And, in 2023, the MLB will rollout a balanced schedule. What this means is that every team in the MLB will play every team at least once.

Technically, the balanced schedule should limit the advantage that strong teams in weak divisions have over other teams with deeper divisions. Also, this brings a lot of great exposure for teams across all markets, and should be a huge win for baseball fans.

“This new format creates more consistent opponent matchups as Clubs compete for Postseason berths,” MLB chief operations and strategy officer Chris Marinak said in a release, “particularly in the recently expanded Wild Card round. Additionally, this fan-friendly format provides fans with the opportunity to see more opponent matchups, with a particular focus on dramatically expanding our most exciting Interleague matchups, and offers more national exposure to the star players throughout our game.”

MLB.com

Personally, I love this schedule. Living in Des Moines, IA, the closest MLB stadium is Kauffman in Kansas City. As a Cubs fan, nothing compares to a game at Wrigley, but I’ll take baseball where I can get it.

So, for example, within a 2.5 hour drive, I can catch the the A’s at Kauffman in May, as well as seeing the Mets in early August. The Dodgers will be there at the end of June/beginning of July. The Cubs will play the Royals each year, and in 2024, the Cubs will likely be in KC.

I think about the experience that my friends living in major markets have, compared to those of us living in Triple A towns. Will seats go fast when some of the biggest clubs in the MLB come to KC? Probably. Will lines be long? For sure. But, that’s hopefully what a bit of this schedule will add to the romance of major league baseball.