Mayor Denis Coderre is shooting for three or four regular season games to be played in Montreal, as he met with Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred for about 45 minutes in New York City today.
Coderre said that Montreal has shown that it can fill the Olympic Stadium for pre-season games and would now like to try some regular season action. "We showed that we could fill the stadium in April, imagine what we can do in July," he told reporters after the meeting. Coderre said that Manfred replied positively to the suggestion.
Coderre said that he would not discuss details about getting a new team through relocation or expansion. "I don't negotiate in public," he said. "We're passionate, we talked baseball. It's a first meeting. There will be other chances to talk."
The ultimate goal is to get a MLB franchise for the city, however. "I'm an ambassador for Montreal and want to show we're serious. We're doing our homework. You could see the impact of this meeting on social media," said Coderre who repeated that Montreal is "a baseball town."
Coderre told reporters that the quest to get MLB back to the city is a multi-step process and that the finish line is nowhere yet in sight.
“The message that I tried to send is that the games we hosted in the last two years were not about nostalgia. They were clearly about DNA. As mayor of Montreal I wanted to show the seriousness of our city to gain back a team eventually but we needed to open a channel, we needed that first meeting so I could show our love for baseball face to face,” said Coderre.
The meeting comes after a second successful exhibition series involving the Toronto Blue Jays this year that drew large crowds to the Olympic Stadium.
Montreal has been without a franchise since the Expos last played in 2004.
Manfred said recently that the interest shown by Montreal meant the city had successfully passed the first test toward a return of baseball but that it would have to meet several other criteria, including a proper baseball stadium.
Denis Coderre is on my flight to NYC to lobby MLB. Montreal's mayor is flying economy. Good for him.
— Michael Farber (@MichaelFarber3) May 28, 2015
Mtl is clearly a baseball Town.It's part of our DNA.Will show it to Comm. Manfred tomorrow.Want also to thank him for his nice words on Mtl
— DenisCoderre (@DenisCoderre) May 28, 2015
-With a file from The Canadian Press
