For now, Montreal not drawing MLB's eye

John Perrotto | Special for USA TODAY Sports

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Led by former Expos outfielder Warren Cromartie, Montreal is making a push to bring major-league baseball back to Quebec.

However, Commissioner Bud Selig didn't provide much hope for Les Expos II anytime soon when he spoke to the media Thursday following the owners' quarterly meetings at the J.W. Marriott Grande Lakes.

Olympic Stadium will play host to a pair of exhibition games between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets on March 28-29. Those will be the first games played in Montreal between major-league teams since the Expos were relocated to Washington and became the Nationals prior to the 2005 season.

"This comes from them, not us," Selig said about Montreal's interest of regaining an MLB franchise. "We don't have any clubs moving and we certainly don't have any expansion plans. But there are a lot of people up there who believe in this and I think that's great. I'm happy for them."

Montreal's best hope of getting a team would be for an existing franchise to eventually relocate and the most likely candidates are the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics. Both franchises have stadium issues - the A's hope to relocate to San Jose - and Selig said he had nothing new to report on either situation.

Few cities in the United States have shown an interest in adding a major-league team in recent years. Charlotte, N.C., is lining up as a potential candidate, though, as it will open the state-of-art BB&T Ballpark in the Uptown section of the city in April for the Class AAA Knights, who are the Chicago White Sox's top farm club.

The park will seat 10,000 but can be expanded.