Thoughts on MLB Expansion

It's been nearly a quarter century since Major League Baseball added two new teams. Since then, every other major sports league has expanded at least once. The NBA added one team, the NFL added two (the Browns 2.0 and the Texans), and the NHL has added six franchises including the Seattle Kraken. Major League Soccer has tripled in size, adding 20 teams since the MLB added the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays. 

Baseball is overdue for some new teams, and a group led by Dave Stewart (with help from Tony LaRussa, Dave Dombrowski, and Justin Timberlake) want to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville. 

This seems like a good time for the league to consider expanding, with the minor leagues being decimated and super-sized rosters now including a DH for both leagues. Nashville is an established big league market. Mookie Betts was born and raised in the Music City, and there's a long history of professional baseball in Nashville. 

I have no doubt that there will be more than enough talent to fill two new teams, and more than enough interest. What I'm wondering is, which city would join Nashville as an expansion franchise - and how would the divisions be realigned?

A 32-team league equals either four divisions of eight teams or eight divisions of four teams. I prefer a 4 x 8 alignment:

AL East: Baltimore, Boston, NY Yankees, Tampa Bay, Toronto, *Cleveland, *Detroit
AL West: Houston, LA Angels, Oakland, Seattle, Texas, *Kansas City, *Minnesota
*added from the now-defunct AL Central 

NL East:  Atlanta, Miami, NY Mets, Philadelphia, Washington, *Cincinnati, *Pittsburgh
NL West: Arizona, Colorado, LA Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco, *Milwaukee, *St. Louis
*added from the now-defunct NL Central

Notice I left out both Chicago teams. I have a feeling that these franchises will be instrumental in deciding how the leagues are realigned. Aside from their influence, their geography is a major advantage:

There are 14 MLB teams east of Nashville and 16 teams west of Nashville. But Chicago is just barely on the left side of the dividing line. I don't know how you'd feel about having one Chicago team in the East and one Chicago team in the West, but it would drive me nuts!

So here are our options. The first - and easiest - solution would be a second expansion team east of Nashville. Where would you expand to: Buffalo? Charlotte? Montreal? Hartford? (kidding!)

The second option would be eight divisions of four teams. Something like this:

AL East: Baltimore, Boston, NY Yankees, Tampa Bay
AL Central: Chi Sox, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto
AL Midwest: Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Texas
AL West: LA Angels, Oakland, Seattle [Portland or Las Vegas]

If Portland entered the AL, Tampa would have the toughest travel in the league. Hold that thought.

NL East: Miami, NY Mets, Philadelphia, Washington
NL Central: Atlanta, Chi Cubs, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh
NL Midwest: Colorado, Milwaukee, St. Louis [Nashville]
NL West: Arizona, LA Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco

Perhaps the Rays could become a National League franchise and form an NL South with the Braves, Marlins, and the new Nashville team. But let's try to keep this as simple as possible.

This eight division format breaks up the Braves-Mets rivalry and the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry, and puts Nashville in the NL Midwest, where their travel would be much tougher than if they were grouped with Atlanta and/or Cincinnati.

That said, this alignment encourages expansion to Portland or Las Vegas - two cities that I would favor over any other site west of Nashville.

What do you think of a potential MLB franchise in Nashville? Which city would you like to see awarded a 32nd team? Do you prefer eight divisions of four teams, or four divisions of eight teams?

 

Thanks for reading!



 

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