Rob Manfred talks MLB realignment – Here’s where the Blue Jays might go

Rob Manfred can’t help but tinker with Major League Baseball – but that might not be a bad thing for the Blue Jays in the future.

The MLB commissioner discussed the possibility of division realignment during an appearance on WFAN’s The Craig Carton Show, with Manfred outlining how it could all go down.

“I think if you did it, you’d probably be eight (divisions) with four (teams each),” Manfred told hosts Craig Carton and Chris McMonigle. “I think you would try to keep two-team cities separate. That would be my thinking.”

This latest comment runs counter to the widely reported realignment proposal that circulated last August, after Manfred made an appearance on ESPN.

In the plans reportedly under discussion then, a potential powerhouse East Coast division could have featured the New York Yankees and Mets, the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.

Now, it appears that realigned divisions would not combine teams from the same cities — the New York teams, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox or the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels.

Where would the Jays go?

In the realignment reportedly proposed back in August, the Blue Jays would completely abandon any AL East rivalry and be set in a ‘North’ division of sorts.

According to reports, Toronto would be placed in a division with the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins.

A move out of the AL East could be a polarizing one of the Jays. While the team presumably would have an easier annual path to the playoffs against teams with smaller payrolls, they also would lose out on the revenue generated from seeing popular teams like the Yankees and Red Sox visit the Rogers Centre.

Traditional rivalries against the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays would also wither.

The Blue Jays have been part of the AL East since joining MLB as an expansion team in 1977. They do have history with the Tigers and Brewers, who both previously played in the AL East.

The Brewers played in the East until 1994, when they were moved into the AL Central and later moved over to the National League Central in 1998.

The Tigers switched to the AL Central in 1998, when Tampa Bay joined MLB in 1998.

Minnesota and Toronto have never played in the same division but have met several times in the playoffs, including a 2023 wild-card series in which the Twins swept the Jays in two games.

However, with Manfred’s latest comments about the Yankees and Mets not sharing a division, this may open the door for Toronto remaining in a division with the Bronx Bombers.

Expansion talks

However, any such realignment of the current divisions wouldn’t occur unless MLB expands to 32 teams — which is a possibility in the near future.

During his radio appearance, Manfred reiterated his desire to add two expansion franchises before he retires in 2029.

“First of all, I would like to expand to 32 (teams). It would be good for us,” Manfred said. “Fundamentally, a lot of cities that have Major League Baseball, when people want your product, you got to find a way to sell it to them, it’s kind of basic.

“Number two, it does a ton of us from a format perspective.

“You would realign, you would do it along geographic lines, which would alleviate — could alleviate — a ton of the travel burden that’s on players. R

“Remember, we ask our players [to play] 162 times in 186 days … You can eliminate a lot of that travel and make it less burdensome, which would be a great thing in terms of player health and safety.”

Cities that have been rumoured as targets for possible expansion teams include Nashville, Raleigh, Charlotte, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Portland and Austin.

Many reports also have cited Montreal as a potential candidate after seeing the Expos move to Washington DC in 2005.

Impact on playoffs

The commissioner also said that realignment would provide added benefits for post-season scheduling, helping ease geographical and time-zone concerns.

“If you realign geographically, you would look more like other sports, where you play up east into the World Series, and west into the World Series, and that 10 o’clock game on the (East) Coast that sometimes is a problem for us becomes a primetime game on the West Coast for the two teams that are playing,” Manfred said.

“So, there’s a lot of advantages to it.”