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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred before game three of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Giants Might Land in Non-Traditional Division in Potential MLB Realignment

Originally posted on San Francisco Giants on SI
By Matt Postins | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 10:00 AM ET

Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, as many things on his mind and two of them are expansion and realignment.

During an appearance on ESPN as part of MLB’s Little League World Series game, he paired the two desires together as something he hopes to pursue by the time his term as commissioner ends in 2029. He has long sought expansion and he sees it as a chance to take MLB to 32 teams and to align the league with an eye toward tighter geography.

“I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” Manfred said during the broadcast. “I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel.”

The San Francisco Giants have a divisional alignment that doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear. But that could change, and it could even end one of the game’s stories rivalries, especially if MLB follows one former executive’s playbook.

A couple of years ago, Jim Bowden at The Athletic (subscription required) attacked that problem with a plan that would do what Manfred is seeking — and markedly change the Giants’ division in a way that makes it somewhat recognizable.

A New Giants Division?

Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

In Bowden’s vision, a 32-team MLB could be divided into eight four-team divisions. He chose to realign based entirely on geography and not the traditional American and National Leagues that have ruled the game for more than 100 years. In fact, he even changed the league names to the eastern conference and the western conference.

In the proposed Pacific Coast Division, the Giants would be in the same division with the Athletics — who are preparing to move to Las Vegas — along with the Seattle Mariners and the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are the only team that are currently in the Giants’ division.

The remaining three teams in the current NL West — the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres — would remain there, along with the AL’s Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants and Dodgers would still play each other — just not as often.

Giants Divisions Through the Years

David Frerker-Imagn Images

Formed in 1883 as the New York Gothams, the franchise became the Giants in 1885 and called upper Manhattan’s Polo Grounds home until the franchise moved to San Francisco before the 1958 season. The Giants were a National League team in both New York City and San Francisco.

When MLB moved to two divisions per league in 1969, the Giants were in the NL West Division, which included the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. In 1993, the division swelled to seven teams with the addition of the expansion Colorado Rockies.

In 1994, MLB moved to three divisions per league the Braves, the Reds and the Astros were moved to different divisions, leaving the Giants with the Dodgers, Padres and Rockies in a four-team division. The Arizona Diamondbacks joined the division in 1998 as an expansion team.