Likely MLB geographic realignment would extend Angels' playoff drought another decade

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred turned a lot of heads with his recent comments on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, as it sure does appear that he is in favor of rapid expansion and the geographic realignment of divisions. Sure, Manfred unwittingly took a shot at the Angels in the process but he did make a couple of good points. Geographic realignment would benefit the players' health, which is of paramount importance. However, Angels fans need to know that their favorite team would be competitively be at a disadvantage if Jim Bowden of The Athletic had his realignment plan picked.

Back in 2023, Bowden reported that Manfred wanted to resolve the situations with the Tampa Bay Rays and Athletics' stadium problems before moving onto expansion and realignment plans. It seems, for the most part, that those are wrapping up. So, Manfred will likely want to move forward with adding a couple of teams, and ultimately undoing decades-upon-decades of history vis-à-vis division (and even league) rivalries and data. Bowden came up with his own plan to mix-and-match divisions and leagues, and let's just say that it would bury the Angels for probably another decade.

Likely MLB geographic realignment would extend Angels' playoff drought another decade

Bowden included the Los Angeles Angels in a four-team division called "Western Conference West" with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Angels already play in a relatively easy division, and they still have not made the playoffs since 2014. Should they be grouped with three members of the best division in baseball, things would continue to go south for the Angels even with moving from a five-team division to four.

Angels fans would be much, much more in favor of FanGraphs' Travis Sawchik's proposal, where the Angels would be grouped with the Seattle Mariners, soon-to-be (Las?) Vegas Athletics and Colorado Rockies. Bowden had the Mariners, Athletics and Rockies grouped with the San Francisco Giants in his proposal.

Sure, the Angels own the Dodgers this year. However, the Angels' crosstown rivals are a multi-billion dollar enterprise who are the reigning champions and also somehow have one of the best farm systems in the industry. The Padres have some ugly contracts on their books long-term, but they are also a preeminent franchise who are awesome what feels like every year. The Diamondbacks are having a down year largely due to injuries, but have a young, core group of players that rank in upper echelon of the sport.

Any realignment likely will not be implemented until 2030. For the Angels, they are surely hoping that 2030 is the earliest scenario for that if they are to be grouped with the Dodgers, Padres and D-Backs.

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