MLB Realignment

It seems like I've been doing a few realignment posts for various sports leagues this year. After all, it seems like that time where expansion teams are starting to pop up again. However, there is one league that can go a couple ways with their realignment. One way you can look at realigning the divisions is through keeping both leagues intact with two expansion teams added (one being the Montreal Expos). It would go a little something like this:
AL East:

• New York Yankees
• Boston Red Sox
• Baltimore Orioles
• Toronto Blue Jays

AL North

• Detroit Tigers
• Cleveland Indians
• Chicago White Sox
• Minnesota Twins

AL South

• Houston Astros
• Kansas City Royals
• Texas Rangers
• Tampa Bay Rays

AL West

• Los Angeles Angels
• Oakland Athletics
• Portland (Expansion)
• Seattle Mariners

NL East

• Montreal Expos (Expansion)
• New York Mets
• Philadelphia Phillies
• Pittsburgh Pirates

NL North

• St. Louis Cardinals
• Chicago Cubs
• Milwaukee Brewers
• Cincinnati Reds

NL South:

• Colorado Rockies
• Atlanta Braves
• Miami Marlins
• Washington Nationals

NL West

• Arizona Diamondbacks
• Los Angeles Dodgers
• San Francisco Giants
• San Diego Padres

There are a few things you can do with the divisions. You can swap Cincinnati for Colorado (resolving the time zone issue for Colorado). You can also substitute the names of the divisions, i.e. the east divisions (Atlantic) and the west divisions (Pacific). The one problem is trying to figure out the series being played. Like the NFL, one division will play a division from the opposite conference. One team will play two teams from said division for a home series and will play the other two for a road series each. One team will play a home-and-home with teams from the other divisions in their conference. One team will also have a 'rivalry' series with a team from the same division name in the opposing league (i.e. AL East team vs. NL East team), constituting four games (two home games and two road games). The rest will be divisional games. The total?

• Four "Rivalry" Games
• 16 games against a select division from the opposite conference
• 72 games against teams from different divisions in the same conference
• The rest (70) are inter-division games

A good number of the rivalries (i.e. the Cubs/Cardinals, Yankees/Red Sox, Dodgers/Giants) are still intact. However, you can go a different route with the realignment: Eastern and Western Leagues.
Western League

• Northwest
  • Seattle Mariners
  • Portland
  • Colorado Rockies
  • Minnesota Twins
• California
  • Los Angeles Dodgers
  • Los Angeles Angels
  • San Francisco Giants
  • Oakland Athletics
• Southwest
  • San Diego Padres
  • Arizona Diamondbacks
  • Houston Astros
  • Texas Rangers
• Midwest
  • Chicago Cubs
  • Chicago White Sox
  • Kansas City Royals
  • St. Louis Cardinals

Eastern League

• Northeast
  • Philadelphia Phillies
  • Boston Red Sox
  • New York Yankees
  • New York Mets
• North
  • Detroit Tigers
  • Toronto Blue Jays
  • Milwaukee Brewers
  • Montreal Expos
• Mid Atlantic
  • Baltimore Orioles
  • Cincinnati Reds
  • Cleveland Indians
  • Pittsburgh Pirates
• Southeast
  • Atlanta Braves
  • Miami Marlins
  • Tampa Bay Rays
  • Washington Nationals

A good chunk of the rivalries are kept intact, with a few inner-metro area rivalries (Angels/Dodgers) added. The travel would be reduced (obviously) for most teams, with teams only having to face other teams from the opposing conference for a home/away series (48 games). One division (ex. the California division) will play the North and Northeast divisions at home and face the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast divisions on the road. A team will face teams outside of the division in their conference for a total of 48 games (in four-game increments, two home games and two road games). The rest (66 games) are divisional games, divided into 33 home games and 33 road games against division opponents.

There is one dilemma, though. You have 16 teams per league and only five playoff spots per league. Let's expand that number to eight teams. Keep the current playoff format, but add a wild card round that consists of a three-game series per match-up. If you want, you can go the extra mile and cut the regular season to 154 games. Also keep an eye on various markets such as the Carolinas, Nashville, Austin, Mexico City, and San Antonio. These markets could also emerge in the expansion market.

MLB expansion is coming. As soon as Oakland and Tampa Bay resolve their stadium issues, Rob Manfred will give the okay to start expanding again. After all, who wouldn't want to see the Montreal Expos back in action again?