Rob Manfred pushes for MLB geographical

Rob Manfred usually does what many followers think about an annoyingly efficient job of preserving Major League Baseball’s strategic plans out of the public sq..

So possibly the MLB commissioner was caught in an unguarded second, staring down at a diamond from the ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” sales space in the comfortable confines of Williamsport, Pa., and the Little League World Series.

Or possibly his feedback have been calculated. Either means, he spoke freely about how increasing from the current 30 groups may create an supreme probability to reset the way in which groups are aligned in divisions and leagues.

Manfred was requested on air for a window into the future. Expansion, realignment, both?

“The first two topics are related, in my mind,” he replied. “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.”

Taking that considering to an excessive would put the Dodgers and Angels in a division with, say, the San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Las Vegas Athletics and Seattle Mariners.

Would that assortment — let’s call it the Pacific Division — be half of the American or National League? Maybe neither. Instead, geographic realignment may end result in Eastern and Western Conferences related to the NBA.

Pushback from traditionalists may be vigorous. Call them leagues, call them conferences, geographical realignment would make for some unusual bedfellows.

Former MLB participant and current MLB Network analyst Cameron Maybin posted on X that making sure the divisions are balanced is more important than geography.

“Manfred’s realignment talk isn’t just about moving teams around, it tilts playoff balance,” Maybin said on X. “Some divisions get watered down others overloaded and rivalries that drive October story lines we love, vanish. Baseball needs competitive integrity not manufactured shakeups.”

Yet Manfred makes a persuasive argument that grouping groups by geographic location would have its advantages.

“That 10 o’clock time slot where we sometimes get lost in Anaheim would be two West Coast teams,” he said. “Then that 10 o’clock spot that’s a problem for us becomes an opportunity for our West Coast audience. I think the owners realize there is a demand for Major League Baseball in a lot of great cities, and we have an opportunity to do something good around that expansion process.”

Manfred said in February that he’d like growth to be authorised by 2029, his last yr as commissioner. MLB hasn’t expanded since the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays have been added in 1998.

Expansion groups “won’t be playing by the time I’m done, but I would like the process along and [locations] selected,” Manfred said.

Several cities are courting MLB for a franchise, and the league is reported to be leaning toward Nashville and Salt Lake City as favorites. Portland, Orlando, San Antonio and Charlotte are other potentialities.

The Times’ Bill Shaikin has identified that geographical realignment can be tied to schedule reform that may help kindle rivalries and encourage followers to go to opposing ballparks that are within driving distance.

The future home of the Rays is in flux, and that determination seemingly will precede MLB selecting growth cities, even after the latest news that Florida developer Patrick Zalupski has agreed to pay $1.7 billion for the group.

Zalupski’s group of buyers reportedly prefers to keep the Rays close to Tampa. If that turns into gospel, MLB can flip its consideration to selecting where new groups would call home.

And soon afterward, if Manfred’s imaginative and prescient comes to fruition, geographical realignment would observe, and the Southern California Freeway Series may change into just another sequence between divisional rivals.