(07-16-2026 03:45 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(07-16-2026 03:17 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(07-15-2026 06:14 AM)chargeradio Wrote:  

(07-14-2026 06:28 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I just don’t see MLB doing away with AL & NL. The NL just turned 150 yrs old this year. AL is 125 yrs old. That’s too much history to disregard.

MLB actually did away with the last semblances of the AL and NL as legal entities a while back, not to mention both leagues now use the designated hitter.

I get that AL and NL have long ceased to be separate entities but the rivalries haven’t gone away. You’ve got teams that have played each other regularly and uninterrupted as league/division mates for over 100 years. You’re not breaking up the Indians, Tigers, and White Sox just because someone else might be a tad closer.

The White Sox were separated from the Tigers from 1969-97 and from the Indians from 1969-93, and the Indians were separated from the Tigers from 1994-97.

But they were all still in the AL and played frequently—they just weren’t in the same division.

(07-16-2026 03:17 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I get that AL and NL have long ceased to be separate entities but the rivalries haven’t gone away. You’ve got teams that have played each other regularly and uninterrupted as league/division mates for over 100 years. You’re not breaking up the Indians, Tigers, and White Sox just because someone else might be a tad closer.

They can be in the same division in a 4x8 alignment:

BOS, NYY, NYM, PHI, BAL, WAS, TB, MIA
PIT, CIN, CLE, DET, CHW, Nashville, TOR, ATL
CHC, STL, KC, MN, MIL, HOU, TX, CO
LV, SD, LAD, LAA, SF, SEA, Utah, AZ

(07-17-2026 07:07 AM)chargeradio Wrote:  

(07-16-2026 03:17 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I get that AL and NL have long ceased to be separate entities but the rivalries haven’t gone away. You’ve got teams that have played each other regularly and uninterrupted as league/division mates for over 100 years. You’re not breaking up the Indians, Tigers, and White Sox just because someone else might be a tad closer.

They can be in the same division in a 4x8 alignment:

BOS, NYY, NYM, PHI, BAL, WAS, TB, MIA
PIT, CIN, CLE, DET, CHW, Nashville, TOR, ATL
CHC, STL, KC, MN, MIL, HOU, TX, CO
LV, SD, LAD, LAA, SF, SEA, Utah, AZ

Honestly, if the league were to do something like that, I’d put PIT & TOR in with the northeastern teams, and bump over the FL pair.

I’d also swap the Nashville expansion team with the Cubs—it seems weird to run the East/West dividing line through downtown Chicago.

It’s just all an ugly puzzle no matter how you look at it because the Northeast is home to 8 teams (perfect!), the Midwest has 10 (2 too many), the West has 9 (Colorado gets screwed as the Easternmost one), and the South has just 6, with a giant geographic gap separating the Texas franchises from the others.