Atlanta Braves players and coaches celebrate after clinching their sixth consecutive NL East title by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Phillies news and rumors 2/21: Would MLB expansion push Braves out of NL East?
The Philadelphia Phillies will begin their 2024 regular-season slate by reigniting what’s become one of the best rivalries in baseball, when they host the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on March 28.
Atlanta has won six consecutive NL East titles, but been upset by Philadelphia in four games in the NLDS in each of the last two seasons. However insignificant the Orlando Arcia-Bryce Harper drama last October was in the grand scheme of things, it was a fun storyline that increased the heat between the two fanbases. And you can bet that for the rest of his career, Arcia will be booed loudly whenever he steps near the batter’s box at Citizens Bank Park.
But while it feels entirely possible that the Phillies and Braves will meet in the postseason for the third consecutive season in 2024, the long-term future of the two as division-rivals is uncertain.
ESPN‘s Jeff Passan reported this week that Major League Baseball expanding from 30 to 32 teams at some point is seen as an “inevitability” from those in the know around the sport. Expansion wouldn’t happen until the early 2030s in the estimation of Passan, but it would no doubt lead to some major changes in the sport.
Certainly, there are arguments to be made against expansion. The Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays don’t have their future stadium plans finalized, while the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers both have begun to make noise about needing new parks. And it can just generally be argued that there aren’t enough good pitchers to go around for 30 teams, and adding two more would further water down the talent pool in the sport.
Regardless of any of those objections, arguing against MLB expansion now is probably going to prove as futile an effort as fighting the DH becoming universal was a few years ago. Salt Lake City, Utah and Nashville, Tennessee appear to be the favorites if (when?) MLB adds two more teams Passan believes, although there will never be a shortage of cities interested in obtaining a team.
Perhaps the most notable part of the expansion discussion for the Phillies would be that divisional realignment would become necessary if the league expands to 32 teams. Passan wrote in his story that “whether MLB would opt for four eight-team divisions or eight four-team divisions is not yet decided.”
