Fansided

New York Yankees and 4 other teams that would benefit from MLB realignment in 2020

By Brian Johnston

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 18: Aaron Hicks #31 of the New York Yankees celebrates with Aaron Judge #99 after hitting a three run home run against Justin Verlander #35 of the Houston Astros during the first inning in game five of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 18: Aaron Hicks #31 of the New York Yankees celebrates with Aaron Judge #99 after hitting a three run home run against Justin Verlander #35 of the Houston Astros during the first inning in game five of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Ronald Acuna, MLB (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /

2020 Realignment Division. Central. 4. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 17. Atlanta Braves

As mentioned above, the Braves and Pirates are the two teams that would end up with a totally different set of divisional foes under this plan. The Pirates, from a win-loss standpoint, would probably suffer because they’re going from a division with no elite teams to a division with the Yankees, Rays, and an overall better set of NL East teams.

However, it could easily be argued that the Braves would benefit from this plan. Just as the Yankees would dodge the Braves, the Braves would dodge the Yankees and Rays by moving to the Central division. Plus, the Braves would move out of a division with three teams that figured to challenge them for NL East superiority in the Nationals, Phillies, and Mets.

Instead, they would get an overall weaker class of contenders from the Central in the Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, and Reds. They also would have an opportunity to beat up on two of last year’s worst teams, the Tigers and Royals.

One thing that baseball fans would miss out on from this plan is the Braves’ long-time rivalry with the Mets and Phillies, along with what could have been a strong rivalry with the Nationals. Imagine Juan Soto and Ronald Acuna Jr. being in the same division and facing each other many times each season. We would miss out on that.

Still, the Braves figure overall to have a weaker schedule as a result of going to the Central division, and for that reason, Braves fans would probably be in favor of this.

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