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Okay, I think its about time for another sports WI as an aside from the usual WIs (that centre around war and politics).
So, I was browsing through the history of the Montreal Expos and saw that there were thoughts of moving them to Monterrey, Mexico and San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a non-American, I still don't quite understand how it is that Canadian teams are involved in what seems to be essentially American domestic sports competitions (such as Basketball, Baseball and even Soccer). But seeing as how two Canadian teams were involved in the MLB (Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos) and since there were ideas of moving one of the teams to Mexico or Puerto Rico (before they finally ended up in Washington, D.C.) I wondered what it would take to get MLB teams being found in Mexico and Puerto Rico and for some more MLB teams to be in Canada. I also wondered what it would take for the Canadian and Mexican teams to be in separate leagues from the American League and National League (but for all four leagues to still be a part of the MLB).
So, if anyone just wants to speculate on more Canadian teams in the current MLB structure (and for Mexican teams and a Puerto Rican team to be in the current MLB structure) please go right ahead. But if anyone is willing, perhaps they can speculate on what it would take to have an MLB like this:
Major League Baseball (MLB) with four leagues:
National League (NL)
East Division:
Atlanta Braves (Atlanta, Georgia)
Miami Marlins* (Miami Gardens, Florida)
New York Mets (New York City, New York)
Philadelphia Phillies (Philadephia, Pennsylvania)
Washington Nationals (Washington, D.C.)
Central Divison
Chicago Cubs (Chicago, Illinois)
Cincinnati Reds (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Houston Astros (Houston, Texas)
Milwaukee Brewers (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Pittsburgh Pirates (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
St. Louis Cardinals (St. Louis, Missouri)
West Division
Phoenix Diamondbacks* (Phoenix, Arizona)
Denver Rockies* (Denver, Colorado)
Los Angeles Dodgers (Los Angeles, California)
San Diego Padres (San Diego, California)
San Francisco Giants (San Francisco, California)
American League (AL)
East Division
Baltimore Orioles (Baltimore, Maryland)
Boston Red Sox (Boston, Massachussetts)
New York Yankees (New York City, New York)
Tampa Bay Rays (St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay, Florida)
San Juan Boricuas or Borincanos (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Central Division
Chicago White Sox (Chicago, Illinois)
Cleveland Indians (Cleveland, Ohio)
Detroit Tigers (Detroit, Michigan)
Kansas City Royals (Kansas City, Missouri)
Minneapolis Twins* (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
West Division
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Anaheim, California)
Oakland Athletics (Oakland, California)
Seattle Mariners (Seattle, Washington)
Arlington Rangers or Dallas Rangers* (Arlington, Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth area))
Canadian League (CL)
East Division
Montreal Royales (Montreal, Quebec)
Toronto Blue Jays (Toronto, Ontario)
West Division
Calgary Mounties or Trappers (Calgary, Alberta)
Victoria Capitals or Vancouver Loggers/Axmen (Victoria, British Columbia or Vancouver, British Columbia)
Mexican League (Mexican Major League) (LM or ML or MML)
North Division
Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (Owls of the Two Laredos) (Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and Laredo, Texas)
Sultanes de Monterrey (Monterrey Sultans) (Monterrey, Nuevo León)
South Division
Diablos Rojos del México (Mexico City Red Devils) (Mexico City, D.F.)
Tigres de Cancún (Cancún Tigers)* (Cancún, Quintana Roo)
* Oh, and also it becomes universal practice for the teams to be named after the cities they are based in (or really close to) instead of after the state or province. Naturally as this is the post-1900 section, any POD would have to be in 1900 or later (though I suppose if the POD was in 1880 or 1890 it shouldn't be a problem).