Major League Baseball’s latest innovation seems perplexing. No, not the defensive infield shift. That’s old news.

The newest wrinkle in baseball involves the Tampa Bay Rays. The franchise has been given permission to explore the feasibility of playing part of its home season in Montreal, Candada.

Anybody who has visited the Gulf Coast of Florida in early spring knows what part of the season the Rays plan on staying in Florida. It’s why 15 Major League teams train in Florida every spring. They call it their Grapefruit League.

By the same token, anyone who has been stuck in the Florida Gulf during late June, July and August knows when the Rays intend to play in Montreal — and why. The heat and humidity are brutal. Fans won’t pay a premium for tickets to sit and sweat for nine innings — not when they have a better seat, AC, cheaper beer, private bathroom and a 60-inch flat screen at home.

To the far north, baseball fans encounter a different seasonal problem: late winter and early spring rains. Cold and rainy is every bit as uncomfortable as hot and humid. Up North, fans stay home in spring until the weather turns nice.

Baseball franchises in both climate extremes have had limited success with indoor and retractable-roof stadiums. But these are expensive to build, expensive to maintain and, in the case of the Rays, due for replacement all too soon. The Rays are pressuring Tampa for a new stadium when its domed Tropicana Field is only 29 years old.

Baseball traditionally has been a home-pride attraction. You know, root, root roof for the home team-driven. If they don’t win it’s a shame.

But here’s something the Rays marketing teams are calculating on that few others might notice — and it might be worth it for a city like Butler to notice such things.

Every February and March, people from Up North flock to Florida, specifically to the Bay Area from Tampa-St. Pete, to Bradenton, Manatee and Sarasota. They include die-hard fans of the Pirates, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Orioles, Tigers, Blue Jays — 15 teams in all. The teams head north in April along with the fans who live there. And by June, more of the retired snowbirds head north, too. It’s an annual migration for those who can afford the migration — and those who can afford it are the ones who also buy tickets to Major League ball games, when the weather is agreeable.

As a consequence, many residents of the Pittsburgh area are familiar with and fond of Brandenton, where the Pirates make their winter home. More than a few Butler retirees live there and come north in summer.

So, what’s the lesson for Butler? Well, there might be similar opportunities to arrange some kind of shared minor-league franchise with a city in some southern state or maybe Puerto Rico or neighboring nation that gets too hot in mid-summer for comfortable baseball. Something at the single-A level, with young, eager players who accept mobility as part of the deal.

Butler has a top-notch baseball field that’s searching for a purpose — literally looking for a team it can call its own. And a desire persists here to root, root, root for that home team — even if we must share it.

Best of all, we have a temperate climate — we’re convinced this rain is an aberration, but even then, the wet days turn to cooler, dry nights by July.

A partnership with a distant town could foster tourism opportunities as well, much like our sister city programs with overseas partners. There could be trade and tourism delegations. The possibilities are limitless.