Manfred proposes two Expansion Teams and Re-alignment

[jay87shot]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/mlb/article/rob-manfred-floats-mlb-realignment-with-american-and-national-leagues-replaced-by-east-vs-west-034945269.html

Sounds good to me, especially now thtat everyone has a DH. 

[igor67]

Man did the Pirates end up with the short end of the stick in that proposal though. Granted  the author admitted it was just a quick version he put together.

[SeaBass]

It does make a lot of sense to do East/West rather than AL/NL. Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Twins sounds like a perfect division to me also, so I'm sure that will never happen.

[SeaBass]

37 minutes ago, igor67 said:

Man did the Pirates end up with the short end of the stick in that proposal though. Granted  the author admitted it was just a quick version he put together.

Does it really matter that much if the Pirates finish last in the NL Central or last in this new division though? The real benefit goes to whatever other 3 teams end up in the Pirates division.

[tmwiese55]

Another general problem is there isn't enough western teams.  One of the midwest groups would have to be in the West.  Plus TX teams and KC are in CST.     But, yea it probably would still help travel. And with more balanced schedule now its not like those teams would be almost always playing western times when on the road. Like if in the past all their games were their division and rest were in their same league (which in this would be massively western skewed). 

[owbc]

32 with geographic realignment is long overdue. 

[long ball]

4 hours ago, tmwiese55 said:

Another general problem is there isn't enough western teams.  One of the midwest groups would have to be in the West.  Plus TX teams and KC are in CST.     But, yea it probably would still help travel. And with more balanced schedule now its not like those teams would be almost always playing western times when on the road. Like if in the past all their games were their division and rest were in their same league (which now be massively western skewed). 

The Mississippi river is basically the dividing line the NBA east/west conferences. I understand the travel is different between the two leagues, but it’s a pretty logical dividing line in MLB too. It just so happens teams near the river in the MLB are in the East when the teams along the river in the NBA are in the west due to number of teams. 
 

I agree that KC, texas, Houston, and Colorado have tougher travel but its already pretty rough as it is. 

[Jimbo]

Back in 1997, Commissioner Selig stated that Milwaukee's move to the NL was going to be the first of many moves in a divisional alignment make over.

 

[owbc]

19 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Back in 1997, Commissioner Selig stated that Milwaukee's move to the NL was going to be the first of many moves in a divisional alignment make over.

 

They've wanted to do it for ages but there's always been 2-3 franchises involved in some sort of stadium/ownership problems and they need to dangle the threat of relocation for stadium negotiations. 

Now that the Las Vegas stadium is under construction and the Rays have a viable future in Tampa/Orlando, they have their eyes set on growth again. Especially since billionaires have plenty of money sitting around these days and there are a number of potential ownership grounds showing interest. I don't know that it will happen immediately, but I bet they have 32 teams playing by 2035. 

[GAME05]

I split things East/West in my OOTP game because that's the way it should be. Better for rivalries because there's really no reason Yankees/Mets or Brewers/Twins shouldn't play each other more often to promote local rivalries, plus way better for the real players to cut down on the travel miles.

Mississippi River isn't a perfect split of teams. I also added Portland in my game but you still have to pull a few East-side teams and make them play in the West. 

[JosephC]

Sounds great, just water down the product even more.....

There are so many great markets for MLB that two teams played in minor league ballparks last year.

The regional aspect of the game is so great that, what, something like 1/3 of the leagues broadcast situation is up in the air and a general mess.

So some dumb owner will pony up a 1 billion dollar expansion fee, the stupid general public will get swindled out of 2 billion to build a stadium...and what they will get is a small market team that has no chance to win a league championship because the league will work against them because they have concluded that it's bad business if a team outside of LA, NY, TX, CHI wins a World Series.

[NeedMoreFans]

3 hours ago, JosephC said:

Sounds great, just water down the product even more.....

There are so many great markets for MLB that two teams played in minor league ballparks last year.

One played at an AAA stadium because the city decided not to help pay for a new stadium and the owner threw a tantrum. The other team played at a spring training stadium because a hurricane significantly damaged their main stadium. 

If you want to discuss whether or not Tampa should have a team based on attendance, that's fine, but they weren't in a small stadium this past season due to oversaturation in baseball, and the A's won't be in a minor league stadium forever. 

[GAME05]

8 hours ago, JosephC said:

Sounds great, just water down the product even more.....

I'm interpreting the post as a frustration about payroll disparity but expansion happened to be in the way.

 

[MNBrew]

Expansion?  That's seemed inevitable for a long time.  But that doofus Rob Manfred just can't help but to screw around with absolutely everything, including way too many things that were never broken.  I can't stand that ignoramus.

[nate82]

8 minutes ago, MNBrew said:

Expansion?  That's seemed inevitable for a long time.  But that doofus Rob Manfred just can't help but to screw around with absolutely everything, including way too many things that were never broken.  I can't stand that ignoramus.

I can’t really think of anything that has changed recently that is a negative.  The game times are now under control and the game is now actually watchable.

[wntrtxn21]

I'm with Joseph C on this. Fix the biggest problem in baseball, the monstrous inequality in spending. Expansion is just a way to try and make people forget the growing disparity between the huge spenders and the small market clubs. Fix the problem that's killing baseball first! 

[sveumrules]

5 hours ago, wntrtxn21 said:

I'm with Joseph C on this. Fix the biggest problem in baseball, the monstrous inequality in spending. Expansion is just a way to try and make people forget the growing disparity between the huge spenders and the small market clubs. Fix the problem that's killing baseball first! 

There will surely be one (& maybe even two) CBA re-negotiations before any kind of expansion were to take place.

If the MLBPA and owners want to do something about revenue disparity they will have the chance(s) to do so before expanding. (I wouldn’t hold my breath though)

Expansion fees of $1.5B per new team would mean $100M for each of the current 30 teams (or $66.6M each if the expansion fee is only $1B) so I can see why Manfred and the owners might prioritize that over fixing a system the involved parties don’t believe is nearly as broken as small market fans believe it to be.

[SeaBass]

A salary cap is never going to happen. I'd be satisfied if their fixed system started and ended with salary deferrals not giving such a huge benefit to avoiding luxury tax thresholds. Call it the Ohtani rule.

[homer]

On 1/9/2026 at 9:34 AM, igor67 said:

Man did the Pirates end up with the short end of the stick in that proposal though. Granted  the author admitted it was just a quick version he put together.

Yeah you could maybe swap Cleveland and Pittsburgh and it looks a little better.

[Jopal78]

13 minutes ago, SeaBass said:

A salary cap is never going to happen. I'd be satisfied if their fixed system started and ended with salary deferrals not giving such a huge benefit to avoiding luxury tax thresholds. Call it the Ohtani rule.

When all the teams do deferrals now who would want to fix it? The players are the ones being foolish to defer a dollar in 2025 to 2035 where it will have less purchasing power. Thats  music to the owners’ ears. 
 

The latest CBA and the growth of salaries in its wake, already rules out teams like the Brewers from being meaningful participants in free agency. Their path to competition only gets tighter when there are two MORE teams picking up talent in the amateur draft and competing for international signees. Every small market club should be against further expansion at this point, but money always talks.

[igor67]

MLB should find a way to restrict the extreme amount of deferrals or it risks a rather wild situation with a team going bankrupt. Markets don't continue to forever increase in value at these levels.

[SeaBass]

8 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

When all the teams do deferrals now who would want to fix it? The players are the ones being foolish to defer a dollar in 2025 to 2035 where it will have less purchasing power. Thats  music to the owners’ ears. 
 

The latest CBA and the growth of salaries in its wake, already rules out teams like the Brewers from being meaningful participants in free agency. Their path to competition only gets tighter when there are two MORE teams picking up talent in the amateur draft and competing for international signees. Every small market club should be against further expansion at this point, but money always talks.

I'm not saying to stop deferrals, that would never happen either, I'm only saying that there should be a limit for tax dodging. Defer as much salary as teams want and a player agrees to but only get a luxury tax benefit up to a certain threshold.

Deferring 97% of a $680M contract and not having to pay luxury tax is a crime in my opinion. The Dodgers already have the most spending power in the game and this loophole just makes them even more bulletproof.

[Jopal78]

6 minutes ago, igor67 said:

MLB should find a way to restrict the extreme amount of deferrals or it risks a rather wild situation with a team going bankrupt. Markets don't continue to forever increase in value at these levels.

The players Union should demand interest on any deferral in the new CBA, to ensure wages earned in 2025 have 2025 purchasing power when they’re paid out years in the future and deferrals would die  overnight

[SeaBass]

11 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

The players Union should demand interest on any deferral in the new CBA, to ensure wages earned in 2025 have 2025 purchasing power when they’re paid out years in the future and deferrals would die  overnight

Who's to say that the overall guarantee on their contract isn't already higher than it would be if there were no deferrals? Agents aren't stupid. We're just seeing the final number when salaries are reported.

[jay87shot]

1 hour ago, SeaBass said:

A salary cap is never going to happen. I'd be satisfied if their fixed system started and ended with salary deferrals not giving such a huge benefit to avoiding luxury tax thresholds. Call it the Ohtani rule.

I agree that it is going to be next to impossible to get a salary cap. I agree on the deferred money as a hopeful rule. I would also like to see a better way of revenue sharing tv money. I think the Dodger tv deal is for 8 billion over 25 years which is over 300 million a year, the Brewers deal is for under 30 if I am not mistaken. I know there is some revenue sharing and baseball is more regional for tv audiences but that is way to big of a gap for my liking. In the nfl and nba everything is pretty much divided evenly as I understand it.