MLB Jul 21, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; An official Major League Baseball is seen during Detroit Tigers batting practice before a game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Major League Baseball has held steady at 30 teams for more than two decades since adding the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Rays before the 1998 season and has held firm at that number for more than two decades, but it sure sounds like that could be changing with a couple of new expansion teams in the near future.

When speaking to the media ahead of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game, MLB Player’s Association chief Tony Clark revealed that the league is “hopeful” that it can expand in the near future, according to Bill Shaikin.

“We are hopeful that we can find ourselves in a world of 32 teams rather than 30,” Clark said on Tuesday.

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean expansion will happen anytime soon. The MLB still has other pressing concerns, including the stadium situations for both the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has said those two clubs need new stadiums before MLB can consider expanding.

Regardless of when it happens, Clark’s comments got the MLB world excited, with some offering suggestions for expansion cities and others wondering why the league is considering expansion in the first place.

With no additions to the league since 1998, we are currently in MLB’s longest expansion drought since the league first expanded in 1961.

[Bill Shaikin]