Valérie Plante: "Montreal is a baseball city. This is only a postponement!"

Following today’s announcement that the plan to share the Tampa Bay Rays with Montreal in a split-season, sister-city arrangement has been nixed by Major League Baseball, Mayor Valérie Plante made a statement suggesting that this is just a postponement of baseball’s return to the city. She also commented on the development of the Peel Basin area, which was (and perhaps still is) the intended site of a new baseball stadium.

“Montreal is a baseball city and the return of the Expos would have been exciting. I salute the efforts of the Montreal Baseball Group and Stephen Bronfman’s passion for his city. This is only a postponement!
“Rest assured that we will continue the strategic planning of the Peel Basin with the Government of Canada and our partners to develop mixed living environments that take into account the needs of the population.”
—Valérie Plante

Montréal est une ville de baseball et le retour des Expos aurait été emballant. Je salue les efforts du Groupe baseball Montréal et la passion de M. Bronfman pour sa ville. Ce n’est que partie remise! ⚾️ #polmtl https://t.co/VYakpI8snb
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) January 20, 2022

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says that the return of the Expos would have been exciting.”

According to Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, who held a press conference this afternoon, Bronfman and the Montreal contingent that has been working on this project (some of them for over two years) were “devastated” by today’s news.

For more Montreal sports coverage, please visit the Sports section.