We already know that some big changes are coming for Major League Baseball in 2023.
A pitch clock will be introduced, the bases will be slightly bigger, and the exaggerated shift will be banned.
But there may be more than just those changes coming for MLB in the near future.
On top of the possible implementation of the automatic strike zone, Rob Manfred, MLB’s commissioner, has said that he wants to expand the league to 32 teams soon.
The postseason has already been expanded to 12 teams, but Manfred seems to want to expand the entire league.
MLB on FOX tweeted the news about Manfred’s future plans.
Rob Manfred wants MLB to expand to 32 teams, per @DVNJr pic.twitter.com/6nyxw3SkXm
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 30, 2022
Times Are Changing
A lot of the upcoming changes are welcome changes for the game of baseball.
However, does MLB really need to expand?
There are 30 teams, 15 per league, and five per division.
If MLB is expanded, the balance will be slightly offset.
There are enough teams in MLB.
There are some cities that probably won’t be able to support a baseball team.
Once again, Manfred is proving that he just wants to do things for the sake of doing them, not actually making the game better.
Baseball does not need more teams.
There are already enough teams in both leagues and in each division.
The electronic strike zone should be Manfred’s main focus, not expanding the league.
This might just be another way for him to try and push for the postseason to be expanded even further, beyond 12 teams.
That doesn’t need to happen.
12 teams in the playoffs is enough and keeps the integrity of 162 games intact.
Adding more teams to the league will only give Manfred more incentive to try and expand the postseason field.
Expansion? They already can’t find enough players to fill rosters. That’s why there’s so many guys everywhere that can’t hit above.200. They’re forced to bring guys up from Single A. This guy is an absolute moron.
Carolina Flight
Montreal original seasons
Montreal expos in NL east with Carolina in al east with down with Tampa Bay,
Arizona back in the American for more then 4 weeks ,
with Houston and Milwaukee trading leagues, divisions in central
Carolina al east
Montreal Nl east
and Houston, Arizona ,Milwaukee flip leagues , maybe Arizona flip to Al
Nashville and Portland are the favorites for expansion.
This is how it should be done:
MLB East: BOS, NYY, NYM, PHI, PIT, CLE, DET, TOR
MLB South: BAL, WSH, ATL, NAS, MIA, TB HOU, TEX
MLB Midwest: CIN, CHC, CHW, MIL, MIN, STL, KC, COL
MLB West: ARI, SD, LAA, LAD, SF, OAK, POR, SEA
Schedule: 12 games against teams in the division, 3 games against teams outside the division, except 2 teams in each of the other divisions they would play 4 times to reach 162 games. These teams could rotate on a four-year basis.
Playoffs: First place teams get a first-round bye. 8 wild card teams play in wild card round (best of 3), with 5-8 seeds choosing their opponents from the 9-12 seeds.
Division Series would still be best of 5.
LCS would not be league-specific, just the final four teams in the overall bracket. Still best-of-7
World Series, best of 7.
Teams retain their league designations for All-Star Game purposes (probably label Nashville an NL team and Portland an AL team), but otherwise AL and NL cease to exist.
I can’t think of any team that would have a problem with the alignment. All the regional rivalries would happen 12 times a year, and the West Coast teams would finally be grouped only with each other. The Texas teams wouldn’t have teams two time zones away in their division. MLB needs to do this!