Major League Baseball and Commissioner Rob Manfred were
pushed to the aside a bit at the GM Meetings in Boca Raton recently by the GM
of the New York Yankees, Brian Cashman. Cashman sent two of his young talents
in separate trades for Aaron Hicks and Ronald Herrera forcing me to miss the
news that Major League Baseball wants to play regular season games in Europe
within the next five years while also returning to Mexico for the first time
since the 1999 season. Rob Manfred wants to grow the brand and especially grow
the bran internationally and it seems like all hands are currently on deck to
make that happen.
The line of thinking from Manfred, MLB’s chief legal officer
Dan Halem and the rest of the representatives from the league is that the more
you play and showcase the game in these countries on a continual basis, rather
than a sporadic basis, the more development and interest you will subsequently
see from that particular country.
You also cannot forget about MLB’s plans and efforts to at
least get spring training games played inside the country of Cuba as well which
is a significant part of growing and expanding the brand as well. The last time
baseball was played in Mexico was August of 1999 when the San Diego Padres and
the New York Mets played a three-game series at Monterrey, Mexico after the
Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres opened the 1999 season there as well in
Monterrey.
MLB is looking to add these countries and possibly more to
the list of places where they have played regular season games. That list
includes Tokyo and San Juan, Puerto Rico to name a few. Europe, specifically
London, Cuba and Mexico may all see Major League Baseball coming to a town near
them very, very soon.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)