{"id":512390,"date":"2026-01-09T02:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T02:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/512390\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T02:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T02:22:16","slug":"rob-manfred-outlines-possible-mlb-realignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/512390\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Manfred outlines possible MLB realignment"},"content":{"rendered":"

A realignment of Major League Baseball is a distinct possibility \u2014 but in that scenario, the Subway Series being an intradivision spectacle is unlikely.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Rob Manfred, who has previously floated a geographic realignment of MLB\u2019s divisions, outlined how the idea could take shape during a Thursday appearance on WFAN\u2019s \u201cThe Craig Carton Show.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you did it, you\u2019d probably be eight [divisions] with four [teams],\u201d Manfred told hosts Craig Carton and Chris McMonigle. \u201cI think you would try to keep two-team cities separate. That would be my thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manfred\u2019s comments indicate that cities with two or more teams, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, would not be grouped together under a realigned format.<\/p>\n

\"MLBDuring a Thursday appearance on WFAN\u2019s \u201cThe Craig Carton\u201d show, Rob Manfred elaborated on the possibility of a realignment. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

MLB\u2019s current structure consists of the American and National Leagues, each divided into three divisions of five teams.<\/p>\n

After Manfred comments<\/a> during an ESPN Sunday night game in August, a widely circulated proposal included a powerhouse East Coast division<\/a> featuring the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Phillies.<\/p>\n

The polarizing idea drew widespread criticism<\/a>, including from Mets radio voice Howie Rose, who called it \u201cthe last move before total destruction of the traditions that made baseball great.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Cities including Nashville, Raleigh, Charlotte, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Portland and Austin have been floated as possible sites for expansion.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, I would like to expand to 32 [teams], it would be good for us,\u201d Manfred said. \u201cFundamentally, 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\u2019s kind of basic. Number two, it does a ton of us from a format perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would realign, you would do it along geographic lines, which would alleviate \u2013 could alleviate \u2013 a ton of the travel burden that\u2019s on players. Remember, we ask our players [to play] 162 times in 186 days\u2026You 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manfred also pointed to potential postseason benefits under a revised structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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\u2019clock 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. <\/p>\n

\"JassonRob Manfred poured cold water on two-team cities, which include New York, having both squads in the same division under a realignment. Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s a lot of advantages to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

One proposal would introduce an in-season tournament, similar to what the NBA has added in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about split seasons. We\u2019ve talked about in-season tournaments,\u201d Manfred said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A realignment of Major League Baseball is a distinct possibility \u2014 but in that scenario, the Subway Series…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,54330,101,4,37650,3791,1690,61,62,2548,4203,330,185,10087],"class_list":["post-512390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-mets","tag-baseball","tag-craig-carton","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-hot-stove","tag-nashville","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkmets","tag-rob-manfred","tag-sports","tag-wfan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115862762006064082","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}