1998 Major League Baseball expansion 1998 Major League Baseball expansion The 1998 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the establishment of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s 29th and 30th teams beginning play for the 1998 season. After initiating an expansion committee in March 1994, 27 groups representing nine cities submitted bids for the proposed expansion teams. After a yearlong process, on March 9, 1995, the league awarded the National League franchise to Phoenix and the American League franchise to Tampa. The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (currently the Tampa Bay Rays), would subsequently begin play for the 1998 season. With the successes of
Baseball in the Philippines Filipino baseball fans in Canada. Unknown to Filipinos at home but known among the Filipino-American baseball fans in the US itself is that fact that there are already players in active playing duties in the MLB whose parents are of Filipino origin (for example, Addison Russell (currently of the Chicago Cubs) and Tim Lincecum (as of present a free agent and formerly of the Texas Rangers)). As of November 2018, an alumnus of the Philippine Little League baseball teams, Farhan Zaidi, is the current president of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants, having grew up in the Philippines and