I think location of spring training sites comes into play. I think in general the Grapefruit League has a group of teams on the Atlantic side and a group of teams on the Gulf of Mexico side, and the Tigers, Blue Jays, and Braves in between the two coasts. I think to avoid too many cross state drives, the Grapefruit League is unofficially divided up into 2 or 3 pods where teams frequently match up with one another, and the occasional “out of pod” matchup occurs to fill out a daily schedule. So I think that’s why the Tigers frequently match up with the Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays, and Braves, but rarely play teams like the Cardinals, Nationals, and Marlins.
I could be absolutely dead nuts on, completely wrong, or somewhere in between the two on this. I could scour the interwebs and find a map of spring training sites to somewhat support my hall brained idea, but I’m kind of tired and definitely lazy.