Exploring Baseball's (Possible Future) Expansion and Realignment

Author’s Note: This article contains absolutely nothing but pure speculation about an issue that may or may not be on the radar of Major League Baseball. This article represents nothing more than the author having a bit of fun theorizing about the future of the game.

Major League Baseball (MLB) is comprised of two leagues, each comprised of fifteen teams spread among three divisions. In recent baseball history, the Houston Astros jumped ship from the National League to the American League, evening out both leagues at fifteen teams, and necessitating continual interleague play in the process.

I was swept up by the novelty of interleague play when it first began in the dark days of the 1990s. But after a while the shine wore off and we were left with a series of games in the middle of the year that were just as meaningful/meaningless as the next game. Such is the case of a 162 game regular season. Now, though, we have an interleague series being played at all times.

I’ve ranted before about the coming inevitability of the National League accepting the Designated Hitter as part of the game. The DH is used by the minor leagues. The DH is used in the All Star Game. The DH is used by the entire American League. But the National League still has pitchers batting. I’m all for a position player having to bat, but the future of the game doesn’t seem to lie along that path. For the record, the NL has seen several sluggers jump to the American League on long-term contracts (Albert Pujols, Brian McCann, etc.), knowing that they only need to play their position for a couple more years, then they can full time DH, just like David Ortiz does in Boston. If they want to keep up in this game-wide arms race, the National League has to ratify the DH for their league.

Beyond the mechanics of the game, I’ve heard rumblings in the past of the baseball potentially expanding. The most common version of these rumblings includes the addition of two teams, one per league, for a total of 32 teams, and each league splitting into NFL-style 4-team divisions. This would simplify the playoffs and eliminate the silly one-game playoff series between the current Wild Card teams.

The expansion teams are possibly the most interesting part of this equation. Where do they go? What cities should get an expansion team? Montreal had a team and lost them, but the city still has the population and infrastructure to support a team. For that reason, I placed an expansion team in Montreal in my little experiment. In my model of a 32-team Major League Baseball, the Montreal Expos make the list.

The other team is more difficult. Austin, Texas is a likely destination, as it is the largest metropolitan area in the nation without a professional sports franchise. However, Texas already has two teams within a couple hours of Austin. San Juan, Puerto Rico is an option, as well. MLB has played some games in San Juan, basically as a means of testing the market waters. Charlotte, North Carolina is an option, as it is one of the fastest growing metro areas in the nation…but it’s also in Braves country. Las Vegas makes the list, but any team in Vegas would require a domed or retractable roof stadium, as it gets awfully hot in Vegas in the summer.

No, I skipped all those cities. Instead, I chose a city that is a fairly large metropolitan area with a professional (NBA) franchise already in place. Putting a team in this particular city would bridge the gap between baseball’s most far-flung franchise and the remainder of the league. The 32nd MLB franchise, in my model, is the Portland Wolves (although the name is open for debate). Placing a team in Portland, Oregon makes travel easier on any team going to Seattle, and it opens up a brand new market for major league baseball.

In 1992, this happened.
Look how 1990s the colors are!

Then, in 1997, it happened again.
Look how 1990s the colors still are!

Now that the expansion teams have been recognized, it’s time for an expansion draft. Then we get to realign the leagues.

For the sake of symmetry I chose four division names based on geography. Each league will have a North, East, Central, and West Division. To keep the geographic breaks as clean as possible, two teams have to switch not only divisions, but leagues. For this experiment, the Baltimore Orioles move into the National League and the Philadelphia Phillies move into the American League. Both leagues have a DH, so it’s not like either roster would require major overhauls to make the move.

American League

The AL North would be made up of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Cleveland Indians.

Making up the AL East in this new model are the Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox.

The AL Central is now the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, and Kansas City Royals.

Comprising the AL West in the new model are the Seattle Mariners, Oakland A’s, Los Angeles Angels, and the new Portland Wolves.

National League

The NL North would be comprised of the New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the returning Montreal Expos.

The NL East would still have the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins, though they are now joined by the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles.

The NL Central would be made up of the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Colorado Rockies (believe it or not, the Rockies are closer to these teams than they are to their current NL West mates).

The new-look NL West would be comprised of the San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres, and the Arizona Diamondbacks.