Posted on 08/22/2025 6:42:10 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Rob Manfred sent the collective heads of baseball traditionalists everywhere spinning Sunday night when he openly discussed the idea of realignment during the ESPN broadcast of the MLB Little League Classic.
The idea unquestionably would create one of the biggest shake-ups in baseball and likely end the long-standing American League and National League format that MLB has operated under for more than 100 years.
“I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” Manfred told ESPN. “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 and out of the West.”
The reactions came swiftly after Manfred made his comments during the broadcast, with baseball traditionalists decrying the idea of realigning the divisions.
Mets broadcaster Howie Rose described the threat of realignment as the American League and National League ceasing to “exist as we know them” and describing it as the “last move before total destruction of the traditions that made baseball great.”
Former big leaguer Cameron Maybin argued that realignment would tilt the playoff balance in a post on social media.
“Some divisions get watered down, others overloaded and rivalries that drive October storylines we love, vanish. Baseball needs competitive integrity, not manufactured shakeups,” he wrote.
Expansion would be the first domino that would need to fall in order for the MLB commissioner to see realignment come to fruition, but the idea has created, at the very least, some buzz, along with plenty of anger, over what could happen with a potential realignment.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The World Baseball Classic is coming in 2026.
The pitcher is required to be in the batting order.
No pitch clock.
Game keeps the same rules in extra innings, and it ends when someone wins.
With so many “dot” Indians here, Baseball may start finding itself competing with Cricket.
does anyone really care about this?
The extra innings rules are ridiculous.
Might as well do what they do in Bananaball with the Showdown.
Opening day 2025 had 265 MLB players from 18 other countries and Puerto Rico. Many more in the minors.
don’t forget to introduce male cheerleaders!
If Manfred is uttering this idiocy, the owners are already sold.
They are going to Cracker Barrel baseball. Perfect.
They are trying to respond to the popularity of Banana Ball.
They actually sold out at the White Sox stadium. When is the last time the White Sox sold out a game?
LOL, be funny if Cleveland gets a Cricket team, if they will be called the “Indians”.
Are these the same “baseball traditionalists” who didn’t protest astroturf, the designated hitter, consolidation of the two leagues into a single organization, moving teams from one league to another, regular season inter-league play, getting rid of the four ball intentional walk, and putting the game to a clock?
There’s actual new American cities that want to finance a stadium for a billionaire baseball owner?
Who knew.
What about the logo? Bad ideas are usually accompanied by a logo change.
The logo is merely a symptom of the disease.
No
They might do that, if hey go to a 14 team Playoffs.
Fire him, he has done more to destroy the American pastime than any baseball commissioner in history.
Four eight team leagues would be fine as long as AL and NL remain intact, 4 pennant winners play off for World Series berths, back to 154 games, no wild cards, and the Dodgers back to Brooklyn.
What’s not to like?
Now that they’re playing under the same rules the league breakdowns aren’t as interesting. And getting the 2 team towns playing each other a lot would probably be good for the game. That was one of the big drivers for interleague play in the first place. Getting a more East West alignment like the NHL and NBA makes a lot of business sense. But baseball is so tradition bound I don’t see them pulling it off.
You could still have all those if it went straight regional. And also make Yankees/ Mets Dodgers/ Angels and Cubs/ White Sox real rivalries.
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