Rob Manfred Hints at MLB Realignment if it Undergoes Expansion

The American and National Leagues might soon be gone as we know them. 

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said that if expansion takes place in the near future, the league will likely look to realign teams based on geography.

“I think [expansion and realignment] are associated, in my thoughts,” Manfred said Sunday on ESPN’s broadcast of the Little League Classic. “I feel if we increase, it supplies us with a chance to geographically realign. I feel we may save a number of put on and tear on our gamers when it comes to journey. And I feel our postseason format could be much more interesting for entities like ESPN, since you’d be taking part in out of the East and out of the West.”

Manfred did not explicitly element what realignment would appear like, however he continued to emphasise the concept of groups which can be nearer collectively taking part in extra video games towards each other.

“That 10 o’clock timeslot the place we typically get Boston-Anaheim could be two West Coast groups,” Manfred mentioned. “That 10 o’clock slot that is an issue for us typically turns into an actual alternative for our West Coast viewers. 

“I feel the house owners notice that there is demand for Main League Baseball. We’re in a number of nice cities. We’ve got the chance to do one thing good round that growth course of.”

MLB has used a geographically-based realignment concept in current reminiscence. Whereas MLB did not realign divisions, it had a geographically-based schedule for the 60-game 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The American and Nationwide Leagues remained in place, however groups solely confronted division rivals and interleague video games towards groups from the corresponding division (AL and NL East, AL and NL Central, AL and NL West) through the common season. 

Contemplating Manfred’s feedback, the 2020 season might be a suggestion for what’s to return if growth and realignment had been to happen. It may also imply that MLB equally divides its two leagues because the NBA and NHL divide their two conferences.

As for growth, Manfred has acknowledged prior to now that he’d prefer to see two groups added to MLB earlier than he retires as commissioner in 2029. A handful of cities have been speculated as growth candidates in recent times, however MLB believes the strongest two candidates for growth are Nashville and Salt Lake Metropolis, USA Today reported in July.

Enlargement would deliver the overall variety of groups in MLB to 32, probably necessitating some kind of divisional realignment. If it does occur, the league may both do what the NFL does and have eight divisions of 4 groups or observe the NHL’s path and have 4 divisions of eight groups.

MLB hasn’t expanded because it added the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays in 1998. 

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