For “at least the past decade,” MLB expansion has been Rob Manfred’s top plan. So far, we’ve come across Nashville and Salt Lake City as the frontrunners. Meanwhile, other cities, such as San Jose, Charlotte, and Montreal, have been mentioned here and there to some extent. The MLB commissioner has set himself a deadline, expressing that he’d like to have two cities picked before he retires in 2029. And if the recent report is anything to go by, popular opinion seems to suggest one major Canadian city housing the second team after the Toronto Blue Jays. And no, it’s not Montreal.

Earlier this week, Rob Williams of Daily Hive Sports explained why Vancouver should be one of the top contenders to have its MLB team. For starters, the culture has always been there. Take BC Place, for example. The historic multipurpose stadium, opened in 1983, was originally built with baseball in mind. It even housed a secondary baseball press box built right behind the home plate. However, as described by former operations boss Brian Griffin, “The only issue was the upper deck in one corner would have stuck out nine inches over the field.” Now, with 2029 merely four years away and Montreal’s initial bid rejected by the league in 2022, the western Canadian city might be a worthy home. But how open is Manfred to the idea?

Well, in an interview in 2018, the executive didn’t seem too averse to the idea. “We have a real list of cities that I think are not only interested in having baseball but also viable in terms of baseball. Places like Portland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Nashville in the United States. Certainly Montreal, maybe Vancouver in Canada,” he had mentioned. However, since multipurpose stadiums like BC Place no longer work for MLB, they are no longer used. That means if Vancouver is in the picture, the city would need an exclusive baseball-specific ballpark for an MLB team.

There are a few other aspects that put Vancity ahead of any other Canadian city. Except for Montreal with 4.6 million, Vancouver has a metro area population bigger than that of other potential cities in the MLB expansion race. Also, let’s keep in mind that Vancouver isn’t competing with any eastern city like Montreal, Nashville, or Orlando.

The reason is that Manfred was clear that he’s exploring one of two new expansion teams to be in the west. “It would have to be two [new teams for expansion]. With the way our schedule would work, you have to do two. The only other restriction is that, ideally, you would need an eastern time zone team and one in… the west.” That being the case, the list is narrowed down.

That leaves Vancouver, probably competing against Salt Lake City, Portland, and San Jose. Now, let’s understand how it’s all going to look post-expansion with 32 teams competing for the Fall Classic instead of the current 30.

What would it look like after the MLB expansion?

Now that we’ve three cities as front runners—Salt Lake City, Nashville, and Vancouver—how will it all work out? For starters, the endangered tradition of the 162-game schedule will come to an end, given that the league will be growing from 30 to 32 teams. It will either be a 156-game or 154-game format.

Moreover, the league hasn’t expanded since 1998. It was back when the Diamondbacks entered the picture. So, one thing is for sure: MLB is now overdue for growth. Before the end of this decade, we’re expecting the expansion to be done.

And when that happens, you can expect the New York Mets to end up in the same division as the Yankees instead of the Atlanta Braves. Meanwhile, in the postseason, instead of three division winners, we would have four. However, the postseason will still be split between the AL and NL. Both sides will have their own bracket.

Clubs like the Mets, Braves, and the Red Sox or Blue Jays won’t be traveling all the way to the West Coast for the division series. The expansion will bring a serious geographical realignment, too. With the current one, players often get drained with all the conveyance. That’s why we can expect that after sorting out the Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium situation, the league will speed up with expansion.