How many teams are there in the MLB?

Major League Baseball, or MLB for short, consists of 30 teams. They are divided into two leagues of 15 teams each, called the American League (AL) and National League (NL), respectively. Each league is further subdivided into three divisions: East, Central and West.

Out of the 30 teams, 29 are from the United States of America and one is from Canada. The first Canadian team in the MLB, the Montreal Expos, was relocated to Washington, subsequently becoming the Washington Nationals. That leaves the Toronto Blue Jays as the only Canadian team in the MLB.

The National League was formed in 1876 while the American League was formed 25 years later in 1901.

The grouping of teams across each division is as follows:

NL East

Atlanta Braves

Miami Marlins

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Washington Nationals

NL Central

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Milwaukee Brewers

Pittsburgh Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks

Colorado Rockies

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

AL East

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Guardians

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

Minnesota Twins

AL West

Houston Astros

Los Angeles Angels

Oakland Athletics

Seattle Mariners

Texas Rangers

Total games played by MLB teams in a season and postseason qualifications

Carlos Correa #1 of the Houston Astros holds the Commissioner's Trophy after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in game seven to win the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium on November 1, 2017, in Los Angeles, California.

The MLB season runs for a stretch of six months from April to October. Each team plays a total of 162 games in the regular season. Not all games are played at times, especially if a particular game would have no impact on the league standings.

These 162 games are separate from the Spring Training Games, the All-Star Game and the postseason. The postseason consists of a six-team tournament for each league, grouping together the three winners and the teams with the second-best win total in each division.

These playoff tournaments are called the Championship Series for each league. The winners of both the playoffs proceed to battle for the World Series. It is a best-of-seven playoff tournament, with the winner lifting the Commissioner's Trophy.