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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Sport
Bill Shaikin

It’s time for baseball to realign its divisions. Here’s what it should look like.

LOS ANGELES — In 2022, the Angels will play 19 games against the Texas Rangers and none against the San Diego Padres.

In 2023, the Angels will play 14 games against the Rangers and three against the Padres.

That’s progress. But the next frontier of schedule reform should involve radical realignment, in which divisions would be organized not by traditional league structure but by geography — more games against teams closer to home, with less travel for players and a more attractive home schedule for fans. The Angels and Padres might not have a rivalry now, but one could develop after playing each other year in and year out.

Major League Baseball is expected to consider radical realignment, but only after the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays resolve their long-running searches for a new ballpark, and after expansion to 32 teams.

That could be years away, but why wait? Let’s assume the A’s and Rays stay where they are, and expansion teams are awarded to Montreal and Nashville. Here’s our plan:

— The Cardinals and Cubs have one of baseball’s three greatest rivalries. We’ll maintain that by making one switch in the division-heavy schedules: all of the Pirates’ games against the Cubs go to the Cardinals, and all of the Cardinals’ games against the Marlins go to the Pirates. When the Pirates get serious about competing, MLB can relegate another NL Central team to play a schedule heavier on the Marlins and lighter on the Cardinals.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

New York Yankees

New York Mets

Boston Red Sox

Philadelphia Phillies

Washington Nationals

Baltimore Orioles

Toronto Blue Jays

Montreal Expos

AMERICAN LEAGUE SOUTH

Atlanta Braves

Houston Astros

Texas Rangers

St. Louis Cardinals

Kansas City Royals

Tampa Bay Rays

Nashville Stars

Miami Marlins

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

Chicago Cubs

Chicago White Sox

Milwaukee Brewers

Cincinnati Reds

Cleveland Guardians

Pittsburgh Pirates

Minnesota Twins

Detroit Tigers

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Angels

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Oakland Athletics

Arizona Diamondbacks

Seattle Mariners

Colorado Rockies

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