With the Rays close to realizing a new stadium here in the Tampa Bay area and the Oakland A’s agreeing to purchase a land site in Las Vegas for the purpose of having a new ballpark, it appears that Major League Baseball could be on the verge of moving from a 30-team to a 32-team entity. I figured it’s now time to start figuring out just what a 32-team Major League Baseball might look like for fans of the sport.
To start, a 32-team league would allow the owners to be able to realign from three five-team divisions (which the league has used since the Astros moved from the National League Central to the American League West in 2013) to most likely four four-team divisions per league, a template used by the NFL. The other scenario would be to realign into two eight-team divisions per league like the NHL uses, but that seems to be less likely.
Owners would also probably like to keep as many historic rivalries in divisions as possible. That means that wherever the New York Yankees end up, you’ll likely also find the Boston Red Sox in that same division. The same can be said for the Dodgers and Giants, Cubs and Cardinals etc.
I have four different projections for how a 32-team league could look, and it’s based on which markets would be awarded the 31st and 32nd MLB teams. Right now, I would think four cities are in the running for an expansion franchise: Charlotte, Nashville, Portland, and Montreal.
With all that said, let’s take a look at the projections
Scenario 1: Expansion to Montreal and Portland
| AL East | AL North | AL South | AL West | |||
| Boston | Chicago White Sox | Houston | Las Vegas | |||
| Baltimore | Cleveland | Kansas City | Los Angeles Angels | |||
| New York Yankees | Detroit | Tampa Bay | Seattle | |||
| Toronto | Minnesota | Texas | Portland | |||
| NL East | NL North | NL South | NL West | |||
| New York Mets | Chicago Cubs | Arizona | Colorado | |||
| Phildelphia | Cincinnati | Atlanta | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Washington | Milwaukee | Miami | San Diego | |||
| Montreal | Pittsburgh | St. Louis | San Francisco |
Bringing an expansion team to Montreal and immediately placing it back in the same division as the team that left the city in 2005 creates an automatic rivalry, as does a second team in the northwest. This scenario would cause one of the bigger historic rivalries to become a less-frequent occurrence, as the Cardinals would have to be moved to a different division (NL South) than the Cubs (NL North). But a more balanced schedule could be worked out which could bring more of those games.
An additional downside would be the shuffling of Arizona from the National League West to the NL South. But with the geography of the two expansion teams, it forces one of the teams in the current National League West into a south division.
Scenario 2: Expansion to Montreal and Charlotte/Nashville
| AL East | AL North | AL South | AL West | |||
| Boston | Chicago White Sox | Houston | Arizona | |||
| Baltimore | Cleveland | Kansas City | Las Vegas | |||
| New York Yankees | Detroit | Tampa Bay | Los Angeles Angels | |||
| Toronto | Minnesota | Texas | Seattle | |||
| NL East | NL North | NL South | NL West | |||
| New York Mets | Chicago Cubs | Atlanta | Colorado | |||
| Phildelphia | Cincinnati | Miami | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Washington | Milwaukee | St. Louis | San Diego | |||
| Montreal | Pittsburgh | Charlotte/Nashville | San Francisco |
Like the first scenario, an expansion team in Montreal would likely force St. Louis into a separate division than the Chicago Cubs, and this scenario would also swing Arizona from the National League West into the American League West. You could also create an I-70 rivalry in this scenario if you give the Charlotte/Nashville team to the American League and move the Kansas City Royals to the National League in the same division with the Cardinals.
Scenario 3: Expansion to Charlotte/Nashville and Portland
| AL East | AL North | AL South | AL West | |||
| Boston | Chicago White Sox | Houston | Las Vegas | |||
| Baltimore | Cleveland | Kansas City | Los Angeles Angels | |||
| New York Yankees | Detroit | Tampa Bay | Seattle | |||
| Toronto | Minnesota | Texas | Portland | |||
| NL East | NL North | NL South | NL West | |||
| New York Mets | Chicago Cubs | Arizona | Colorado | |||
| Phildelphia | Cincinnati | Atlanta | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Pittsburgh | Milwaukee | Miami | San Diego | |||
| Washington | St. Louis | Charlotte/Nashville | San Francisco |
Not expanding to Montreal allows each of your three biggest historic rivalries (Red Sox/Yankees, Cardinals/Cubs, and Dodgers/Giants) to remain in division, but this also moves Arizona into a south division because of the need to have a western spot for Portland.
Scenario 4: Expansion to Charlotte and Nashville
| AL East | AL North | AL South | AL West | |||
| Boston | Chicago White Sox | Houston | Arizona | |||
| Baltimore | Cleveland | Kansas City | Las Vegas | |||
| New York Yankees | Detroit | Texas | Los Angeles Angels | |||
| Toronto | Minnesota | Nashville | Seattle | |||
| NL East | NL North | NL South | NL West | |||
| New York Mets | Chicago Cubs | Atlanta | Colorado | |||
| Phildelphia | Cincinnati | Miami | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Pittsburgh | Milwaukee | Tampa Bay | San Diego | |||
| Washington | St. Louis | Charlotte | San Francisco |
This scenario has the most moving parts, and looks the strangest with the Rays moving to the National League South along with Arizona moving to the American League West, but the result allows for historical rivalries to remain in-division plus adds the Citrus Series as an in-division rivalry. It limits the travel teams would need to fly while playing teams in their division, and keeps every division as geographically tight as you can get a 32-team league to be.
Which scenario do you like best? Do you have one of your own? Let me know in the comments or on social media!