Buster Olney reports that Major League Baseball is considering realignment ideas that would result in both the American and National Leagues having 15 teams each. (Currently, the National League has 16 teams, while the American League has 14; the Pirates play in a six-team division, while the AL West only has four teams.)
↵↵↵According to a highly ranked executive, one consideration that has been raised in ownership committee meetings is eliminating the divisions altogether, so that 15 AL and 15 NL teams would vie for five playoff spots within each league. Currently, Major League Baseball has six divisions.
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That's interesting. In such a scenario, there would have to be a way for rivals like the Cubs and Cardinals to play each other frequently.
↵Of course, if such a realignment happened, one National League team would have to move to the American League. Two executives told Olney that that National League team could be the Houston Astros, who would have a natural rivalry with the American League's Texas Rangers. If not, I would think that moving some team without a lot of history, like the Florida Marlins, might be a possibility.