In 1999, the New York Mets took place in an MLB-wide promotion known as “Turn Ahead the Clock.” For the promotion, 21 teams around the majors redesigned their uniforms and changed some of the advertisements around the stadium all in the spirit of predicting what baseball will look like in 2027. In fact, the Mets went as far as renaming the ballclub from the New York Mets to the “Mercury Mets.” Of course, the expansion of baseball being played throughout solar system is much more than 12 years away, but there are going to be changes within the next 12 years, one of which will be the addition of two expansion teams, which will change the way the divisions look.
AL EAST
1. Baltimore Orioles
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Montreal Expos
4. New York Yankees
A division with few changes over the next 12 years, the only two differences will be the Toronto Blue Jays moving to the AL Northern Division, and the Tampa Bay Rays moving from Florida to Montreal, changing their name to the Expos. The Expos were a major league organization from 1969 until 2004, when the team was relocated to Washington D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. However, over the past few years, there has been talk about the Rays looking for a new stadium, and Montreal wanting to gain a Major League Baseball organization…so this will kill two birds with one stone. This will likely happen within the next five years, and will help shape the division for years to come.
NL EAST
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Washington Nationals
Like the AL East, the National League Eastern division will also go virtually unchanged. The only two differences in the division will be the subtraction of the Miami Marlins & Atlanta Braves, and the addition of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The way these teams are shaping up right now, this will surely be one of the more competitive divisions over the 12 years, and the Mets may even end up on top.
AL NORTH
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Toronto Blue Jays
Due to the expansion of Major League Baseball over the next 12 years, the two leagues will have to have a northern division and a southern division. Therefore the American League North will contain three teams currently in the AL Central, and will also include the Toronto Blue Jays. This also will be a very competitive division, because all four of these teams have bright futures ahead of them.
NL NORTH
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Minnesota Twins
In order to keep the divisions even, the Twins will have to make the move from the American League to the National League. They will be the team making the move because they are by far the weakest team in their division, and will greatly benefit from changing divisions. As for the Cubs, Reds, and Brewers, these teams will continue to thrive and make this division competitive for years to come.
AL SOUTH
1. Dominica Tarantulas
2. Houston Astros
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Texas Rangers
Here is where it gets a little bit more complicated: the American League Southern Division. The Royals, Rangers, and Astros will be in the division because it makes geographical sense. As for the Dominica Tarantulas, they will be one of two expansion teams, and will arrive in the year 2021. Having a team in the Dominican Republic just makes sense, because it is the country where many top-talent baseball players are from. The teams colors will be teal, yellow, and black, and it will not take long for them to become competitive and in the postseason picture.
NL SOUTH
1. Atlanta Braves
2. Miami Marlins
3. Puerto Rico Sapos
4. St. Louis Cardinals
The National League Southern Division will hold an expansion team of their own: the Puerto Rico Sapos. Sapos, in Spanish, means toad, which is the native animal of Puerto Rico, and will be the logo on their baseball cap. The color of the team will be red, white, blue, and brown, and they will be a force to be reckoned with in the division. As for the Braves, they will be moving to Cobb County in 2017, so it is likely they will eventually change their name to fit their new location.
AL WEST
1. Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. San Jose Athletics
4. Seattle Mariners
Twelve years from now, the American League West will end up looking slightly different than it does now. For starters, the Rangers and Astros will no longer be a part of the division, the Athletics will have made the move from Oakland to San Jose, and the Diamondbacks will be moved to the American League in order to even out the divisions. These four teams all have bright futures ahead of them, and will certainly make a lot of noise in the American League.
NL WEST
1. Colorado Rockies
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. San Diego Padres
4. San Francisco Giants
The eighth and final division in 2027 will be the National League Western Division…a division that will go practically unchanged. The only difference in the division will be the absence of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but it will not make that much of a difference. The division will remain highly competitive, with a battle between all four teams for first place.
There will be many differences in Major League Baseball by 2027, most notably the expansion of two teams and the reshaping of the divisions. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will be great assets to baseball, and will certainly serve as competitive teams for years to come. As for baseball returning to Montreal, fans there will be extremely excited, and it will help the growth of baseball around the world.
Really interesting ideas Dan. I agree that there will be teams in Dominica and Puerto Rico soon, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see it happen by 2027. My only question is how do the playoffs work? I’m assuming it would be the top team in the division making the playoffs, which would eliminate the Wild Card spot. This is a great idea for a series, and I look forward to reading more!
The playoff format will definitely have to change over the next twelve years and I will be exploring all things playoffs next week.
Looking forward to it!
Very cool essay, Dan! Have you thought about scheduling? I’m thinking:
Intra-division 3Tx22G (pre expansion league play) = 66
Intra-league: 12T x 8G = 96 (there’s your 162 with no inter-league play)
Now I’m not in favor of inter-league regular season play. I do however actually root for the NYY during the regular season because my ultimate desire is a NYM-NYY WS. I’m guessing that in other parts of the country there are similar desires; certainly in Chicago and probably in LA. I would think this is true in Texas too, but now the 2 TX teams are in the same division.
My thought is to align the League/Divisions so the following October match-ups would be possible. Teams in gave switched Leagues from your model.
A LE/NLE: NYY-NYM, BAL-WAS, BOS-. -PHI
ALN/NLN: CWS-CHC, CLE-CIN, DET-, -MLW
ALS/NLS: DOM-PRI, HOU-, KCR-STL, -ATL
ALW/NLW: LAA-LAA, SFG-SJA, ARI-SDP, SEA-COL
Now if want a taste of Inter-league play (and in-season regional rivalry) and keep the schedule to 162, you could:
Reduce inter-division play to 5G against one team in the other 3 divisions (93G). Two teams in each division would be short 3 Home games, the other two long, alternating in even/odd years. With the Mets short and the Yankees long, the Mets would host a 3G “Regional Rivalry” series adjacent to the all-star beak,as would the 16 other “short” teams (8NL and 8AL).
My 2 cents.
Editor’s Note – Please do not capitalize words in your post, as that is a violation of our Comment Policy
Oops. My use of angular brackets (<) obliterated parts of the pairing paragraph, Using [,,,], this is what I meant.
…Teams in [_] hgave switched Leagues from your model.
A LE/NLE: NYY-NYM, BAL-WAS, BOS-[MON]. [PIT]-PHI
ALN/NLN: CWS-CHC, CLE-CIN, DET-[TOR], [MIN]-MLW
ALS/NLS: DOM-PRI, HOU-[TEX], KCR-STL, [MIA]-ATL
ALW/NLW: LAA-LAA, SFG-SJA, ARI-SDP, SEA-COL
Interesting article Dan. I only disagree with the Dominican Dream. The country does not have the infrastructure (or stadium for that matter) to support a MLB team. Also their economy cannot sustain 10-20,000 season ticket holders. As for many players coming from there. To me that is such a broad and vague statement to make. What percentage of Latin players currently playing in the big leagues come from there? I’d probably say there were more players from Puerto Rico in the Major Leagues than Dominicans. Puerto Rico would and should be rated above D.R. As a territory of the U.S. it offers many more advantages than D.R. San Juan has the infrastructure and economy that could sustain a MLB team. No visa issues. No tax issues. Just a side note here. Dominica and the Dominican Republic are two different countries
I don’t think the Giants will give up their territorial rights over San Jose to the A’s. Seattle being in the Northwest plays havoc with the alignment and travel. Arizona is mountain time and should be linked with Colorado just because it makes sense for travel with both teams being so close to each other
AL West – Colorado NL West – Anaheim
Las Vegas Los Angeles.
Arizona Giants
San Diego Seattle
Cuts down on traveling expenses and groups the teams more by location as your NL West would not only be in the same time zone but could generate more off days due to their proximity.
Let’s try that again, NL W- Anaheim,Dodgers,Giants, Seattle
AL W Arizona,Colorado,Las Vegas,San Diego
Would like to nominate a city that I think is getting much play: San Antonio. This weekend, San Antonio is hosting a two-game exhibition series between the Rangers and the Dodgers. San Antonio is the seventh biggest market by population in the country and is very close to the oil money of the Soth Texas region in general. It is a little over three hours away from Houston, and more than four hours from Dallas, so there won’t be an overlap. Further, San Antonians are ready to support an NFL team and it has been discussed for the Alamodome, but the huge Latino population would be all over the baseball team.
I personally think Mark Cuban should buy the Mets and move them there! 😉
I’d rather see Jerry Seinfeld and Jon Stewart buy majority shares and keep the team there.
Gus with all the military bases there the team would draw phenomenally. I don’t think the Rangers have territorial rights covering that area. I would definitely have San Antonio at or near the top of any expansion list. New York has plenty of millionaires and billionaires. As I have stated before on other posts, would love to see Bloomberg buy the team. At least he knows how to invest
Pete, El Paso built a AAA stadium that I hear is beautiful and sells out. That’s why there are 31 stadiums for 30 organizations. The thirty-first stadium is in South Carolina and they plan to build a new one. San Antonio has the Blue Jays AAA affiliate and they get a little play, but San Antonio has become big time with the Spurs, and the Toros (the Blue Jays affiliate) is looked at as Arena football is. Nice, but…
Also, San Antonio and Austin are moving towards each other that would make a metropolis of over five million people.
It’s rather odd Gus. I thought Fred was supposed to be a shrewd businessman? I know don’t gag! I guess he just cares about his Citifield and everything else is just not that important to him. Besides having your “AAA” team 2,000 miles away is pretty stupid considering the costs in travel every time the team makes a move with their roster. But then again these are the Wilpons we’re talking about. Just read where they settles their wrongful dismissal case with their former VP. I’ll guess another 3 or 4 million dollars thrown away by the imbecile Jeff and his immature handling of his staff. My goodness our Met owners (fred and jeff) really are pathetic.
I’m not sure MLB can support 32 teams, but expansion is inevitable. Anyway, another foreign team option that has been discussed is Monterey, Mexico. It’s the third-largest city in Mexico (4M in metro area) and also one of the wealthiest, hosting numerous corporate headquarters. It has the right kind of profile if MLB wants an outpost in the Mexican market.