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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Baseball fans would take a hit if Rob Manfred's latest idea about expansion and radical realignment becomes reality
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Say it ain't so. Advertisement 'The problem with the proposal is that it's too logical, it makes so much sense, just as it works in the NHL and the NBA,' says Jane Leavy, the preeminent baseball biographer whose Advertisement 'But baseball is different. It can't presume the way those leagues can to eliminate the perquisites of its history, and so what makes sense doesn't always work for baseball. 'It's like, 'Erase the record books, erase the collective unconscious, wipe the slate clean.' Baseball is too much trapped by its history, I understand that and I get that, but it also is indebted to its history in ways that younger sports are not.' Manfred would do it all anyway, determined as he seems to write a lasting personal legacy over what's best for the game. He's already overseen dramatic change, some of it excellent (the pitch clock), some of it OK (universal designated hitter, extra-inning ghost runner), and some of it bad (automated balls and strikes, automatic intentional walks). And he's pushed back on some truly awful ideas (such as the golden at-bat). But this latest salvo shows once again how much of his own baseball soul is missing, a willingness to use the inevitability of expansion to fundamentally alter baseball fandom and history as we've known it. 'In my mind, I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,' Manfred said on the ESPN broadcast. '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.' Advertisement We get it — baseball hasn't expanded since the 1998 addition of the Rays and Diamondbacks, and has two existing teams, Las Vegas (via Oakland) and the itinerant Rays awaiting new stadiums. Travel demands have indeed grown, but part of that is on baseball for adding regular-season interleague play. And let's be honest, the private chartered life of a baseball player is not the same as flying commercial. Plus, baseball could help that problem with smarter scheduling on its own, grouping cross-country road trips and emphasizing division rivalries. But Manfred would rather blow it all up, or at least bring the idea to the upcoming bargaining table with the players' union, attempting to curry favor with ideas as better for player well-being, while ignoring what it might mean to longtime fans who thrive on those rivalries, who grew up with those adversaries, who invested those emotions. 'I don't like any of that,' Hall of Famer Jim Kaat agreed. 'What's the World Series going to be like without the competition of the two leagues?' Kaat already is on record about baseball So, apparently, is the link to the past. 'You can see that incrementally they've been working toward this. I've heard about it for years,' Leavy said. 'I understand, but there's got to be a way to balance the needs of growth and modernity without erasing the game's essential self.' Advertisement Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
MLB geographic realignment rumors: Everything we know so far
During the Little League Classic between the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners on ESPN, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred hinted at a big change. Manfred spoke with ESPN's Karl Ravech, Eduardo Pérez, and David Cone while on the Sunday night broadcast. While there was only so much that Manfred could say during a relatively short segment, there was one moment that particularly stood out for baseball fans. According to Manfred, some time in the relatively near future, MLB expansion could also lead to divisional realignment based on team geography. But what would exactly would that look like and when would it happen? Here is everything that you need to know based on what we have heard so far. What did Rob Manfred say? If you want to hear the words directly from Manfred, you can watch the clip below. Here is what Manfred said on the broadcast about whether or not he could see expansion and realignment down the road: "I can. I think the first two topics are related in my mind. I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically re-align. I think it would save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel and 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 time slot 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 added owners realize there is a "demand" for Major League Baseball in a lot of great cities and there is an opportunity to do something good around the expansion process. This is not the first time that Manfred has made this argument, though. He said something similar to Ken Rosenthal in 2018 as well (via The Athletic): "The reality of today's media environment is that if you went to 32 teams and you could get to a more geographically-based alignment, you could help your playoff format, you could reduce your travel, you could more easily discuss things like a split season." Manfred hedged at the time by saying that he isn't necessarily in favor of this, but outlined the possibility. When would this actually happen? Based on the comments above, it seems that Manfred wouldn't begin divisional realignment until expansion teams started playing. So reverse engineering from that clue, we can determine the following general timeline (via The Athletic): The commissioner wants to have two new teams' locations picked out by the time he retires in 2029, although the clubs won't yet be playing. But Manfred has long pegged league expansion to the Rays and the Athletics completing their long-running quests for new stadiums. The A's, who are moving to Sacramento, Calif., for at least three seasons starting in 2025, are '100 percent full steam ahead' with their planned subsequent move to Las Vegas for 2028. So we won't anticipate realignment until multiple conditions are met. One is that the Athletics and Rays both need new stadiums, which has a deadline of 2029 (when Manfred's five-year term as MLB commissioner is over) at the latest. The other is that expansion teams will start playing, will come some time after 2029. In other words, this isn't happening any time particularly soon. How would this change the divisions? There are a few points to consider here, but the first is that according to Manfred, we can expect four teams per division instead of five (via Sports Business Journal): "There are also advantages in going from 30 to 32 in terms of schedule and format,' Manfred said on the Questions For Cancer Research podcast. 'It would create an opportunity to realign (divisions) – fours work a lot better in schedules than fives.' Manfred also added that among the expansion teams, one will likely come from the Eastern time zone and the other either Western time zone or Mountain time zone. It seems that eight four-team divisions is currently the preference over four eight-team divisions. MLB may create Eastern Conference and Western Conference Back in 2018, Jayson Stark reported that one way this could work is by getting rid of the American League and National League. According to Stark, this is something that at the time was under serious consideration (via The Athletic): "Imagine if baseball divided its landscape along the geography-based lines of the NBA – as opposed to the artificial, league-based lines drawn up in 1901. Is that really where baseball is headed? To be honest, it's way too premature to tell. What we can tell you, though, is that baseball's Strategic Planning Committee has looked at that realignment-by-geography scenario long and hard." Then in 2023, former MLB executive Jim Bowden laid out one proposal based entirely on geography. Here was his plan, with asterisks next to expansion teams awarded to Charlotte and Nashville (via The Athletic): EASTERN CONFERENCE East Division North Division Mid-Atlantic Division Southeast Division Let's just Eastern Division looks like a juggernaut. WESTERN CONFERENCE Midwest Division Southwest Division Pacific Coast Division West Division Given the history, it is difficult to imagine a world in which the World Series is not played between the winners of the National League and American League. Additionally, this proposal would also ruin some fun rivalries by placing the Giants and Dodgers in different divisions. Would Major League Baseball really break up such important rivalries? In a February 2024 column, Bradford Doolittle wondered about this predicament (via ESPN): "A key question: How do we identify, maintain and create the highest number of genuine rivalries? The importance of rivalries, whether they are based on geography or tradition, will be one of the key elements of baseball's structure to watch in the seasons to come. The importance of some rivalries are obvious and longstanding. Others come to the fore, while others recede. The task for baseball will be to understand the extent to which rivalries help sell the game as in person and broadcast products." Later, he continued: "Before we accept the inevitably of radical realignment, we need many answers. How important are rivalries to the game's brand? What are the real advantages in a schedule and travel with a geographic realignment? To what extent is MLB willing to alienate traditionalists when it comes to longtime league affiliations? How is relative market size attached to the issue of alignment? These are the debates we will have during the years leading up to the next expansion, and there are a lot of them. Buckle up." So with that in mind, perhaps the American League and National League will stay intact after all. How could realignment retain the AL and NL? In his newsletter, Nate Silver also attempted a breakdown that was slightly more aligned with that idea. Here was what he suggested in March 2024, with expansion teams awarded to Montreal and Nashville. Like above, one asterisk denotes an expansion team while two denotes a move from one league to the other: American League East American League Midwest American League South American League West National League East National League Midwest National League South National League West Will MLB divisional realignment happen for sure? No, not necessarily. Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent lobbied for divisional realignment, and it did not go well. He was eventually defeated in court and the idea did not pass. Ultimately, we are still a long way from a radical realignment in baseball. But it is at least a consideration and something fans should keep in mind.
Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Rob Manfred Hints at MLB Realignment if it Undergoes Expansion
Major League Baseball Rob Manfred Hints at MLB Realignment if it Undergoes Expansion Published Aug. 18, 2025 1:18 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link 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 related, in my mind," Manfred said Sunday on ESPN's broadcast of the Little League Classic. "I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign. I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN, because you'd be playing out of the East and out of the West." Manfred didn't explicitly detail what realignment would look like, but he continued to emphasize the idea of teams that are closer together playing more games against one another. "That 10 o'clock timeslot where we sometimes get Boston-Anaheim would be two West Coast teams," Manfred said. "That 10 o'clock slot that's a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our West Coast audience. "I think the owners realize that there's demand for Major League Baseball. We're in a lot of great cities. We have the opportunity to do something good around that expansion process." ADVERTISEMENT MLB has used a geographically-based realignment idea in recent memory. While MLB didn't realign divisions, it had a geographically-based schedule for the 60-game 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The American and National Leagues remained in place, but teams only faced division rivals and interleague games against teams from the corresponding division (AL and NL East, AL and NL Central, AL and NL West) during the regular season. Considering Manfred's comments, the 2020 season could be a guideline for what's to come if expansion and realignment were to take place. It might also mean that MLB similarly divides its two leagues as the NBA and NHL divide their two conferences. As for expansion, Manfred has stated in the past that he'd like to see two teams added to MLB before he retires as commissioner in 2029. A handful of cities have been speculated as expansion candidates in recent years, but MLB believes the strongest two candidates for expansion are Nashville and Salt Lake City, USA Today reported in July. Expansion would bring the total number of teams in MLB to 32, likely necessitating some sort of divisional realignment. If it does happen, the league could either do what the NFL does and have eight divisions of four teams or follow the NHL's path and have four divisions of eight teams. MLB hasn't expanded since it added the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays in 1998. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! What did you think of this story? share Get more from the Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rob Manfred speaks about MLB division realignment, expansion at Little League Classic
The post Rob Manfred speaks about MLB division realignment, expansion at Little League Classic appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Little League Classic between the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners took place on Sunday night. Since the foundation of the game eight years ago, it has become a cornerstone of the MLB schedule. Commissioner Rob Manfred was there, and he spoke with ESPN about potential MLB realignment and expansion that could be on the horizon. 'I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign. I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing…because you'd be playing out of the east and out of the west. And now that 10 o'clock time slot, where we sometimes get Boston-Anaheim, it would be two West Coast teams in that 10 o'clock slot.' Manfred continued, 'So, I think the owners realize that there is demand for Major League Baseball in a lot of great cities, and we have an opportunity to do something good around that expansion process.' MLB has not expanded since 1998, when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays joined the fray. They have realigned since, with the Milwaukee Brewers joining the NL in 2013 and the Houston Astros joining the AL in 1998. But nothing as drastic as what Manfred is proposing here. This would be the extinction of the American League and National League system. If the leagues went to East and West, like the NBA and NHL, rivalries would change dramatically. The New York Mets and St Louis Cardinals would go their seperate ways, but they would play the Yankees much more often. MLB labor negotiations have been a hot topic of late, as the 2027 season hangs in the balance. How will this proposal impact the salary cap demand owners are expected to bring to the table? Related: MLB rumors: How Phillies stole Jhoan Duran away from Mariners Related: Ken Rosenthal sounds off on MLB salary cap idea
