MLB will expand replay operations with 2nd center in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO -- Major League Baseball plans to open a second replay center in San Francisco.

MLB opened a replay center at MLB Advanced Media's office in New York in 2008 and expanded it in 2014.

Speaking Thursday at AT&T Park, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said the sport will expand its facility at MLBAM's San Francisco office, located near the ballpark.

"At some point you want to have redundancy, meaning if New York goes down, there's someplace else you can go," Manfred said. "The proximity to the Silicon Valley for a technology company like MLB Advanced Media is very important, and it just makes sense in terms of the economics to do it where we have an existing facility."

He said the new replay room is in the planning stages and there is no firm date for it to open.

MLB plans to close its Western Operations office in Phoenix, which opened in 2005.

Manfred also addressed the ballpark situation in Oakland, saying it was in the interests of baseball to keep the team where it is. A's owner Lew Wolff has been campaigning for a stadium in the San Jose area, which would require three-fourths of the owners to agree to a change in territorial rights.

"The fundamental goal is to help the A's get a new facility, which they desperately need, in Oakland," Manfred said. "It's a long process and it's a difficult process, but progress is being made. The A's preference is for the Coliseum site. I see a new facility that is really, really successful."

Manfred also said Portland, Montreal and Charlotte "have all checked in recently" regarding potential expansion, a possibility that could come in the near future.

"People being interested in having a franchise is an indication of the health and popularity of the game," Manfred said. "In terms of expansion I do not see this as a short-term interest, but I do believe we have a strong and growing business, and over the longer haul, strong and growing businesses often expand."

Manfred met with Giants players and manager Bruce Bochy.

"We talked baseball," Bochy said. "The players brought up scheduling. He said it was a work in process and that he understands the players' complaints. It's something to look at and needs to be changed."

The Giants were upset with having to play a night game in New York and then play the next night in San Francisco.