Commissioner Rob Manfred has some radical new ideas for the future of Major League Baseball. On Thursday, January 8, Manfred shared his vision for MLB in a studio segment of New York's WFAN. He discussed expansion and realignment. The league hasn't expanded since the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays joined in 1998. The commissioner, a long-time advocate of expansion, stated that he would like to see two expansion teams before he leaves office in January of 2029.
Here is Manfred's plan:
* Major League Baseball is currently balanced with both the American League and the National League having 15 teams and six divisions of five teams, each league having an odd number of teams. Manfred wants to expand the league to 32 teams and realign divisions geographically to lessen the travel burden on players. There would be 16 teams in each league and eight divisions of four. He stated, "Thirty-two teams would be good for us. When people buy your product, you oughta try to find a way to sell it to them."
* Manfred's plan would mean moving away from the traditional American and National Leagues in favour of East and West leagues. However, the commissioner did say he would keep two-team cities separate. The Cubs and White Sox, Mets and Yankees and Dodgers and Angels would remain in different divisions.
Manfred's plan makes sense from a travel perspective. MLB players travel very often, given the 162-game schedule. The commissioner discussed how difficulties with the first round of the playoff if it features a team from each coast. This makes the scheduling too late for fans in the east or too early for fans in the west, or sometimes both.
I have qualms about abandoning the American and National League formats. The traditionalist in me is strongly opposed to that. I think many fans would agree. I believe that the fans deserve a say in any major changes in the format of Major League Baseball. It's the fans who always get the short end of the stick. Yet, they buy the tickets and purchase the baseball regalia. The cost of attending games keeps rising and more and more games are being streamed online, instead of shown on network TV.
I am not a big enthusiast of expansion either. Too many teams are not to my liking. However, I would like to see a team return to Montreal, although I'm not optimistic about that happening anytime soon.
As a Toronto Blue Jays fan, I enjoy the rivalry between the Jays and the Yankees and the Red Sox. I would prefer that those three teams remain in the same division. With geographical realignment, who knows?
Major League Baseball does have some issues to overcome before it can even consider expansion. A new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the players will have to be reached during the next offseason. Otherwise, there will be a lockout, which MLB can ill-afford. A lost season would turn many fans away from the game, especially if they perceive both owners and players to be greedy and self-serving. Nevertheless, wealthy teams such as the Yankees, Dodgers and Blue Jays will be reluctant to have salary caps.
The stadium situations with the A's and Rays have not yet been completely resolved. Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays was significantly damaged by Hurricane Milton io October of 2024. The team is set to return to an updated Tropicana Field for the 2026 season, but plans for a new stadium seem to have been suspended. A new stadium in Las Vegas, set to be the home of the Las Vegas Athletics is under construction and expected to open in 2028.
- Joanne
