Chicago Cubs face big changes amid MLB realignment talk, White Sox to become division rivals?

The Chicago Cubs might soon have the crosstown rival White Sox as division rivals.

There’s a distinct possibility of that happening should MLB, under the watch of commissioner Rob Manfred, finally flip the switch on the long talked-about league expansion and subsequent division realignment.

Speaking Sunday night at the Little League Classic on ESPN between the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners, Manfred talked up the possibility of the big change, something which would be made even more feasible when/if the league expands from 30 teams to 32.

He highlighted the network preferences for more geo-based play and, also, the benefit to the players from less overall travel time.

“I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” Manfred said. “I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN, because you’d be playing out of the East and out of the West.”

Expansion, then realignment

At this point, it’s probably a foregone conclusion that MLB will expand. The only questions are when and in which cities. Right now, Nashville seems to be the favorite to land at least one of those new team slots.

In theory, the realignment would follow the NBA model, possibly ditching the current American League and National League structure for an Eastern Conference/Western Conference model.

This idea is nothing new for Manfred. He’s been skirting around the possibility of expansion and realignment for several years already, coming short of full-on endorsing it, but clearly leaning into the idea.

“Realignment has always been a difficult issue in baseball,” Manfred told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal back in 2018. “You can make an argument that the demise of at least one commissioner (Fay Vincent in 1992) began with the issue of realignment. The reality of today’s media environment is that if you went to 32 teams and you could get to a more geographically-based alignment, you could help your playoff format, you could reduce your travel.”

The topic IS a touchy one in a sport so rooted in history and tradition, but it seems almost inevitable to happen at this point. The MLB divisional structure has undergone a few tweaks over the last 32 years or so and the league last expanded in 1998. This possible change would come close to being a full overhaul, but network money– amid baseball’s battle to stay relevant in competition with other sports– could be the impetus for the change.

But how would this affect the Cubs?

As of this writing, the Cubs sit in second place in the NL Central Division, eight games behind the Milwaukee Brewers leading into a five-game series at Wrigley Field. Under the new realignment plan, that would still be the sad reality. Unfortunately, a geographical realignment would still keep the Brewers as division rivals.

Everything else, though, would give off a distinct “well, this is different” vibe.

What might the division realignment look like?

Former MLB exec and current MLB insider for The Athletic, Jim Bowden, offered his own informed take on what a baseball realignment would look like, assuming Nashville and Charlotte are granted teams:

Eastern Conference

East Division:

Boston Red Sox
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Phillies

North Division:

Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Guardians
Detroit Tigers
Toronto Blue Jays

Mid-Atlantic Division:

Baltimore Orioles
Charlotte expansion team
Pittsburgh Pirates
Washington Nationals

Southeast Division:

Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
Nashville expansion team
Tampa Bay Rays

Western Conference

Midwest Division:

Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins

Southwest Division:

Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
St. Louis Cardinals
Texas Rangers

Pacific Coast Division:

Colorado Rockies
Oakland/Las Vegas A’s
Seattle Mariners
San Francisco Giants

West Division:

Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres

Changes for the Chicago Cubs

Right off the bat, one would notice the fact that the Cubs and White Sox would become division rivals in the Midwest Division. The Brewers and Minnesota Twins would round out the division.

Another thing to note is that the St. Louis Cardinals would no longer be the Cubs’ division rivals. They’d be designated to the Southwest Division, killing off decades and decades of heated Cubs-Cards rivalry.

In this life, especially in this baseball life, change is the only guarantee. When/If the realignment happens, people will complain and lament the loss of tradition. Then, they’d get over it and move on.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-division-realignment-white-sox?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chicago-cubs-division-realignment-white-sox