The baseball world is still trying to digest the idea Rob Manfred proposed on Sunday night.
Appearing on ESPN’s telecast of the Little League Classic, the commissioner spoke about potential expansion in Major League Baseball. He said MLB would eventually like to add two franchises by the end of the decade, bringing the total count to 32 teams that would play in eight four-team divisions.
However, what received the most attention is that Manfred would like to realign those divisions so they would make sense geographically. That would include some teams switching leagues.
The traditionalists hate this idea just like they did when the Milwaukee Brewers switched from the American League to the National League in 1998 and the Houston Astros moved from the NL to the AL in 2013.
I’ve grown accustomed to the Brewers being in the NL, but the Astros as part of the AL still seems strange a dozen years later.
The big question surrounding the Pirates and “radical” realignment is where they would land under the plan. There are no easy answers.
Some of it would depend on which two cities gain the expansion franchises. I’m hearing MLB would like to add one team in the South (Nashville or Charlotte) and one team in the West (Salt Lake City or Portland).
However, adding Nashville and Charlotte would work better in a realignment plan instead of expanding into Salt Lake City or Portland.
Further complicating the Pirates’ situation is their geographical location. Technically, Pittsburgh is considered a city in the East, yet it is less than 50 miles from being in the Midwest.
So, would MLB put the Pirates into a division with teams from the East or the Midwest? Again, it’s hard to say until the expansion cities are determined.
Let’s take a stab at what an eight-division setup might look like, based strictly on geography and time zones (an essential factor for television) and not market size or other factors:
Division 1: Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays
Division 2: Baltimore Orioles, Charlotte, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals
Division 3: Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, Nashville, Tampa Bay Rays
Division 4: Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates
Division 5: Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins
Division 6: Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers
Division 7: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Las Vegas Athletics, Seattle Mariners
Division 8: Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres. San Francisco Giants
The Pirates playing in a division with Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Detroit makes a lot of sense. All three cities are short flights from Pittsburgh and easy drives for Pirates’ fans. When the three teams visit Pittsburgh, they have plenty of fans in the PNC Park stands.
Another possibility that could be fun is the Pirates moving into a division with Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington if Charlotte does not get a franchise. The cross-state rivalry between the Pirates and Phillies would regain some lost intensity if the two Pennsylvania teams were in the same division for the time since 1993.
Realignment is a long way off, probably not until at least 2030, but it’s a fun exercise to figure out the Pirates’ potential landing spot.