Can your city get an MLB team? Analyzing the top candidates.

Major League Baseball's expansion is just around the corner - it's just a matter of when and where. While the timing of MLB's expansion to 32 teams remains somewhat uncertain, Commissioner Rob Manfred recently stated that he hopes to create a process "in place" to expand the league to 32 teams before his retirement in 2029.

There are many candidates for one of the franchises when the sport expands, with a couple cities at the top of the list. Is your city one of the places baseball can count on? We asked our MLB reporters to analyze the arguments FOR and against the top options.

Austin/San Antonio, Texas.

City population: 961,855 (Austin); 1,434,625 (San Antonio)

City population: 2,421,115 (Austin); 2,655,342 (San Antonio)

TV market rank: 35 (Austin), 31 (San Antonio)

Most likely nickname: Austin has a large bat population in the city, so "The Austin Bats" is a strong option, but they'll have to share it with the youth team in Louisville.

Most likely location for a stadium: According to Austin journalist Brian Parker, the east side of the city could be a good fit. The area has a new toll road, and is home to Tesla's headquarters as well as the airport.

The Case for Austin / San Antonio: Since these two cities are so close to each other, we're going to focus on Austin and San Antonio together. With Austin, this case is not difficult. It's one of the largest markets in the U.S. without an American soccer, basketball or baseball team - and it continues to grow, recently ranking in the top 10 in population. It also has a growing tech and big business sector, which includes Apple and Amazon, among many others. Austin FC, a Major League Soccer team, began play in 2021 and sold out all 17 home matches in 2022, testing the possibility of professional sports in the region. San Antonio is 90 minutes from Austin, and if they build a stadium north of the city, they could join forces.

What could keep them from getting a team: Does Matthew McConaughey love baseball? The actor, who has strong ties to the area, helped erect the newly built Moody Center, where the University of Texas basketball teams now play. Such an effort could push the idea of Major League Baseball in Austin, but no ambassador has yet been nominated locally. The biggest obstacle each city faces in getting a team may be the Guston Astros, who play just three hours away and have a strong fan base in the region. - Jesse Rogers

Charlotte, North Carolina

Population of the city: 874,579

Population of the city: 2,756,069

Television market rank: 21

The most likely nickname: Possible options included the Charlotte Aviators.

The most likely location for the stadium: There is no clear choice.

The case for Charlotte: The Charlotte metro area has a larger community than some existing MLB teams, including Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. Charlotte has already proven it can support multiple professional sports teams, including NFL, NBA, and MLS teams located in the city, not to mention the Carolina Hurricanes, who play in Raleigh just 2.5 hours away. The Charlotte Knights, an affiliate of the White Sox in Triple-A, also play in the heart of the city and ranked 10th among all attractions last season.

What could prevent them from getting a team: Location. It doesn't make sense for MLB to add two teams in the same region, and right now Nashville seems to be at the front of the line for a team. The Music City has shown more organized interest in establishing an MLB team than Charlotte, so the "MLB Charlotte" project - the movement to bring baseball to Charlotte - will have to make every effort to close the gap. - Rogers

Mexico City, Mexico

Population of the city: 9,209,944

Population of the city: 21,804,515

Television market rank: N/A

The most likely nickname: "Red Devils" - a very successful Mexican team in the Mexican league, playing at the largest city stadium (Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium), and locals are suggesting this nickname for the future MLB team, although it could be controversial due to the controversy surrounding the name "Tampa Bay Devil Rays."

The most likely location for the stadium is the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium, which hosted the first regular MLB series in Mexico last year and will do so again this year (the Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros will play two games at the end of April). The stadium opened just five years ago, but it has a capacity of about 20,000 spectators and is expected to be expanded to regularly host Major League teams.

The case for Mexico City: This city is one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere, alongside São Paulo, Brazil. Mexico City is a dynamic and diverse place where baseball is loved, especially after Mexico captured the audience during the World Baseball Classic last year. Tickets for the two-game series last season between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres—the first regular MLB series in the capital of Mexico—sold out within an hour. The atmosphere at these games was quite intense.

On the last open day of the season last year, the composition of the player list from Latin America made up more than 30%. Due to the interest in the sport in Latin America, having a team in this region makes sense, and having a team in Mexico would be much more feasible than having a team in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, or Venezuela for a thousand reasons.

What could prevent them from getting a team? There are many reasons, unfortunately, the most important of which are income restrictions in a market where the currency is extremely unstable, and residents earn much less than in the United States or Canada. The reputation of Mexico City, with its high crime rate - whether fair or not - may make it difficult to attract top-tier free agents, just as the fact that the city is approximately 600 miles from any American city. The stadium is at an impressive altitude of 7,349 feet above sea level - more than 2,000 feet higher than the main field of the Cors stadium - but a bigger issue may be the lack of a roof, as total rainfall in Mexico City during the summer is quite high. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred also stated before the series in Mexico City last year that he "has never been close to the idea of Mexico as an expansion opportunity." - Alden Gonzalez.