Expansion Cities (counting the A's in Vegas now)
1 - Nashville - Yes, this makes sense. The Rays or Marlins would be better off here.
2 - San Jose - If Manfred thinks A's fans will switch to the Giants he's more out of touch than any of us believed. Tech nerds do like baseball.
3 - Montreal - Still too many economic barriers. With the two most precious resources on the globe being oil and fresh water, Canada should be more of a powerhouse. Put a team in Letterkenny. They'd love to have a baseballs team there. Figger It Oout
4 - Indianapolis. City of freeways. Great location. No Summer competition for a team sport, but The Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals and Reds would block.
5 - New Jersey - Actually the best spot, it has the population and NJ has the highest per capita income in the U.S., but Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Orioles, Nats would fight it and they'd win. Steve Cohen would have an aneurysm
6 - Charlotte or Raleigh - Nothing to block them, but I don't know that they'd care that much about baseball
7 - Salt Lake City - They're making a push to get the NHL there, they'll go for baseball too.
8 - Vancouver - If you feel Western Canada needs representation.
50 - Portland - 81 home games = 81 protests = 81 disruptions. That town is a political nightmare. Everything pisses them off there. My sister, a true liberal, couldn't even stand it anymore it's so extreme. If you're a white person who has a taco truck, they'll shut you down for cultural appropriation. If you're a white person wearing a Bob Marley t-shirt they'll scream at you. You'd be better off looking at San Juan, Monterrey, or even Hawaii or Japan before going to Portland (who have never really even supported a minor league team).
If there were absolutely no obstacles at all
1 - New Jersey, 2- Nashville, 3- San Jose 4- Indianapolis, 5- Charlotte, 6- Montreal and who cares after that.