Rob Manfred outlines possible MLB realignment
A realignment of Major League Baseball is a distinct possibility — but in that scenario, the Subway Series being an intradivision spectacle is unlikely.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, who has previously floated a geographic realignment of MLB’s divisions, outlined how the idea could take shape during a Thursday appearance on WFAN’s “The Craig Carton Show.”
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“I think if you did it, you’d probably be eight [divisions] with four [teams],” Manfred told hosts Craig Carton and Chris McMonigle. “I think you would try to keep two-team cities separate. That would be my thinking.”
Manfred’s comments indicate that cities with two or more teams, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, would not be grouped together under a realigned format.
MLB’s current structure consists of the American and National Leagues, each divided into three divisions of five teams.
After Manfred comments during an ESPN Sunday night game in August, a widely circulated proposal included a powerhouse East Coast division featuring the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Phillies.
The polarizing idea drew widespread criticism, including from Mets radio voice Howie Rose, who called it “the last move before total destruction of the traditions that made baseball great.”
During his WFAN appearance, Manfred, 67, confirmed he would retire once his contract expires in January 2029 and reiterated his desire to add two expansion franchises before he steps down.
Cities including Nashville, Raleigh, Charlotte, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Portland and Austin have been floated as possible sites for expansion.
“First of all, I would like to expand to 32 [teams], it would be good for us,” Manfred said. “Fundamentally, a lot of cities that have Major League Baseball, when people want your product, you got to find a way to sell it to them, it’s kind of basic. Number two, it does a ton of us from a format perspective.
“You would realign, you would do it along geographic lines, which would alleviate – could alleviate – a ton of the travel burden that’s on players. Remember, we ask our players [to play] 162 times in 186 days…You can eliminate a lot of that travel and make it less burdensome, which would be a great thing in terms of player health and safety.”
Manfred also pointed to potential postseason benefits under a revised structure.
“If you realign geographically, you would look more like other sports, where you play up east into the World Series, and west into the World Series, and that 10 o’clock game on the [East] Coast that sometimes is a problem for us becomes a primetime game on the West Coast for the two teams that are playing.
“So there’s a lot of advantages to it.”
Manfred also acknowledged in the sit-down that the league has discussed other radical scheduling changes, including concepts that could shorten the regular season from its current 162 games.
One proposal would introduce an in-season tournament, similar to what the NBA has added in recent years.
“We’ve talked about split seasons. We’ve talked about in-season tournaments,” Manfred said. “We do understand that 162 [games] is a long pull. I think the difficulty in accomplishing those kinds of in-season events is that you almost inevitably start talking about fewer regular-season games.”
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