San Antonio continues to make noise about bringing the Marlins to their city. This time they bring in the expertise of a member of the Hall of Fame.
"The demographics of the state allows for another team to come here," Ryan said. "Given the projected growth of the state and the exciting things happening in San Antonio, I think (San Antonio) would support (a team)."
Ryan also suggested he would consider investing in the Marlins should they move here.
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"What Nolan said adds credibility to our efforts and will have an impact locally and with Major League Baseball," Wolff said. "It's great to hear he thinks Texas can have a third team and that (San Antonio) can support one. Those are key statements."
With all due respect to Mr. Ryan, I don't remember reading his work in the field of economics in the AER or the QJE. But maybe I missed a few issues of the journals.
While I completely agree that if a third team is brought into Texas it needs to go to the state's second most populous city but still, I have trouble believing it is really a viable option for relocation at this time. Maybe I'm wrong - I have been there before, but this bid doesn't add up to me.
One other thing about possibly using Nolan Ryan as a catalysts for relocation:
The way I understand his duties for the Astros he is an ambassador for the team. Given his present contract with the Houston club I would think he would be limited in doing P.R. work for moving a team to San Antonio.
At present the negotiations are in a state of limbo:
The league and Marlins want to analyze San Antonio's stadium proposal, the media market and the economics of the city. This process likely will take a couple of weeks.
If San Antonio is deemed big-league ready, a second visit from Marlins officials is expected in the near future.
We shall see. I will give San Antonio this: when they jump into a pool they do make waves.
To top it all off Wayne Huizenga in a speech yesterday had the following to say:
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Although a new stadium might help, he said, "Would it be the answer? ... I'm not 100 percent sure baseball is going to work in South Florida."
No one and I repeat no one is stepping up to the plate on this issue in South Florida. This doesn't forebode well.