MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has talked about expansion of the league for more than a decade. Now, regional realignment has come front and center with it. Here’s the details. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said that when the league expands to 32 teams, regional realignment would occur. Here’s why the league is moving in that direction and how it might look.
Manfred was interviewed as part of ESPN’s broadcast of the Little League Classic from Williamsport, when he was asked about the expansion of Major League Baseball.
“I think if we expand it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” Manfred said. “I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN because you’d be playing out of the East, out of the West, and that 10 o’clock where we sometimes get Boston-Anaheim would be two West Coast teams. That 10 o’clock slot that’s a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our West Coast audience.”
Manfred has been touting expansion and realignment for a decade now (see within my story from 2015). “From a technical perspective it would be easier to divide the schedule up by four,” Manfred said to me at the time. “Having five teams in the divisions is problematic from a scheduling perspective.”
In terms of geographic realignment, the addition of the designated hitter in the National League and MLB’s shift to a balanced schedule, where all teams play each other at least once during the season, have set the stage for the National and American leagues to become blurred. As I wrote last year (Two Changes To Allow MLB Regional Realignment Has Happened Right Under Your Nose), those changes set the stage for geographic realignment when the time is right.
Why Geographic Realignment With Expansion?
Manfred said Sunday that the league “could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel,” and that’s absolutely true. The other factor not mentioned is the reduced cost to owners with travel minimized. So, the players would reduce fatigue, and the owners would spend less on air travel.
How Geographic Realignment Would Look
While Manfred and the league haven’t gotten into details, who’s ready for the Yankees and Mets in the same division? Or, the Angels and Dodgers? In the future, it’s a possibility. Going back to 2015, if the league expands to 32, and Manfred sees four teams per division, you wind up with eight divisions. No Expansion Committee has been assembled at this point, as Manfred has said repeatedly that the A’s and Rays need to get their new ballparks online or shovels in the ground before that would take place. It seems clear that the A’s are going to get into Las Vegas. Let’s say the Rays stay in Tampa Bay or St. Pete. After that, we’ll say that the two frontrunner markets for expansion, Salt Lake City and Nashville, actually come online. While there are fuzzy areas on the map where one team or another could wind up in a particular division, knowing this could be anything but perfect. Even Manfred acknowledges that while geography may drive the initial discussion, input from the owners will be central to how it will eventually be implemented.
“Within my vision of expansion, you need to think about what you’re trying to accomplish for the sport from a competitive perspective, and deal with those issues before you get into one market,” Manfred said as part of meeting with the press at the 2023 All-Star Game. “And what do I mean by that? If you’re going to vote [to approve]
32 clubs, are you going to make more divisional changes? So there’s some internal work that’s going to take some time to get done and then I think ultimately, you go to the markets.”
Here’s one conceptual outline of what eight divisions of four could look like with expansion:
Northwest Division
- Mariners
- Giants
- Salt Lake City
- Rockies
West Division
- Dodgers
- Angels
- Diamondbacks
- Padres
South Division
- Rangers
- Astros
- Royals
- A’s
Southeast Division
- Rays
- Marlins
- Braves
- Nationals
East Division
- Yankees
- Mets
- Phillies
- Red Sox
Mid Division I
- Tigers
- Cubs
- Twins
- Nashville
Mid Division II
- Pirates
- Guardians
- White Sox
- Reds
Mid Division III
- Cardinals
- Brewers
- Blue Jays
- Orioles
Would Balanced Schedule And Rivalries Remain?
While the core idea of limiting travel would be at the center of regional realignment, questions remain about retaining historic rivalries and whether the balanced schedule that sees all teams play each other at least once during the season would continue. The latter seems near certain. One can’t imagine not capitalizing on a Giants-Dodgers series, or should the Red Sox and Yankees not remain in the same division, having that historic matchup go off the schedule. With the continued homogenization where interleague is now a daily occurrence, fans have gotten used to the idea of the balanced schedule, which has assuredly played a part in more consistent attendance figures. So, one can see that it also continued.
As with all things baseball, change is something many fans have a difficult time adjusting to. Of course, how many fans are still upset about the Astros moving out of the NL Central? Or, the Brewers moving from the AL to the NL? But, when regional realignment arrives – and it’s a when, not if – fans will undoubtedly have a lot to say about the facelift to Major League Baseball.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2025/08/18/as-manfred-touts-geographic-realignment-with-mlb-expansion-heres-how-it-could-look/