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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Implies Geographic Realignment Of Divisions Will Happen In The Near Future

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has hinted that geographical realignment of the league’s divisions could be happening in the coming years. Geographical realignment would, in theory, see teams like the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox competing in a division.

Manfred made the comments while appearing on the broadcast of the Little League Classic between the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners on Sunday night. The Mets beat the Mariners by a score of 7-3 in the showpiece MLB game.

During the fourth inning of the game, Manfred joined announcers Karl Ravech, David Cone and Eduardo Pérez and revealed that if the league were to expand — which is a goal of his — it would give them the “opportunity” to geographically realign the divisions.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred hints that geographical alignment could be coming soon

“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,” Manfred said.

“I think the owners realize there is demand for major league baseball in a lot of great cities, and we have an opportunity to do something good around that expansion process.”

The American League West is perhaps the best argument for geographic realignment, as it has teams in Washington, California, and Texas — which adds up to quite a bit of travel across the course of a 162 game season.

Manfred, who has been the commissioner of Major League Baseball since 2015, has previously said he wants to add two expansion teams to the league before he steps down in 2029.

Eric Italiano BroBIble avatar
Eric Italiano is a NYC-based writer who spearheads BroBible's Pop Culture and Entertainment content. He covers topics such as Movies, TV, and Video Games, while interviewing actors, directors, and writers.
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