Last night, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was interviewed during the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets game. The two clubs were playing in Williamsport, with the Little League World Series ongoing, at the annual Little League Classic.

Manfred was asked about possible expansion teams and realignment of the divisions in the near future, and had this to say:

It’s an interesting topic, as the last two franchises to join MLB were the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Rays (formerly Devil Rays) in 1998. The Rays joined the AL East, and the Detroit Tigers ended up moving into the AL Central. Combing through historical records, books, and published articles, the Toronto Blue Jays were one organization that had the option of moving to the AL Central when the new division was created.

However, Toronto’s ownership and the front office decided to stay in the division that housed the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. This was to capitalize on the larger fanbases and potential monetary gains of being in a division with popular teams, compared to the AL Central, which housed clubs like the Cleveland Guardians (then Indians) and the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers/Blue Jays rivalry had died off considerably at the time, and the decision to remain was purely business-related. This likely impacted their postseason aspirations moving forward, being within a tougher division that housed bigger market squads.

With this recent discourse by Manfred, it would be interesting to see how the new divisions would shake out if the Blue Jays were part of a geographical realignment.

This would mean the Jays wouldn’t see the Tampa Bay Rays anymore, who are the furthest team from Toronto within the division. The Jays would also likely be moved away from the East Coast of teams and more towards the AL/NL Central side of things.

Interestingly enough, if geographical location were the only factor and no new teams were added via expansion before realignment (for argument’s sake), the Toronto Blue Jays are the closest in distance to (using Sport Map World):

– Cleveland Guardians: 303 KM
– Detroit Tigers: 331 KM
– Pittsburgh Pirates: 358 KM
– Baltimore Orioles: 536 KM

This would mean that at least the Pirates would be joining the AL or the other four teams would be heading to the NL in this scenario, although teams like the Tigers and Guardians would have a disadvantage because other franchises, such as the Chicago Cubs/White Sox and the Minnesota Twins, would not be in their division, although they are closer. In this scenario, only the Baltimore Orioles would remain in the division with the Blue Jays and the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays would be playing against some new rivals.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that the AL and NL teams won’t cross over, so the Pirates stay where they are. That would mean the New York Yankees would finish out the division, considering they are sixth on the list at 557 KM.

However, let’s say that the Tigers or the Guardians join a different division because they fit the closer model, then the fifth furthest team from Toronto would be the Philadelphia Phillies (543 KM) and are just ahead of the Yankees, meaning it would be:

– Cleveland/Detroit
– Pittsburgh
– Baltimore
– Philadelphia

While this whole scenario is based on the distance from Toronto to a different city/stadium, and doesn’t take into consideration other teams, there are numerous different ways this whole realignment scheme could shape up for Toronto given they are somewhat centred between potentially playing against more central squads or could remain with the cluster of teams found in the Northeast United States. While teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs/White Sox, and Cincinnati Reds might be further from Toronto compared to the New York teams, Red Sox, and Washington Nationals, the Blue Jays could move over to that central side of the equation if needed, which might benefit the club compared to having to play other big market powerhouses.

This is all just hypothetical, considering that in a perfect world, I think many Jays fans would be ok with a realignment that consisted of more AL Central squads or the bottom half of the NL Central/East, like the Pirates and Nationals. This would all be in flux as well, depending on which expansion teams are added. If Montreal were to regain a franchise, then there is no way Major League Baseball won’t have a rivalry going between the two Canadian squads. A new team in Nashville could also make things interesting for the Jays.

Overall, expansion teams and realignment likely aren’t coming anytime soon, especially with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire following the 2026 season. Blue Jays fans, however, can continue to dream of playing more games against the AL Central.

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