With MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred all but confirming that there will be an expansion soon, it’s time to wonder how that may affect the Cleveland Guardians.
There will most likely be a geographic rearrangement and a different playoff format, with some even thinking this could be the end of the American and National Leagues.
With that in mind, Bleacher Report analyst Kerry Miller put together an interesting idea for a potential division, assuming this expansion takes place.
In this scenario, the Guardians would be a part of the Eastern Conference Division A: The East Midwest alongside the likes of the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds:
“What a small-market division it would be, though. Detroit really should have the means to spend more than it has lately, but Cincinnati, Cleveland and especially Milwaukee have never particularly had the luxury of spending much money. Definitely like the idea of further fostering a Reds and Guardians rivalry, though. The Ohio Cup has been an annual showdown (usually multiple series per year) since interleague play was introduced in 1997, but most baseball fans outside of Ohio don’t appreciate how much these two fanbases don’t like each other. A late-season showdown with a divisional crown on the line could be incendiary,” Miller wrote.
Just like Miller said, an Ohio rivalry would certainly be appealing for MLB and for the fans.
Also, while the Reds have been up and down throughout the course of the years, this would be a fairly decent division in terms of contention.
The Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers are likely to stay competitive for years to come, and the Guardians are clearly a much better team than one could tell by their record.
From a revenue perspective, however, this might not be what Manfred had in mind, considering that we’re talking about mostly small markets.
Whatever the case, this isn’t going to happen overnight.
The expansion and eventual reshuffling feel imminent, and it might be huge for a sport that has seemed to lose plenty of ground to other major sports tournaments over the past five years or so.
NEXT: Guardians Player Predicted To Notch All-MLB Honors
