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Tigers to the AL East?

...only if Portland gets a team. And that would more than likely be the Florida Marlins, a team that is always being discussed alongside the word "relocation."

Phil Rogers of ESPN.com stated that if that were happen, he would move the Portland franchise to the AL West, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the NL East and the Tigers to the AL East:

If the Marlins did wind up moving there, MLB could also realign in a way that makes more geographic sense.

Tampa Bay could move to the National League, where it might develop a rivalry with Atlanta, with Portland's team joining Seattle in the American League West. Texas could be shifted to the AL Central -- a change it was promised more than a decade ago -- and Detroit could move to the AL East. Nothing happens easily, or quickly, in MLB, but this makes sense.


Now, that would be interesting. Re-sparking the old rivalries from several years ago - including the Toronto Blue Jays, who the Tigers have had some interesting standings races with in the past. In the AL East the Tigers would be taking on those Blue Jays, the Orioles, and the two payroll-giants Red Sox and Yankees.

However, I would rather the Tigers stick to the AL Central. I think that the competition in the division is becoming very good, and I slowly see pretty heated rivalries beginning. I think that shifting things around too much would disturb that, something that wouldn't be in the best interest of Major League Baseball.

(HT to DRaysBay, the SB Nation's Tampa Bay Devil Rays Blog)