How Major League Realignment Would Affect the Cincinnati Reds

During an interview with ESPN's Karl Ravech on August 17th, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed a potential league realignment and its potential impact on the sport. Manfred discussed making a four-team division format in two separate leagues, and realigning the divisions easier geographically, and making the sport more appealing for television providers and/ or streaming services.

For this idea to work, there would need to be two teams added via expansion. Most examples given have Charlotte and Nashville as the two new teams, but there are a multitude of cities that could be in the running for an expansion slot. Portland and Salt Lake City are two that already have funding and are politically ready for a team. The Portland City Council unanimously approved 30.85 acres of land for a waterfront baseball stadium in Zidell Yards in an area of undeveloped land that was a former shipyard. It overlooks the Willamette River between the Tillikum Crossing and Ross Island Bridge. Utah Legislature approved a bill that could fund upwards of $900 million towards a stadium in the state of Utah. Other potential cities include Orlan do, Montreal, and Austin as possible expansion destinations.

What would the divisions look like?

The premise of the realignment would be to make the league more geographically sound, limiting the amount of travel and giving a more appealing product to television and/or streaming networks. The realignment listed below has the Yankees and Red Sox staying together, but also the Yankees and Mets in the same division as an example. This could also give smaller market teams more willingness to spend to compete with teams more in line with their market size. An example of this would be the Twins being in the same division as the Brewers, Tigers, and Blue Jays.

NL North West:

• Seattle Mariners
• Portland Expansion Team
• San Francisco Giants
• Athletics

NL South West:

• Los Angeles Dodgers
• Los Angeles Angels
• San Diego Padres
• Arizona Diamondbacks

NL Central:

• Colorado Rockies
• Kansas City Royals
• Texas Rangers
• Houston Astros

NL Midwest:

• St. Louis Cardinals
• Chicago Cubs
• Chicago White Sox
• Cincinnati Reds

AL Great Lakes:

• Minnesota Twins
• Milwaukee Brewers
• Detroit Tigers
• Toronto Blue Jays

AL Nor th East:

• New York Yankees
• New York Mets
• Philadelphia Phillies
• Boston Red Sox

AL Mid Atlantic:

• Cleveland Guardians
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Baltimore Orioles
• Washington Nationals

AL South East:

• Charlotte Expansion Team
• Atlanta Braves
• Tampa Bay Rays
• Miami Marlins

In the proposed divisions above by Fox, the Reds would share a division with the Cubs, White Sox, and Cardinals.

Overall, this would be a massive overhaul that MLB has not seen since 1998 when Arizona and Tampa Bay were added. There is no current timetable for this to be persued, but the league's Collective Barganing Agreement does expire on December 1, 2026, maybe the most important date in MLB history.