If Commissioner Manfred gets his wish, what would new MLB divisions look like?

MLB Commissioner Rob Manford gets a lot of grief from fans, like most commissioners do

But you have to give him credit for changing the game a little to try and appeal to new fans

New rules, strike zone challenges, and now a bit of a bigger change

The possibility of expansion and realignment in the next few years. During ESPN's broadcast of the Little League Classic between the Mets and Mariners Sunday night

the commissioner was asked to give the fans a peek into the future of the game

When asked about expansion and realignment, Manfred said the topics were related

and he could see both happening. 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 up out of the east, out of the west

Expansion would need to happen first, and cities like Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Portland are on the short list

If the divisions were then realigned, what would they look like? With 32 teams it might look more like the NFL or NHL with teams in a geographically similar Atlantic division The Mets and Yankees the Nats Phillies and Orioles as division rivals

the American League and National League as we know them would likely be gone

Manfred said having those types of regional matchups might fill a viewership void and

could mean more local advertising dollars and higher revenue streams from future media rights

deals. And that 10 o'clock time slot where we sometimes get Boston, Anaheim would be two West

Coast teams. And that 10 o'clock slot that's a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity

for our West Coast audience. Speaking of the West Coast audience, how about the Angels and Mariners

joining the Dodgers, the Giants, and the Padres with maybe an expansion team like Salt Lake City

thrown together into a new Pacific division? Major League Baseball hasn't expanded since the Arizona

the Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays entered the league in 1998. Manfred has said he'd like to add

two more teams before he retires in 2029. First, the league needs to settle the stadium situations

of the Athletics and the Rays, and then there is that looming labor dispute with the Players Union

that could throw a wrench into everything. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis