Rob Manfred's comments turn Orioles' MLB realignment assumptions upside down

For Baltimore Orioles fans, MLB realignment has always sounded like the kind of chaos that could actually do Baltimore a favor. New map, new neighbors, maybe a softer landing than living in a robust AL East.

Then Rob Manfred went on WFAN and basically poured cold water on the biggest “realignment fantasy” people have been drawing up: the idea that a geography-first setup would jam the Yankees and Mets into the same division for an always-on Subway Series. Manfred said if MLB expands and realigns, his instinct would be “eight ‘fours’” (eight divisions of four) and to keep two-team cities separate — meaning no Yankees/Mets division marriage. 

Rob Manfred’s comments make the Orioles’ division future feel dangerously familiar

That flips the Orioles angle in a sneaky way. Because a lot of Baltimore’s daydreaming wasn’t really about the Mets anyway. It was about escape velocity. If the league breaks into cleaner geographic pods, maybe the Orioles slide into something more Mid-Atlantic… maybe you trade the Yankees and Red Sox for a Nationals/Phillies type of neighborhood and call it a win.

Manfred’s comment doesn’t guarantee the opposite — but it does nudge the chessboard in a direction Orioles fans probably won’t love: the Yankees still need somewhere to go, and there’s no rule saying that “somewhere” can’t still be right on top of Baltimore. 

So even after realignment, you might end up with a division that still feels like the AL East, just with different branding. Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Orioles are the kind of four-team block that checks every box MLB likes: big TV, short flights, rabid fanbases, and built-in narratives. And if Tampa Bay gets shifted elsewhere in the name of geography, Baltimore doesn’t exactly get to throw a parade. The Rays have been annoying — but they’ve also been the one “low payroll” peer in the room. Take them out, and the Orioles are staring at a division where the spending expectations (and the margin for error) get even more brutal.

Here’s the part that should spark Orioles fans' curiosity: maybe realignment isn’t an escape hatch. It’s a spotlight.

Because this is the era of new ownership in Baltimore, and that matters. The club’s control transferred from the Angelos family to a group led by David Rubenstein in 2024, with a stated focus on building a winner. If MLB is heading toward a more regional, rivalry-heavy setup, the Orioles can’t keep living off the “small-market” shrug when it’s time to supplement the core.

A Yankees–Red Sox–Blue Jays–Orioles foursome would basically be a weekly referendum on how serious you are. You can’t hide in that kind of division.

Sure, all of this is still hypothetical. Manfred’s talking about a framework that depends on expansion to 32 teams, and he’s been clear he wants that moving before his term ends in January 2029. But the Orioles' takeaway is already here: if you were hoping realignment would rescue Baltimore from the AL East experience, Manfred just reminded everyone that MLB’s priorities aren’t to make things easier for the Orioles. They’re to make things cleaner, closer, and louder.

And if that’s the future? Baltimore better be ready to spend like it wants to survive it.