During Sunday Night Baseball's recent telecast on ESPN, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred hinted that division realignment could occur once the league is expanded.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says expansion could spark major changes:
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 18, 2025
• Geographic realignment to ease travel
• A more appealing postseason format for partners like ESPN
• New opportunities in untapped markets
pic.twitter.com/5r0qXVYYni
Since the idea of division realignment became a real possibility, media outlets have seized the opportunity to speculate about what the new divisions might look like. The Athletics' Jim Bowden proposed a division back in 2023 that includes the Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Another recent realignment proposal from Stephen J. Nesbitt has the Twins staying in a division with the Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox, with the Kansas City Royals being the only team from the American League Central missing the cut.
Bowden's proposal is exciting and makes perfect sense, as it could increase fan attendance at Target Field and the White Sox' Rate Field since it could create more of a rivalry between the Cubs and White Sox and the Twins and Brewers. Additionally, Cubs fans have taken over Target Field in recent years when their favorite team traveled to Minnesota. Nesbitt's proposal is less exciting than Bowden's, but still makes sense from a travel standpoint.
Despite these two solid proposals already existing, Ben Verlander of the Flippin' Bats Podcast recently proposed his own version of potential MLB realignment, and it didn't make much sense where he placed the Twins.
Ben Verlander's proposed MLB realignment makes no sense for the Twins
First off, the division Verlander has the Twins being a part of is called the American League South. It only takes one glance at a United States map to realize the Twins don't belong in a division with that title.
Then, taking a look at the other teams in the proposed AL South creates more confusion as to why Verlander would place the Twins in this potential division. The Kansas City Royals are one of the teams, which wouldn't be terrible, considering they are already in the same division as the Twins. However, the other two teams in the proposed AL South have no business being in the same division as the Twins. Those two teams are the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers.
THIS is the perfect way for MLB to re-align after expansion pic.twitter.com/VlujQylc4f
— Flippin' Bats Podcast (@FlippinBatsPod) August 22, 2025
The Rangers and Astros should be in the same division, and the AL South would be a fitting title for it. One could argue that the Royals being in the proposed division makes sense, even though they are located closer to the center of the country. However, the Twins being in the "American League South" is laughable.