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Expansion and Divisional Realignment
The Commissioner held an early November press conference to announce MLB's first expansion since 1998. Baseball will return to Montreal with the Expos as the first expansion team. The Las Vegas Aces will also be joining MLB.
With 32 teams, the expansion prompted the creation of two new divisions, one in each league, and a realignment of the teams in all divisions.
National League
East Division
New York Mets
Montreal Expos
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
Atlantic Division
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays
Washington Nationals
Central Division
Chicago Cubs
Cleveland Indians
Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals
West Division
Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
American League
Northeast Division
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays
North Division
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
South Division
Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Texas Rangers
Pacific Division
Las Vegas Aces
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners
The playoff structure was also updated. The winner of each division and two wild card teams from each league will advance to the playoffs.
The two division winners with the highest win percent will receive a first-round bye while the two remaining division winners will face the wild card teams in a three-game series.
The winners of the wild card series face the top two seeds in their league with the number one seed facing the lowest ranked winner of the wild card series. Division series matchups are best of five.
After that, the format remains the same: The divisional series winners advance to the seven-game League Championship Series and each league's winner advances to the best of seven World Series. Home field advantage goes to the team with the best regular season record.
With the expansion completed, the next task will be building the Expos' new front office...
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