SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — If, and when, Major League Baseball decides to expand, numerous sports analysts have theorized one team will be added in the east and one in the west.

As Salt Lake City vies for that western team, analysts have also suspected that Portland, Oregon is its biggest competitor.

“For me, it’s Salt Lake City and Portland,” said John Canzano, a longtime sports journalist and radio show host in Oregon. “I think they’re underserved markets.”

Canzano would certainly like to see Major League Baseball come to Portland. But he also believes Salt Lake City might have the edge at the moment.

“If this is a marathon, and it feels like one to me, Salt Lake City is ahead,” Canzano said.

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Canzano and others say Salt Lake City’s biggest advantage is that an ownership group, The Larry H. Miller Company, is already in place to take control of a team.

But the race isn’t over. Canzano believes Portland has made big strides recently.

“I think getting the political will lined up, getting the South Waterfront piece of property that Portland’s got, getting the state legislature to okay $800 million and help with the stadium, those are big steps,” he said.

The stadium site Canzano mentions is within Portland city limits and just south of downtown. Conceptual renderings show a brand new stadium along the Willamette River, sandwiched between two of the city’s iconic bridges. The illustrations include a retractable roof to deal with Oregon’s rainy climate.

“There’s a real alignment right now with City Hall and downtown Portland and the state capitol that has not existed in the 25 years that I’ve been here,” said Canzano.

If momentum is building in Portland, it’s also building in Salt Lake City.

“I think Utah should get a team, 100 percent,” said John Leone, the sports editor for the University of Utah’s Daily Utah Chronicle.

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“The Jazz are selling out, the Mammoth are selling out, the college programs are selling out, RSL is selling out and I don’t see the MLB team as being in a different situation,” said Leone.

Leone thinks Salt Lake City is better positioned than Portland to win a western MLB franchise.

“It’s huge,” said Leone, of the fact that an ownership group already exists in Utah. “They have the experience. They’ve owned the Jazz and then sold them in the past. I think from that void of not owning the Jazz anymore, the Millers are hungry to regain ownership in the state. I think baseball would be the perfect way to do that.”

Leone also thinks the location of Salt Lake City would be a prime solution to solve the league’s traveling issues.

“You have all of the teams that are west of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake will be closer to the teams in the east, closer to the teams in the west,” he said. “It’s just kind of a good middle ground for those teams that will accomplish the goal of limiting travel.”

Salt Lake City also has firm stadium plans. Potential team leaders would like to put one on Salt Lake’s west side, as part of a massive redevelopment project along North Temple. The conceptual renderings show fans having views of the city skyline and the Wasatch Mountains.

While both Canzano and Leone will tout the positives of their prospective home markets, they both also realize Salt Lake City and Portland are at the mercy of Major League Baseball.

“I think it’s a money game at the end of the day,” said Leone.

“Baseball just wants more money,” Canzano says in agreement. “Rob Manfred’s job as a commissioner in Major League Baseball, it’s not to look out for the greater good of the game. It’s to make those owners that are his bosses as much money as he possibly can.”

Canzano believes Major League Baseball is trying to create a lot of buzz in each city where it might expand.

“The way I see it, baseball is using the threat of expansion or maybe dangling the opportunity of expansion to try to pit these cities against each other and also help get some of the cities that don’t have viable stadiums, get them in a position,” said Canzano. “They’re using Portland, they’re using Salt Lake City, they’re using Nashville to get Tampa and Vegas ready.”

Many analysts see Nashville as the top eastern city to get an expansion team. Both Canzano and Leone say they are the strongest eastern contender. But Canzano believes both Portland and Salt Lake City are the strongest cities overall. He would encourage Major League Baseball to pick both.

“I think if you are Major League Baseball, you want to expand to the best two cities, the best two candidates,” said Canzano. “Forget east, west, north, south. You want the best two markets to come in and fortify your league. For me, if those two cities are in the west, and it’s Salt Lake and Portland, then it’s Salt Lake and Portland. You eventually realign. We can redo these divisions.”

That’s not a prospect that Major League Baseball has seemed open to. But Leone likes the idea as well.

“I think having Salt Lake and Portland would be great,” said Leone. “It would help limit travel even more because you have all those teams clustered in the eastern side, but not as many in the west.”

Both Salt Lake and Portland will likely have to wait a while before they hear news of potential expansion. Major League Baseball isn’t expected to make any announcements until toward the end of this decade.