How Rob Manfred’s realignment vision might reshape Padres’ NL West rivalries

The Major League Baseball community is currently shook to its core. Rob Manfred, the league's commissioner, spoke on the broadcast on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball last night to talk about expansion and how it would impact the divisional alignments as we know it.

The Padres, desperate to get away from the Los Angeles Dodgers, would likely still remain in the same division as their NL West rivals. Though not ideal, we could see a major shake-up among other teams currently in San Diego's division.

Potential MLB division realignment would keep Padres-Dodgers 'rivalry' afloat while others move on

While it would be great for the game and for ratings, the Padres would likely prefer not being in the same league as the Dodgers. Sadly, it's inevitable, even if MLB breaks ground on a divisional realignment.

Remember when Jim Bowden from The Athletic painted a realistic picture of what a realignment would look like? His predictions are coming back to the table, but with more merit this time around as Manfred has sparked this discussion once again.

In this scenario, the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies would leave the Padres' division, while welcoming the Los Angeles Angels. This new four-team division would be comprised of the Padres, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Angels. So basically, the Padres would be fighting with the Dodgers every season for the division title, but it wouldn't come easy.

Although the Angels have not seen much success as a franchise recently, they have battled the Friars well. The Padres are 6-4 against the Halos across their last 10 meet-ups, so no win would be guaranteed.

Do fans really want to see an earth-shattering divisional realignment? There are a ton of pros to come from this, including the Padres not traveling far, as well as a team having a stronger chance of winning a divisional title.

People tend to not accept change at first, but if MLB finds a way to add two new expansion franchises, we may see a divisional realignment as a ripple effect. It wouldn't be the worst thing, but the Padres would still have to deal with the Dodgers more likely than not.