Rob Manfred's realignment talk could rewrite the Rangers’ rivalries overnight

While winning the 2023 World Series erased some pain over losing a seven-game set back in 2011 to the St. Louis Cardinals, are there any Texas Rangers fans out there who wouldn't like exacting a little revenge several times a season? Should Rob Manfred get his way, that's precisely what could happen.

The MLB commissioner appeared on Sunday Night Baseball to primarily talk about his progress in getting a new television deal done for the sport. However, it was his comments about the potential for expansion and how Major League Baseball could see a fundamental shift in how it handles divisions and leagues in a reshuffling of divisions that align better with where teams are located.

Texas Rangers could see World Series foe St. Louis Cardinals as divisional rival soon

"In my mind, I think if we expand it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign," Manfred said. "I think we would 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..."

There has long been talk that if the league ever expanded again, it would also get rid of the NL and AL and instead shuffle teams so they were closer to other teams in their region. The Athletic's Jim Bowden recently put out what this might look like, with the Texas Rangers residing in the Southwest division with the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, and the Rangers' former World Series foe, the Cardinals.

Under Bowden's projections, the two teams to join MLB would be Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Those cities have long been rumored to be the next entities to enter the league whenever expansion takes place and grows Major League Baseball to 32 teams.

The last round of MLB expansion came in 1998 with the additions of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now the Rays). Manfred has gone on record saying he'd like to bring more expansion before the end of his term in 2029. If he's able to do it, the Texas Rangers would have a couple of new divisional foes sooner than most fans could have expected.