Is baseball poised to return to Montreal? – The Boston Globe

While fans have been enthusiastic, rattling those steel seats and making a lot of noise, the Montreal Baseball Project, which has spearheaded the movement, must show Major League Baseball a plan to put this facility in the past. It also needs strong ownership, which is why during this weekend we’ve seen prominent people from Montreal in attendance, showing MLB there is ownership potential waiting to buy in to a team.

There’s also a multimillion-dollar feasibility study conducted by the Montreal Board of Trade in 2013, which shows a very good economic bottom line should baseball return. Simply put, of all the cities trying to get big league baseball, Montreal seems to be No. 1 in the pecking order. The city has been very public in its desire to get baseball back, and it has a lot of support.

The feasibility study found that an open-air ballpark near downtown would be the way to go, at a cost of $467 million. The study figured a team could draw around 28,000 fans per game between corporate and regular seating in a 36,000-seat facility that would be modeled after Target Field in Minneapolis, which has roughly the same metropolitan population as Montreal, in the range of 3.4 million-3.8 million.

We’ve heard about the struggles to get new stadiums in Tampa Bay and Oakland. The Rays are more hopeful now that they’re allowed to look outside of St. Petersburg for a site near Tampa. The A’s could stay in Oakland or pursue their first choice (San Jose), but that’s wrought with legal troubles with the Giants based on territorial rights.

There’s also evidence the Montreal business community is wealthier than it was 12 years ago. There are rich people who would buy the 60 proposed luxury boxes and sponsors who would invest dollars in the team.

There are plenty of folks walking around the city this weekend in Red Sox and Blue Jays gear, but plenty more wearing old Expos garb who lament the loss of their beloved team and hope for another team that will vow to treat them better.

The 1994 season contributed to dooming the Expos. It was their best chance for a championship team. The Expos were in first place in the National League East with a major league-best 74-40 record, rolling along with a talented team before the strike hit in August and the season went unfinished.

The ’94 Expos had Pedro Martinez, Ken Hill, Jeff Fassero, and Butch Henry in the rotation with Mel Rojas and John Wetteland in the bullpen, and an outfield of Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, and Moises Alou. The infield included Cliff Floyd at first, Mike Lansing at second, Wil Cordero at shortstop, and Sean Berry at third. Darren Fletcher was the catcher.

We heard from Martinez Friday night, as he repeated over and over, “Montreal is a baseball city.” He pledged to do whatever he could to help get a team back here.

Warren Cromartie, the former Expos outfielder who got this all rolling several years ago, can now smell a team. Whether it’s the existing Rays or A’s or the expansion that Manfred has talked about, Cromartie thinks the city is putting itself in position.

These exhibition games the last three years have created excitement and put the movement on the map. That the city has gotten the Blue Jays and other teams on board with leaving their Florida spring training sites early to play has been a good sign.

And as Red Sox manager John Farrell pointed out, it’s a good transition from the smaller venues in Florida to the big league venues they’ll start playing in this week.

This seems like it might be years away. But even if it is, the Montreal movement is not deterred. The city wants to be ready with stadium plans and financing and an ownership group if and when it does happen.

Which means, Montreal must stay relevant. The exhibition games make the city relevant. If nobody had attended these games, it would have been bad. But they have been a smashing success.

While some of the people who have bought tickets are from Toronto and some are from Boston, Montreal feels it has passionate fans who just want that major league atmosphere. It’s good for economic growth, jobs, and all the other things major cities are looking for. Montreal wants to be a world-class sports city again, not just the hockey city.

There have been second chances that have gone extremely well. Milwaukee had the Braves and replaced them with the Brewers, who have been a success. Washington lost the Senators and got the Nationals. New York replaced the Giants and Dodgers with the Mets.

Montreal is now poised to get Expos II.

Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre wants to see Major League Baseball return to his city.