Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred stated this week that expansion and realignment are being considered by the league. According to Jason Burgos of Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday, he discussed the topics during the MLB game scheduled between the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on ESPN.
Both topics are bad ideas. However, realignment should not be considered at all. You can call me an old-fashioned 47-year-old traditionalist on the issue. I would be hesitant about having teams being realigned into divisions just for geographical reasons. Keeping divisions the way are builds rivalries that have been around for decades.
The Mets do not need to play the Yankees more than they do. Neither do the Angels need to play the Dodgers. Keeping these teams in their respective leagues and respective divisions enhances the spotlight and uniqueness for when they do play. I also argue that teams should not switch divisions because there will be a greater chance they will switch leagues as a result. In the last 30 years the Houston Astros (National to American) and the Milwaukee Brewers (American to National) did switch leagues. Fans associate teams with the American League and National League, and if there is significant realignment, it will hurt baseball from a marketing perspective.
Expansion is a bad idea for another reason. It will hurt the quality of the games played. Right now the overall quality of the pitching is an issue. The ERA throughout baseball at the moment is 4.13. That amount should rise if expansion takes place as there will be more mediocre pitchers in the game.
