The Expansion of The MLB
1950's - Present
The growth of Major League Baseball
in the 1950's Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and St.Louis were two-team towns, while New York City had three this confined baseball and made it hard for it to become a national sport thus sparking the movement of teams to different cities. The 1969 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the establishment of expansion franchises in Kansas City and Seattle in the American League and in Montreal and San Diego in the National League of Major League Baseball.
Expansion Teams
The growth of the MLB has largely depended on these expansion teams they have brought revenue to the cities in which they are established and to the front offices of major league baseball. There have been 14 expansion teams so far with more to come in the future to the MLB.
Present Day Expansion Teams
some of the more recent Expansion teams have included the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay rays. When both of these teams entered the league they had to undergo an expansion draft. The devil Rays and Diamondbacks could pick any player not on the protected lists of the other teams. no team could lose more than one player in a given round.
The Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are what the result of the death of a franchise in Montreal. The Nationals were the product of a team formally known as the Montreal Expos. The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec. they were established in the city in 1969 until 2004. They were the first team to be established outside of the United States. After the 2004 season the MLB moved the expos to Washington D.C. and were renamed the Nationals. The Expos were a very disappointing Franchise they were inconsistent and were in a hockey dominated country thus the beginning of financial issues. They were saved when they were bought by the MLB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Washington_Nationals_season
The Future of the expansion era in baseball
Even today the MLB is looking to expand to more cities. There hasn't been any change in the league since the 2004 movement of the nationals to the D.C. area. A few cities have put in bids for the next major league team. But Portland has become a major contender in the race for an MLB team. The city has a great sports environment and the people of the city are willing to pay for a team. they also have plans for a state of the art baseball only stadium
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140122&content_id=66946688