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Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred triggered a controversy when he unveiled plans for expansion and realignment on national television. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Rob Manfred needs to clean up the mess, not make it worse. His ideas on realignment related to expansion are almost as bad as creating the “Manfred Man” runner in extra innings or imposing a “home run derby” to decide All-Star Games deadlocked after nine frames. As someone who has covered baseball for more than a half-century, here’s a novel idea the commissioner could consider: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s important to note that Major League Baseball generated $12.1 billion in revenue last year, according to my Forbes colleague Maury Brown. Manfred needs to fix the All-Star Game — by stripping the fan vote and rescheduling it as a weekend day game for starters — and end the post-season tournament that compromises the integrity of the World Series when wild-card winners oppose each other (as happened three times, most recently in 2023). Expansion to 32 teams, which he wants, is logical but not for the reasons he suggests. Four MLB 8-Team Leagues The creation of four eight-team leagues — but definitely not eight four-team divisions — could free the game from the curse of interleague play and perhaps restore the Good Old Days when separate leagues had their own presidents and umpiring staffs. It was during those Good Old Days that the American League and National League met only in the All-Star Game and World Series. Records in each league were sacrosanct, untouched by the mixing of teams that never played each other before 1997. Yes, four eight-team leagues. More teams, less playoffs, no wild-cards, and guaranteed integrity for the World Series. Winners of each league would meet…

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Filed under: News - @ August 23, 2025 12:28 am