Major League Baseball has kept expansion in the waiting room for quite some time now. The league wanted clarity on the Athletics and Rays first. Those situations are finally taking shape, and the next collective bargaining agreement now stands as the last major obstacle, so they say.Whatever the course, Mariners fans should be greedy about what comes next. We should want Portland in the West. And for nostalgia’s sake, bring back the Montreal Expos in the East.Both seem to be a long shot, but Portland would address a problem Seattle encounters every season. Montreal would return one of baseball’s most distinctive identities. One makes the map smarter. The other makes the sport more interesting.Side note: It’s a shame Vancouver isn't in the running to absorb some of the annual Blue Jays invasion at T-Mobile Park, but that’s a story for another time.Portland’s MLB Expansion Bid Is One Owner Away From Getting SeriousPortland has moved well beyond the imagination stage of its pursuit. In his breakdown of MLB’s expansion candidates, ESPN’s Jeff Passan focused on three essentials: ownership, stadium financing and a ballpark site. On that scorecard, Portland has two of the three.The Portland Diamond Project, led by former Nike executive Craig Cheek, has signed a letter of intent to purchase the 33-acre Zidell Yards property along the Willamette River. Oregon has also authorized a stadium-financing mechanism worth up to $800 million through tax revenue generated by a future MLB team. That money comes with conditions, but Portland can point to something more substantial than renderings at this point.Passan lists Portland with a combined statistical area of roughly 3.28 million people and the nation’s 23rd-ranked media market. Now comes the money part.Portland still lacks the anchor owner needed to pay an expansion fee expected to climb well beyond $2 billion and cover the rest of the stadium project. Salt Lake City already has that owner, along with financing and a site under development. That’s why it remains the favorite for MLB’s western opening.Portland’s geography places it directly in Salt Lake City’s lane, with MLB expected to choose one western city and one eastern city. Passan’s assessment makes the stakes clear: find the billionaire, and Portland becomes Salt Lake City’s most dangerous challenger. That leaves Portland an enormous step away.Portland Would Finally Give the Mariners a NeighborNow, for the Mariners traveling schedule. Baseball Savant has the Mariners traveling an MLB-high 50,308 miles during the 2026 regular season. If they aren’t at the very top, they’re generally never lower than fourth on that list, typically due to a couple of teams playing a series overseas.Still, that number is ridiculous, familiar and mostly unavoidable. Seattle wears its geography like an ankle weight. Every road series requires a real flight, and two of its current division rivals play in Texas.Portland sits roughly 175 miles down Interstate 5. A Portland franchise would give the Mariners their first genuine geographic rival. Fans could make weekend road trips in either direction. Visiting sections would be packed. Summer series would arrive with actual regional hostility instead of a marketing department trying to manufacture a rivalry.The Mariners have developed competitive grudges with Houston and Texas. Houston carries a league-wide hostility rooted in the Astros’ cheating scandal, amplified in Seattle by years of division frustration and the 2022 postseason loss. Texas only feels like a rival when the standings make it one. A bad season drains that tension quickly. Portland would remain personal no matter what the standings say.Realignment Could Put the West Back in the AL WestCommissioner Rob Manfred has floated the possibility of eight four-team divisions once MLB reaches 32 franchises. The cleanest setup for Seattle would group the Mariners, Portland, the Athletics in their planned Las Vegas home and the Los Angeles Angels. Houston and Texas could join a southern division where they geographically belong.What a concept right? A western division filled with teams located in the West. The final schedule format of course hasn’t been decided, and Portland wouldn’t necessarily erase Seattle’s travel disadvantage. A balanced schedule will continue sending the Mariners across the country. But still, a team in Portland would help.Replacing repeat divisional visits to Houston and Arlington with short Portland trips could remove several thousand miles, depending on how MLB builds the schedule. In a six-month season, fewer long flights and punishing overnight turnarounds have real value.The Mariners would remain baseball’s most isolated franchise. At least their own division would stop exacerbating that geographic disadvantage.The Mariners Would Have to Share Their MapAdding a team in Portland comes with another complication. Oregon is currently part of the Mariners’ home television territory, along with Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.A Portland team would claim some of the viewers, sponsors and merchandise sales that currently flow toward Seattle. No one would be surprised if Mariners ownership, selfishly, we might add, preferred to keep the entire Pacific Northwest for itself.However, fans have no obligation to protect that monopoly. The Mariners have enjoyed Oregon as part of their territory because Portland has never had a local alternative. An expansion team would force Seattle to earn that audience while creating meaningful games capable of energizing both cities. That is a trade worth making.Now imagine the embarrassment if Portland’s brand-new team took some of your fans and then took your division. What would the Mariners do about it? We’d love to find out.Montreal Would Give Expansion Some SoulSalt Lake City is considered the favorite for MLB’s western opening. Montreal has even more work to do than Portland. They’re still among the cities Passan examined, but its effort currently lacks a committed owner, stadium funding and a ballpark site.Nostalgia alone can’t bring them back. Montreal must produce an actual major-league proposal. Most people still want the Expos back. Montreal played baseball from 1969 through 2004 and produced a parade of unforgettable players. Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Pedro Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero all wore the uniforms.Then there is the legendary 1994 team. Those Expos were 74-40 and owned the best record in baseball when the strike wiped out the rest of the season. They never received the October they deserved, and the franchise moved to Washington after the 2004 season.A new Expos team would be a rebirth rather than a continuation of the Nationals’ franchise history. An NL Northeast featuring the Expos, Mets, Phillies and Nationals would carry instant tension. Washington facing a new Montreal team would be loaded with history. Toronto could become the annual interleague rival.MLB expansion will generate billions in fees and launch another round of ballpark development. But this is long overdue and it would be an expansion worth waiting for.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow