MLB-proposed East division could be daunting for Pirates but preferable to playing in Florida

Baseball is contemplating a comeback, one that would scrap the traditional American and National leagues for the 2020 season in favor of a more geographical and travel-friendly setup.

The new normal is anything but.

MLB has explored multiple options, with the latest splitting teams into three 10-team divisions for a 100-game season. USA Today first reported the idea of creating East, West and Central divisions, which would restrict teams to playing within their region but allow them to play games at their home stadiums.

Under that proposal, which would have its season begin by July, the Pittsburgh Pirates would play in the East with the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Miami Marlins, New York Mets and Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals.

It’s a daunting division, one that includes the reigning World Series champion Nationals, the 103-win Yankees and 96-win Rays, along with three other teams that won at least 81 games last season. That poses a major challenge for the Pirates, who finished 69-93 and are projected by some to lose 100 games.

The Pirates could complain they are the only NL Central team included in the East. They would lose longtime divisional rivalries with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals under this floated format, and could argue they might have been a better fit for the proposed Central than the NL East’s Atlanta Braves.

The Central Division, which would include the Braves, Chicago Cubs and White Sox, Reds, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Brewers and Minnesota Twins, also has a 100-win team (Twins), three 90-win teams (Braves, Indians and Cardinals) and two more 80-win teams (Brewers and Cubs). Only two teams in the Central (Royals and Tigers), however, had worse records last season than the Pirates, and the East’s Blue Jays, Marlins and Orioles all fared worse.

The 10-team, three-division format also appears preferable to a floated format that would separate teams by their spring training sites in Arizona (Cactus League) and Florida (Grapefruit League) and dividing each league into three, five-team divisions.

Under the idea, the Pirates would play in the Grapefruit North with the Blue Jays, Phillies, Tigers and Yankees with the Braves, Orioles, Rays, Red Sox and Twins in the South and the Astros, Cardinals, Marlins, Mets and Nationals in the East.

Such a scenario would have the Pirates playing in a league not only with the World Series champion Nationals but the 100-win Astros, Twins and Yankees, four teams that won at least 90 games and three others that won at least 80.

What makes the newest format preferable to the Pirates is they would play home games at PNC Park instead of LECOM Park in Bradenton, which would be better than the idea of an all-Arizona league where teams would be quarantined.

All of this, of course, requires the approval of not only medical experts but an agreement from the MLB Players Association.

“There’s certainly some advantage to either being in Pittsburgh or Bradenton,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said, “just because of the familiarity with facilities, and you know how to use those places to your advantage already and there’s less ramp-up time from that standpoint.

“I really believe our players and coaches, and really the entire Major League traveling party if you think about that as a group, is willing to play wherever the league and the Players Association decide on the guidance of health experts is the safest place and the safest way to do it.”