Similar to when the Las Vegas Golden Knights joined the NHL as an expansion team in 2017, MLB may be facing the same dilemma in the next couple of seasons. The league has reportedly been identifying a few locations that the next MLB team could form with Las Vegas, Nashville, and Portland being among the cities.
The Padres joined the league in 1968, selecting players along with new teams in the Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals, and Seattle franchises that the rest of the league chose not to protect. And utilizing a hypothetical scenario of being about to protect 15 players on the current roster, what players would you make untouchable?