SAN ANTONIO – Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said this week that he would consider expanding the league for the first time since 1998.
"I think we are a growth business, broadly defined, and over an extended period of time, growth businesses look to get bigger," Manfred told a group of reporters in Cincinnati during the All-Star break. "So yeah, I'm open to the idea that there will be a point in time where expansion may be possible."
Reports have surfaced that San Antonio -- and seven to nine -- could be considered to house the new franchise.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said local baseball fans shouldn't expect city officials to make a trip to MLB offices anytime soon.
"I would not get too excited about it at this stage," said Wolff. "Frankly, unless the league is at the table saying they support it, you can be wasting a lot of time."
Wolff made an unsuccessful $300 million pitch to the Florida Marlins in 2006.
While the approximately 4 million people living in the San Antonio-Austin corridor might be appealing to the MLB, he said sports fans yearning for another local team to cheer for should keep their eye on the ball -- a soccer ball.
"There's two things that make sense with our existing market, and that's Major League Soccer and Triple-A baseball," he said.