Rob Manfred speaks on dropping down from 162 game season and in-season tournament similar to the NBA
Photo credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images
Rob Manfred's split-season idea and in-season tournament talk just jolted MLB.
On Thursday, Manfred told WFAN the league has discussed split seasons and an in-season tournament. He also tied the concept to potential expansion and a geography-first realignment.
The commissioner's main point was fatigue, 162 games is a grind, and breaking it up might create fresh stakes. But he admitted any tournament pushes you toward fewer regular-season games, because fans guard the record book.
Manfred also revisited a long-term reshuffle, if MLB expands from 30 to 32 clubs, he likes eight divisions of four teams.
He said he would try to keep same-city pairs like the New York Yankees and New York Mets in separate divisions.
Rob Manfred floats split-season tournament
As a fan, I'm into anything that trims travel, but I cringe when the sport starts cutting up its own history. Baseball is built on the daily rhythm, and a midseason bracket risks turning June into a warm-up.
The NBA's in-season tournament works partly because its 82-game schedule is already segmented by TV windows.
MLB would need the union on board, likely with real incentives, and Manfred hinted that means trimming the slate.
Realignment is the easier sell on paper, because geography cuts mileage and can clean up postseason start times.
Manfred has connected those TV headaches to expansion, which he still says he wants resolved before he steps down in January 2029.
All of this sits under the labor calendar, the current CBA expires on December 1, 2026, and any schedule overhaul would be a bargaining centerpiece.
That deadline makes Manfred's brainstorming feel less like a thought experiment and more like an opening bid.
For now it's just talk on a radio show, but it tells you where the league office wants to push.
The next milestone is spring bargaining chatter turning into real proposals, and fans will decide how much change they can stomach.
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