24, 6 teams a division.
And I agree completely that the more teams the easier it is to take advantage of the AI. I'm struggling with this question now. I'm thinking I might just start another league, swap some teams with it, and just refuse to acquire players from any team in it.
In case anyone is curious, this is the # of MLB teams throughout its history:
1998-? (25+) = 30
1993-97 (5) = 28
1977-92 (16) = 26
1969-76 (8) = 24
1962-68 (7) = 20
1961 = 18
1901-60 (60) = 16
1900 = 8
1892-1899 (8) = 12
1891 = 17
1890 = 25
1885-9 (5) = 16
1884 = 33
1883 = 16
1882 = 14
1879-81 = 8
1877-8 = 6
1876 = 8
1875 = 13
1874 = 8
1873 = 9
1872 = 11
1871 = 9
Yeah, pre-1892 was pretty wild due to a lot of teams not being able to make ends meet, competing with rival leagues, etc, and dropping out or even being kicked out. It was the merger of the NL & AA in 1892 that finally settled things down for awhile. EDIT: It may look like there's a stretch of consistency from 1885 to 1889, but
there was just an equal # of teams that kept coming and going during those 5 years.