Major League Baseball is in the middle of its longest expansion drought since the league first expanded in 1961. MLB has not added any new teams since the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays joined the league in 1998, though commissioner Rob Manfred has said he would like the expansion wheels to be in motion by the end of his term in 2029.

"Those [expansion] teams won't be playing by the time I'm done but I would like the process along and [cities] selected," Manfred, who intends to retire after his term ends, said last February .

Adding two new teams would allow MLB to even the two leagues out at 16 teams apiece, making daily interleague play no longer necessary. It also creates the opportunity for realignment. Manfred hinted at the possibility of wholesale realignm

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