There are so many great players all over the world, TV contracts are seemingly worth more than the GDP of entire countries.
According to Forbes, even the “small-market teams” like the Rays brought in $264 million in revenue with an operating income of $68 million in 2019.