Current_Map — *Current Map of MLB Teams (Reddit)*

With the CBA negotiations at the forefront of baseball fans' minds, I decided to take some time to imagine a league realignment and expansion process for Major League Baseball.

The topic of this is not foreign, it's on the league’s radar. Mr. Manfred has stated he would like to see two new expansion teams and a realignment of the leagues before he retires at the end of 2029. Reference Rob Manfred on expansion & Realignment

This take is how I would tackle an expansion and what realignment could hypothetically look like.

There have been many possible cities thrown into the mix for expansion: Montréal, Vancouver, Portland, Nashville, Raleigh and Salt Lake City. With some cities being more feasible than others, here are the two cities I would argue for: Vancouver, British Columbia and Nashville, Tennessee.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Canadians are not deprived of baseball, as we have our beloved Toronto Blue Jays, but I do think that Canada could support another team, and I think Vancouver is the best landing spot. When the Blue Jays play in Seattle, some reference it as the “Canadian Invasion,” as numerous Canadians make the trek to T-Mobile Park. So what better place to put a new Canadian franchise than roughly 3 hours north. I think this location could have a fun mixture of new rivalries, namely with the Blue Jays and the Mariners. The Blue Jays do a good job of getting to the grass roots level of baseball in Canada, but if you put a team in Vancouver, this could have a bigger effect on the grass roots level in the West. Many fans won’t leave the Blue Jays, but you could spark a whole new generation of fans that would fall in love with the game.

Nashville, Tennessee

Geographically, I think Nashville makes a lot of sense. It is in an area where you could access an MLB team, but they're all just out of arm's reach. You have the Braves, Reds, and Cardinals practically bordering the state, but none of them are close enough to be a true hometown team for a Tuesday night game. There have been numerous attempts to bring a team to Nashville over the years, with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum being one of the most prominent partnerships for this move. Hurdles are still present, but Mr. Manfred has stated on occasion that Nashville is a front runner for an expansion team. From what I know with the Tennessee Titans (NFL) and the Nashville Predators (NHL) these fan bases are strong, dedicated and would love to have a team of their own to root for.

In summary, I think both of these locations can bring something that the MLB does not currently have. New fan bases, new grassroot opportunities, new rivalries, and interesting division realignments.

My goals for realignment are lightening the travel burden that teams have, preserving historical rivalries, and fostering new rivalries.

Here are four reimagined divisions with eight teams, and each division gets renamed.

PCH-101 Division

Interstate- 10 (I-10) Division

The Great Lakes Transit Division

The Megalopolis Transit (MT) Division

PCH-101 Division

The Pacific Coast Highway Division, has a few different historical rivalries at play, such as San Francisco vs L.A. Dodgers, L.A. Dodgers vs San Diego Padres and The Freeway Series between the L.A. Dodgers vs L.A. Angels.

I-10 Division

This division covers a vast geographical area, including the rocky mountains, the southern states and into the Florida peninsula. Inter-division rivalries would include the Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays vs Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves vs St. Louis Cardinals.

The Great Lakes Transit Division

This division is named after the geographical area. Most of these teams are located in or around one of the four great lakes that border Canada & The

U.S. Some rivalries we are keeping are the White Sox vs Cubs, Cubs vs Brewers. Newer formed rivalries could be between the Blue Jays vs Tigers, or Tigers vs Brewers.

The Megalopolis Transit (MT) Division

This division is all about historic rivalries: the Subway Series – Yankees vs Mets, Beltway Series – Nationals vs Orioles, Battle of Pennsylvania – Pirates vs Phillies and an NFL cross-over rivalry with the Guardians vs Pirates. We end the list with the Yankees vs Red Sox.

These changes lead to making changes to the season schedule and playoff format. The regular season is going to be reduced to 152 games. This will end the regular season and playoffs earlier than previous years.

The Playoff bracket will now have each division winner getting a 1st round bye. 2nd and 3rd in each division then play in a Wild Card Series, which is a best of 3. WC Round winners will play the no.1 seeds in a best of 5. The Regional Championship has WC winners play in a best of 7. The league will keep the World Series name, which is a best of 7 with RC Champions facing off for bragging rights and rings.

Referencing Baseball Savant 2026 MLB team travel and Action Network MLB Travel Schedules, the six most travelled teams come from the West Coast. The six least travelled teams come from the Mid West/East Coast. Reducing season play by 10 games and implementing geographically aligned divisions can help teams with minimizing physical & mental fatigue, performance consistency, enhanced recovery and health management. From the management perspective, this would assist with logistical and financial advantages as well as strategic and competitive balance.

Travel_Map — *Photo reference (Baseball Savant)*

What could MLB expansion look like?

All-Rookie Teams