There's circle-of-life thing here.
Montreal lost the Expos, by and large, because they played in a stadium nobody wanted to go to, or even seemed to like. Which was a shame. By the early '90s the Expos' farm system was delivering to Montreal a loaded roster that, given a slightly different set of circumstances, coulda/woulda/shoulda brought a World Series championship to Quebec.
The Rays of the late '10s are building up to something. The farm system has delivered to Tampa Bay a young, talented, and groundbreaking group that could be poised to cut down the power structure in the American League East.
But they play in a stadium that hasn't won the hearts and minds of the Tampa Bay fanbase, and if a new facility can't be fast-tracked, the Rays' young core group might reach its peak in another market. Which would be a shame.
(Martin Fennelly column, Tampa Bay Times, 12 December 2018)