December 7, 2022

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Warren Cromartie is loved in Japan.

The former Expos player loved Japan when he played there. He's still lovin' it as a broadcaster in his second homeland.

Despite the loss of Stephen Bronfman, Mitch Garber and the Montreal Baseball Group as prospective owners of any new franchise in Montreal, Cromartie is still working behind the scenes like he has for the last 10 years and is hoping Japanese investors will come to the forefront to save his dream.

"I would love that. I have been talking with a couple of people for the last year now. Will keep you posted,'' Cromartie said in an email exchange.

Cromartie's optimism is evident in the hashtag attached to his email: #Baseballbackin Montreal. His positivity is commendable but he needs a lot of help because it takes a boatload of coin for a franchise. It's scary money, scary enough to scare Bronfman and MBG away.

Bronfman and his group have no interest in an expensive, multi-billion dollar, "full-time team'' after they were informed the part-time, split-season concept with Tampa was squashed.

Some of us have thought a telecom entity such as Bell Canada Enterprises would have interest -- maybe down the road -- as an investor in a baseball team, like Rogers does as majority owner of the Blue Jays. Mirko Bibic, a Montrealer and a McGill University graduate, is a big wheel with Bell as president and CEO.

BCE is a shareholder in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, enjoys a stake in the Montreal Canadiens and has enjoyed the naming rights at the Canadiens' arena for many years.

A Bell partnership in a Montreal baseball franchise wouldn't be a first. Bell owned a very small percentage of the Expos' consortium that ran the team for close to 11 years from 1990 to 2001.

I sent a letter by mail to Bibic to see if he would talk on the phone, in person or through email about any Bell interest in a baseball group but he declined through Julie Garneau, Bell's senior manager of communications.

"We thank you for your interest in our company but unfortunately, it will not be possible to accommodate your request for a meeting with Mr. Bibic,'' Garneau said in an email.

Others trying to keep the Expos' legacy with their projects are skeptical of any chances the Expos will return to Montreal. Mike Randolph is one. He's the administrator of the very popular I Miss the Montreal Expos page on Facebook,

"I think Montreal's main chance for professional baseball was indeed the split-city idea with Tampa,'' Randolph said in an interview. "I, unfortunately, don't see an expansion or relocation happening for quite some time, to be honest. The few teams interested in relocating at the moment have several landing spots and Montreal doesn't seem like one of them.

"As for expansion, I feel as if MLB doesn't believe Montreal is a viable market for a team right now. I truly believe our best shot at bringing back pro baseball came and went with the split-city thing. But hey, a guy can still dream. And I do, every day.''

Expos Fest founder Perry Giannias was talking along the same lines as Randolph.

"Unfortunately, I also believe that the dream is over,'' Giannias said in an interview. "We had a chance with the split season but got hijacked again by Major League Baseball. It was a perfect fit for Montreal. Stephen is the only man who could bring baseball back to Montreal. But for $3-billion dollars for a team and stadium without a provincial appetite to help subsidize, it means we are pretty much dead.''