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If you've been active on baseball Twitter today, then you no doubt have seen that "MLB expansion" is trending. With this trend has come the idea that if Major League Baseball moves along and adds two new teams to the league within the next few years, we could see quite the shakeup to baseball as we know it.
Mets/Yankees benches clear during 2021 season (Robert Sabo/via New York Post)
The idea has been discussed that Rob Manfred and the MLB could do away with the current American League, National League format altogether and go with a more traditional Eastern Conference, Western Conference configuration; the likes of which we see in the NHL, NBA and MLS. With this idea in mind, The Athletic dropped the following graphic:
All eyes immediately turned to that East Division proposal...
Are you nuts? Are you trying to ensue violence in the stands night in and night out? One thing is for sure, that could very well be the most entertaining - and most stressful - division in all of sports. I don't think any of those four fanbases would be able to survive this absolute doomsday scenario.
The Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is quite possibly the most heated in the world, while the Mets/Phillies feud is one of the most bitter in the National League. Not to mention the fabled Subway Series rivalry between the crosstown rival Mets and Yankees.
Red Sox fans and Mets fans have formed an alliance of sorts over the years. The old saying, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" applies here. On the rare occasion that the Mets and Red Sox do play each other in the current American League/National League format, a "Yankees suck" chant is bound to break out at anytime whether the game is at Fenway Park or Citi Field. This division realignment would effectively end that alliance. Yankees/Red Sox, Rangers/Bruins, Jets/Patriots, Knicks/Celtics, the New York vs. Boston rivalry is as old as time, and the Mets and Sox would not be the exception.
The same applies to New York vs. Philadelphia. Knicks/76ers, Rangers/Flyers, Giants/Eagles, Mets/Phillies, go ahead and add the Yankees into the mix. It doesn't help that the Yankees and Phillies have beef that stems from the 2009 World Series, where the Yanks knocked the Phils off in six games.
I'm sure the Phillies and Red Sox would find something to fight over. After all, Boston and Philadelphia are home to two of the most insufferable fanbases in the country. Toxicity will certainly flare it's ugly head between those two trash cities.
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