The Oakland Athletics' planned relocation to Las Vegas, which cleared a major hurdle Wednesday, has been widely panned by players and fans around Major League Baseball.

Even a pair of Vegas-born teammates, Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott, say their hometown would be better served by an MLB expansion franchise, with the A's remaining in Oakland.

"I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland," Harper told USA Today Sports in a report published Thursday. "It's just not right. They have so much history in Oakland. You're taking a team out of a city. I'm pretty sad because of all of the history and all of the greatness they've seen there.

A Salt Lake City consortium led by the former owner of the Utah Jazz plans to pursue a Major League Baseball franchise in the coming years, touting the area's population growth, strong economy and baseball history as draws for a coveted expansion slot, people involved with the project told ESPN.

Big League Utah, a group headed by longtime Jazz owner Gail Miller, will join Nashville's Music City Baseball and the Portland Diamond Project in lobbying to join the current 30 MLB organizations. Las Vegas, considered a prime destination for a franchise, has emerged as a strong candidate if the Oakland Athletics relocate.

After nearly 22 1/2 years that began with unprecedented labor unrest, unfolded with rapid innovation and ended with unparalleled prosperity, Bud Selig predicted a baseball future filled with more transformation, perhaps with expansion to other countries.

"My dream is for this sport to really have an international flavor," he said Saturday during a half-hour interview with The Associated Press. "Does it need teams in other countries? ... If one uses a lot of vision it could."