MLB Expansion Realignment Ideas

Major League Baseball (MLB) currently has 30 teams, with locations all throughout the United States as well as stretching into Canada with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The current model for the MLB has the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), with 15 teams on each side, separated equally into three divisions with five teams in every division.

If the MLB were to expand, let's say to 32 teams, adding two more franchises could create a four-division system in each league as opposed to three. Putting one of the two new franchises in each league would give the AL and NL 16 teams apiece, giving you the opportunity to split into four divisions of four teams.

Taking geography into consideration while also protecting the AL and NL's current team distribution, here is a look at what changes could come to how the teams are divided up:

In the AL, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Baltimore Orioles can all remain together in the continuation of an East Division.

The Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, and Chicago White Sox can remain in a Central/Midwest Division.

This would mean the Kansas City Royals would need a new division to call home, which could end up being the AL South that would take the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers out of the AL West and place them with the Tampa Bay Rays who would leave the AL East.

That leaves us with the AL West, which would keep the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, and wherever the Athletics end up playing (formerly of Oakland and potentially being in Las Vegas, Nevada).

If one of the MLB expansion teams were to come from a city out west, such as from Portland, Oregon, or a Salt Lake City, Utah, they would fit into the final open spot in the AL West to complete the divisional realignment in the AL.

Moving our focus over to the NL and staying in the west, the NL West Division would remain the same with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, and Arizona Diamondbacks, but would see the Colorado Rockies leave for what would be an NL South.

That NL South Division would be comprised of all four teams leaving the divisions they are currently in, with the aforementioned Rockies coming from the NL West, the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins from the NL East, and the St. Louis Cardinals from the NL Central.

We would then see the NL Central keep the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, and Cincinnati Reds in Central/Midwest-style division.

The NL East would keep the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, while adding the Pittsburgh Pirates of the NL Central Division.

With both the NL East and NL Central/Midwest having three teams, the question is where do the Washington Nationals go?

If we see the return of the Montreal Expos (who were moved to Washington, D.C, and became the Nationals), the former franchise city could be responsible for moving the current franchise city to a new division in a move that is ironic, with the Expos coming to the NL East and the Nationals going to the NL Central/Midwest.

But if we were to see Nashville, Tennessee, Charlotte, North Carolina, or New Orleans, Louisiana have one of the new MLB franchises, there would be some adjusting to happen depending on what league they are placed in. Nashville, Charlotte, or New Orleans joining the AL would mean a franchise arguably going to the AL South, which would result in Houston or Texas staying in the AL West.

A Nashville-, Charlotte-, or New Orleans-based MLB franchise in the NL could place that team in the NL South which means that Colorado would likely need a home and could end up in the NL Central/Midwest with Washington then remaining in the NL East.

As you can see, there are options and a geographical way to provide some continuity along with some shakeup that would ultimately welcome the new while preserving the AL and NL, and, thus, the history of Major League Baseball, all at the same time.