Canadian Business Executive Clarifies News That Montreal May Get New MLB Team

Canadian business executive Mitch Garber has clarified a story that began circulating on Wednesday that a group of investors from Montreal had met the conditions laid out by Major League Baseball to bring a team back to the city.

Canadian Business Exec Mitch Garber Clarifies Montreal-MLB Deal Story

An anonymous source told The Canadian Press that investors had a strong financial setup, support from two levels of government, and several locations and designs for a stadium. The source added the businessmen were now simply waiting for a call from MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred to continue with the process.

Garber explained in a radio interview that the story is not completely accurate.

“[The article by The Canadian Press] is not true, but it’s not false,” he said on Montreal’s TSN Radio 690. “Yes, there’s a group of wealthy Montrealers who have met and expressed a real interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise in Montreal. And yes, the mayor of Montreal and [fellow businessman] Stephen Bronfman have publicly come out and said that they have talked to Major League Baseball about wanting to qualify to have a Major League Baseball team in Montreal.

“….But there is no agreement among government branches about how to finance a baseball team. There’s no five sites I’ve heard of for a Major League Baseball park. There’s no group of owners that wouldn’t welcome other owners into the group.”

Garber, Bronfman and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre first publicly stated their dedication to bringing an MLB franchise back to the city last year. Bronfman and Coderre also co-signed a letter in 2-15 that was sent out to all 30 teams and Manfred. The letter discussed Montreal’s strong interest in rejoining the league. The last time the city had an MLB team was in 2004, when the Montreal Expos (who were founded in 1969) relocated to Washington, D.C. and became the Nationals.

“Denis Coderre has not been shy at all about how much he wants Major League Baseball and how much work he’s doing to try to make that happen and Stephen Bronfman is a great face and leader of a potential return of baseball to Montreal,” Garber explained. “But then there’s the other side of the coin: Major League Baseball is run in a very discrete way, I think very well and very professionally, and what Major League Baseball doesn’t like is loose lips and loud mouths and lots of chatter and this article is not helpful, but it’s also not accurate.

“If you’re going to suggest in an article that the ownership group is closed and committed it makes no sense because nobody knows how much it costs to bring a team to Montreal If it’s an expansion team, how much does it cost? If it’s a team that’s being relocated, how does that cost? There’s no such thing as a firm, committed group when they don’t even know what they’re buying or if there’s something available to buy.”

Manfred stated last year that he would like to add two more teams in order to facilitate scheduling. However, he added that this would only be possible until after another collective bargaining agreement was signed with the players’ union and Oakland and Tampa Bay’s stadium issues were resolved.

A new agreement was signed in December, although the Rays’ and Athletics’ future ballparks remain unknown. The A’s have committed to staying in Oakland providing they get a new stadium.

Garber reiterated that he simply wanted to make clear that although progress has certainly been made toward the deal for a new Montreal MLB team, nothing has yet been set in stone.

“For sure it took a proactive approach for Montreal because Major League Baseball’s not knocking on anyone’s door [to take a Major League Franchise], so from that point of view, I think we’ve made a lot of headway,” he explained. “I don’t want to be negative about [Wednesday’s] article; I just want to be realistic about it.”

MONTREAL – MAY 24: Zach Day #54 of the Montreal Expos pitches during the game against the Atlanta Braves at Olympic Stadium on May 24 , 2004 in Montreal, Canada. The Braves won 5-0. (Photo by Charles Laberge/Getty Images)