Where should MLB add expansion teams? We asked the Orioles.

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I was one of those kids who loved playing sports video games. Sure, yes, it was fun to score goals or throw touchdowns. But what made it a borderline addiction I still haven’t shaken is the roster construction, the fake storylines in my imagination — and, more than anything, the team creation.

That’s how the Portland Pioneers, Milwaukee Winterhawks, Toronto Mounties, Utah Black Diamonds and Vancouver Otters were born. Never heard of them? That’s because they were creations inside my PlayStation, or on the “Out of the Park Baseball” simulation game.

And maybe one day, in the not-so-distant future, Major League Baseball expansion will turn them into reality.

Reporting from ESPN indicates MLB is expected to open its expansion plan after the collective bargaining agreement is resolved. Commissioner Rob Manfred said he would prefer one East Coast and one West Coast destination decided upon before his retirement in 2029.

Let’s help him out. Given my personal affinity for the make-believe, I polled a random sampling of Orioles players for their preferred MLB expansion destinations, based on anything. Some took it seriously — Colton Cowser debated market size and the existence of other professional sports teams — and others … well, you’ll see.

I polled 11 players.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand said he doesn’t have the mind for hypotheticals, and if you’ve ever been around him, you’d buy that answer. Chris Bassitt, who is on the Major League Baseball Players Association subcommittee, had many off-the-record thoughts but said he couldn’t share them publicly because he didn’t want his responses to appear like an official union position.

Those who could, dished. I asked for their preference in cities; they chose two. The overwhelming favorite was Nashville, Tennessee, followed by Salt Lake City. The rest was a hodgepodge of cities, and amazingly, no one said Montreal, the former home of the Expos.

Rico Garcia took the exercise a completely different direction, even when asked for two realistic cities. He’s a Hawaiian man. He would like to visit Hawaii during the season. So put some teams there.

“One on Oahu, one on the big island,” Garcia said. “That way you can knock out two teams at once.”

But wouldn’t that be a disaster for travel?

“But it’d be sick.”

Can’t argue with that.

Here are the Official Orioles Power Rankings for MLB’s Hypothetical Expansion:

Support for Nashville

The most popular option was the home of country music: Nashville.

Eight players chose it, with most of them feeling it was a home run: Colton Cowser, Gunnar Henderson, Andrew Kittredge, Coby Mayo, Trevor Rogers, Shane Baz, Pete Alonso and Zach Eflin.

Alonso: “I think one that is probably surefire going to happen is Nashville.”

Baz: “Nashville, I think, is good. I played there in Triple-A quite a bit. It’s a solid place. That would probably be the easiest answer for me.”

Rogers: “I think probably the No. 1 answer is Nashville. Great city, makes a lot of sense. There’s a football team there.”

Mayo: “I think the other one that’s probably going to happen is Nashville. Nashville would be cool. I’ve played there in Triple-A, but we stay far from the field, so we don’t get the experience of the Nashville vibe.”

Henderson: “Close to home, and there’s a lot to do there. More of a country vibe for me. Country music origins. And still a big enough city to get a bunch of fans.”

Cowser: “Nashville, I feel like just because they already have all the teams over there. It’s a big city; it’s growing. It’s more touristy, so I don’t know how that would work. But it could do well.”

Support for Salt Lake City

The Holliday family visited Utah during the All-Star break, and the positive experience Jackson Holliday had made its way through the Orioles clubhouse. When Mayo was asked for his two cities of choice, Holliday’s rave review inspired him to throw his support behind the Utah capital.

Six players voted for Salt Lake City: Holliday, Mayo, Cowser, Henderson, Kittredge and Alonso.

Holliday: “It was beautiful. Weather was great, and it’s high elevation so it’ll probably be a good place to hit. I think that would be pretty sweet.”

Alonso: “The one I think would be absolutely awesome, I think, would be Salt Lake. I think Salt Lake, I think it would be incredible. I love out west. I think the Great American West is such a beautiful part of the country. Salt Lake is booming. … A ton of families and kids who love baseball out there. I think, for them, having a major league team, I think there would be a lot of positive buzz about having a major league team there. Salt Lake is a sneaky really, really big city. The weather there in the summer is impeccable.”

Cowser: “I was trying to think geographically, there’s not really another team around there at the moment. That’s how I’m viewing that. Two, it adds another team over in that direction. … Salt Lake City I think would be good, because they already have basketball and NHL.”

Mayo: “The mountains would be cool. I know Jackson went to Utah during the All-Star break, and he loved it. He said it was awesome, and I think in general Utah is a pretty place to go. I’d like to go on vacation there. It’s just different, and they do well with the Jazz in the NBA and Mammoth now. I know they draw really good crowds for the NHL and NBA, so I don’t think it’d be a bad place at all to go.”

Henderson: “I feel like for me, specifically, a western vibe, somewhere out in the mountains, would be cool to go. I have never been to Salt Lake. That would be pretty cool. Mountains somewhere in the background would be a good choice. I’m all about the cool backdrops and stuff.”

Kittredge: “I feel like the West Coast needs some more cities to balance it. I’ve heard rumors of Salt Lake City. I think that would be cool. Maybe not for pitchers, but maybe the hitters.”

Miscellaneous support

San Antonio (2)

Baz: “When people say I want to visit Texas, where should I go, I always say San Antonio. I think it’s one of the coolest places in Texas.”

Rogers: “Big city, got the Spurs there, you’ve got Houston and Dallas right there. It never made sense to me why there’s only a basketball team there. … California has, what, four or five? I think San Antonio would be cool.”

North Carolina (2)

Josh Walker: “I’ll give it to Charlotte. I feel like Nashville’s getting a little bit too much attention. I love the Carolinas, too. My brothers went to school there. So I’ll give the nod to Charlotte or Raleigh.”

Holliday: “I’ll go Charlotte. [He has played minor league games there.] It’s a good place.”

Vancouver (1)

Walker: “Vancouver could be cool. I’ve never been to Vancouver, either. I had a buddy who got drafted by the Blue Jays, and their short-season [team] was in Vancouver, I’m pretty sure, and he said it was, like, the most fun summer ever. It’s the only baseball team there, so it felt like you were almost in the big leagues. Everybody loved it, and he said the city is awesome. That would be cool. If it’s West Coast, it would be awesome to be Vancouver, giving Canada another besides Toronto.”

Orlando (1)

“No reason behind it, other than I live there,” Eflin said.

Honorable mentions

Kittredge thought, if MLB is willing to restructure the divisions, adding a team to Portland, Oregon, would be a good choice alongside Salt Lake City. He said there aren’t enough West Coast teams.

Baz was stuck between Austin and San Antonio, and while he gave the final vote to San Antonio, he thought either Texas city would bring a unique feel.