Sep 11, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; A detailed view of the 9/11 ribbon on a St. Louis Cardinals hat in the dugout before the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Cardinals Predicted To Land In All-New Division With MLB Expansion Coming

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Curt Bishop | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 6:00 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals are more than likely out of contention for the rest of 2025 as the month of August nears its end. Soon, Chaim Bloom will take over for John Mozeliak as president of baseball operations, and long overdue changes will be made to the organization. At 62-64, they are five games back of the third National League Wild Card spot and 18 games back in the NL Central of the surging Milwaukee Brewers.

The postseason format was expanded in 2022. That was the last time the Cardinals made the postseason, and they were knocked out by the Philadelphia Phillies, who had won the third Wild Card spot that year. There are now 12 teams in the postseason picture, six per league, and three Wild Cards.

As such, Major League Baseball will likely be expanding soon, which has drawn mixed reactions from fans. Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report predicts that the American League and National League will cease to exist and give way to an Eastern Conference and Western Conference, similar to the NBA and NHL. He also predicts the Cardinals will join an all-new division along with the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs.

Cardinals Predicted To Join New Division With MLB Expansion

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"Pretty sure all four of these Central Time Zone teams are closer to the Eastern Time Zone than they are to the Mountain Time Zone, let alone the Pacific Time Zone. But if you drew a line right down the middle of the country to try to split the Eastern and Western Conferences, you'd end up with nine teams in the west and 23 in the east," Miller wrote on Tuesday.

"Cubs-Cardinals. Cubs-White Sox. White Sox-Twins. All solid rivalries. And it surely wouldn't take much for a Cardinals-Twins conflict to ignite."

While this would be an interesting division, this might take away some of the fun of rivalries in the league. MLB will cease to exist as we know it, and the Cardinals rivalries with the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates will essentially be gone.

MLB has time to work out the kinks of their expansion plan. At least this plan would keep the Cardinals and Cubs rivalry alive, but that isn't the only entertaining rivalry in the NL Central. Others exist as well, and need to be preserved.

We'll see how MLB decides to work its expansion plan.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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