MLB expansion/reallignment proposal

[kewp80]

Man, can we just leave it as is, and stop this re-alignment crap? I'm a traditionalist when it comes to the MLB, and would rather like to see Interleague play go away, but I know I'm in the minority there, and know it wont go away, so lets just leave things how they are now, it's fine.

[Patrick L. Kennedy]

Man, can we just leave it as is, and stop this re-alignment crap? I'm a traditionalist when it comes to the MLB, and would rather like to see Interleague play go away, but I know I'm in the minority there, and know it wont go away, so lets just leave things how they are now, it's fine.

Tradition serves it's purpose, but quite often it is just an excuse to keep bad ideas going. Like the pitcher batting, for example.

[infrared41]

Unless the Players Union does something stupid and collapses like the Umpires' union, anything resembling a salary cap will not happen. The CBA is not in balance between the two sides.

Gee I hadn't thought of that...

If the player's union likes getting all those big salaries they better start looking more towards the future. What's the point in having teams like The Royals, D-Rays, Pirates, Nationals, Reds, etc. trot our for what amounts to 162 exhibition games? The disparity between everyone else and The Yankees & Red Sox is so ridiculous it's almost comical. At some point the health of the sport needs to be addressed or the player's union will see jobs disappear. Why bother even having the aforementioned doormats? Every good player they develop will just end up somewhere else in 3-5 years. Unless some kind of real competitive balance is established MLB and the player's union will have a bigger fight on their hands than a salary cap.

[cappital92]

Unless the Players Union does something stupid and collapses like the Umpires' union, anything resembling a salary cap will not happen. The CBA is not in balance between the two sides.

Gee I hadn't thought of that...

If the player's union likes getting all those big salaries they better start looking more towards the future. What's the point in having teams like The Royals, D-Rays, Pirates, Nationals, Reds, etc. trot our for what amounts to 162 exhibition games? The disparity between everyone else and The Yankees & Red Sox is so ridiculous it's almost comical. At some point the health of the sport needs to be addressed or the player's union will see jobs disappear. Why bother even having the aforementioned doormats? Every good player they develop will just end up somewhere else in 3-5 years. Unless some kind of real competitive balance is established MLB and the player's union will have a bigger fight on their hands than a salary cap.

I think the "survival of the fittest" idea in MLB is great. No other league in America does anything close. It would make the game more interesting.

[gmat]

AL East

Atlanta

Boston

Chicago WS

NY Yankees

Minnesota

AL Central

Chicago Cubs

Cleveland

Detroit

Milwaukee

Pittsburgh

AL Atlantic

Baltimore

Carolina (Barons)

Philadelphia

Toronto

Washington

NL East

Cincinnati

Florida

NY Mets

St. Louis

Texas

NL Central

Arizona

Colorado

Houston

LA Angels

San Diego

NL Pacific

LA Dodgers

Oakland

Portland (Beavers)

San Francisco

Seattle

Dropped: Kansas City, Tampa Bay

You have 15 teams in each league. What are you going to have constant interleague play or is one team in each league going to be off three straight day?

[KDubK414]

So.............

My Idea of contracting the Tampa Bay Rays didn't go over very WELL!!!???

[Luigi74]

Any reallingment that moves long time NL or AL teams makes me sick to my stomach, the only teams that should be moved are the Brewers or any recent expanion team.

If they would ever do any major change's I think they best would be to move the Brewers, Diamondbacks or Rockies to the AL and add a expansion team to each league, then just have two division's(east & west) in each league with two wild card teams making the playoffs.

Also the Pirates need to be moved back to the NL East with it being a 6 team division or move the Braves to the Central where they belong, remember they where in the NL West with the Reds & Astros back in the day and they are located more west than Pittsburgh. Getting hosed in the reallignment years ago is another mark on the horrible Pirate ownership.

[McCall]

So.............

My Idea of contracting the Tampa Bay Rays didn't go over very WELL!!!???

You can't contract just one team. Then there'd always be a series where a team wasn't playing. If you're gonna contract, you have to drop 2 teams so it's an even number left.

[winghaz]

The original concept is actually a pretty good idea if MLB were to decide to expand. I don't think it will, but let's play that if game.

The problem here, though, is Montreal isn't viable. But what about other places, such as Buffalo?

The biggest thing I like about this is there aren't major changes, like switching a lot of NL and AL teams. Like some of those concepts that put the Cubs in the AL. Sheesh, that's awful.

[KevinMcD]

But what about other places, such as Buffalo?

I've thought long and hard if we could support a MLB team, I would say if the team was good from the start like the D-Backs, then yes they will be viable for a long time. If they are horrible like the D-Rays, then NO they will not be supported well.

Stadium

We have the set-up for the expansion of Dunn Tire Park for MLB Standards. I believe it could get to 40K+. It is a nice stadium as is, and could be better with expansion.

Fanbase

Most people here support the Yankees or Sox. If the "new" baseball team is an NL team they would be supported. If they go into the AL East, there is no way they will have support. The Buffalo team could be their NL team, and the Yankees/Sox/Indians could be their AL team.

People in Buffalo support the Bisons pretty well for a Minor League team, but that is only a MILB team. A MLB tem would easily be supported for the first few years, but would they be for 10+ years after the "Honeymoon" time.

Economy

HELL NO. City and County have no money, and the state spends all of their money downstate. The county of Erie may collapse. They have major problems, so the Economy of the governments are not there. The city is also a blue collar town. People don't have enough money to spend on Sports and that money is spent on the Bills and Sabres.

Stadium-YES

Fanbase-Possible

Economy-NO

If the potential team is good from the start they will not flounder. I think they could be a successful team for a long time. If they aren't good from the start, they will not be viable. Why would people spend their limited entertainment money on a horrible team if they could spend it on long time team such as the Bills and Sabres.

[Bronxmet]

I agree with the Braves and Pirates switching divisions because the Braves would be able to play in Milwaukee more often and share the division with old NL West-mates Houston and Cincinnati.

[CZzyzx41]

Eliminate the DH and interleague games.

NLW: ARI, COL, LAD, SD, SF

NLC: CHI, CIN, HOU, PIT, STL

NLE: ATL, FLA, NYM, PHI, TB

ALW: LAA, CWS, OAK, SEA, TEX

ALC: CLE, DET, KC, MIL, MIN

ALE: BAL, BOS, NYY, TOR, WAS

Move the Brewers back to the AL. Flip Tampa Bay and Washington and get them new open-air stadiums to play in. The Devils Rays will have a much better shot at success in the NL than the AL and I feel the same about Washington. Plus, the Senators were always in the AL prior to their current encarnation. The removal of interleague games will balance the divisions, and add more excitement to the World Series. Want to see other teams? There's always spring training and most places have a park from the other league within at least a short plan flight.

[rams80]

Eliminate the DH and interleague games.

NLW: ARI, COL, LAD, SD, SF

NLC: CHI, CIN, HOU, PIT, STL

NLE: ATL, FLA, NYM, PHI, TB

ALW: LAA, CWS, OAK, SEA, TEX

ALC: CLE, DET, KC, MIL, MIN

ALE: BAL, BOS, NYY, TOR, WAS

Move the Brewers back to the AL. Flip Tampa Bay and Washington and get them new open-air stadiums to play in. The Devils Rays will have a much better shot at success in the NL than the AL and I feel the same about Washington. Plus, the Senators were always in the AL prior to their current encarnation. The removal of interleague games will balance the divisions, and add more excitement to the World Series. Want to see other teams? There's always spring training and most places have a park from the other league within at least a short plan flight.

Does your plan involve a "regime change" with the Orioles? Because Angelos would never agree to shifting Washington to the AL. (Also...RFK's open air, as is the new stadium they are building now.)

[TBGKon]

Eliminate the DH and interleague games.

NLW: ARI, COL, LAD, SD, SF

NLC: CHI, CIN, HOU, PIT, STL

NLE: ATL, FLA, NYM, PHI, TB

ALW: LAA, CWS, OAK, SEA, TEX

ALC: CLE, DET, KC, MIL, MIN

ALE: BAL, BOS, NYY, TOR, WAS

Move the Brewers back to the AL. Flip Tampa Bay and Washington and get them new open-air stadiums to play in. The Devils Rays will have a much better shot at success in the NL than the AL and I feel the same about Washington. Plus, the Senators were always in the AL prior to their current encarnation. The removal of interleague games will balance the divisions, and add more excitement to the World Series. Want to see other teams? There's always spring training and most places have a park from the other league within at least a short plan flight.

Does your plan involve a "regime change" with the Orioles? Because Angelos would never agree to shifting Washington to the AL. (Also...RFK's open air, as is the new stadium they are building now.)

Also, the Rays should NEVER have a true open-air stadium. If anything, it should be a retractable roof because of Florida's freak thunderstorms that pop up almost every evening (we've currently had them for about 7 days running)

[Billy B]

Eliminate the DH and interleague games.

NLW: ARI, COL, LAD, SD, SF

NLC: CHI, CIN, HOU, PIT, STL

NLE: ATL, FLA, NYM, PHI, TB

ALW: LAA, CWS, OAK, SEA, TEX

ALC: CLE, DET, KC, MIL, MIN

ALE: BAL, BOS, NYY, TOR, WAS

Move the Brewers back to the AL. Flip Tampa Bay and Washington and get them new open-air stadiums to play in. The Devils Rays will have a much better shot at success in the NL than the AL and I feel the same about Washington. Plus, the Senators were always in the AL prior to their current encarnation. The removal of interleague games will balance the divisions, and add more excitement to the World Series. Want to see other teams? There's always spring training and most places have a park from the other league within at least a short plan flight.

There are 15 teams in each league. That would mean that one team would have no games for at least three days.

[HedleyLamarr]

Also the Pirates need to be moved back to the NL East with it being a 6 team division or move the Braves to the Central where they belong, remember they where in the NL West with the Reds & Astros back in the day and they are located more west than Pittsburgh. Getting hosed in the reallignment years ago is another mark on the horrible Pirate ownership.

Chicago and St. Louis are located west of Atlanta, yet they played in the NL East while Atlanta played in the NL West.

The divisional alignment wouldn't be such a bad thing if the imbalanced schedule weren't in play. Blame MLB for changing the schedule.

[jonkj]

You have 15 teams in each league. What are you going to have constant interleague play or is one team in each league going to be off three straight day?

There's no reason why we CAN'T have one interleague series all year long. The idea that interleague play must be played all at once, in blocks, is unnecesary. Let's say you're in Cleveland -- if you are enjoying the Indians playing the Cardinals, why should you care if the Braves-Blue Jays matchup is on the same day?

The schedule could be arranged so that teams who finished at the bottom of the standings the previous year play their interleague games the following April and September, leaving those critical weeks for duels between likely division contenders.

That said, two 15-team leagues seems unlikely at this point, making this unlikely as well. You will NOT see the Brewers move back to the American League. Milwaukee is a National League town. And no other club is likely to willingly move. The one that would make the most sense is Houston to the AL West, where the Astros and Rangers would immediately benefit from a natural rivalry.

[PeytonManningRocks]

Alright, everyone else hates the idea, but I think the NFL's 32 teams, 4 divisions per conference (or league), 4 teams per division is the perfect alignment, so here goes....

AL West: LAA, OAK, SEA, POR (expansion)

AL Midwest: MIN, COL, KC, TEX

AL Central: CLE, CHW, DET, TOR

AL East: NYY, BOS, BAL, CHA (expansion)

NL West: LAD, SF, SD, ARI

NL Midwest: HOU, CHC, STL, MIL

NL Central: PIT, CIN, ATL, TB

NL East: FLA, NYM, WAS, PHI

Each division winner makes the playoffs, as well as Wild Card, the Wild Card plays a one-game playoff against the worst division winner, and the winner advances to the LDS to play the league's best team. I like this idea....32 is the perfect number for pro sports, no more, no less.

I switched Tampa Bay and Colorado, because Colorado is still considered an offensive oriented team, and in the American League I think they could thrive. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, would get out of the shadow of the Yanks and Sox.

[rams80]

You have 15 teams in each league. What are you going to have constant interleague play or is one team in each league going to be off three straight day?

There's no reason why we CAN'T have one interleague series all year long. The idea that interleague play must be played all at once, in blocks, is unnecesary. Let's say you're in Cleveland -- if you are enjoying the Indians playing the Cardinals, why should you care if the Braves-Blue Jays matchup is on the same day?

The schedule could be arranged so that teams who finished at the bottom of the standings the previous year play their interleague games the following April and September, leaving those critical weeks for duels between likely division contenders.

That said, two 15-team leagues seems unlikely at this point, making this unlikely as well. You will NOT see the Brewers move back to the American League. Milwaukee is a National League town. And no other club is likely to willingly move. The one that would make the most sense is Houston to the AL West, where the Astros and Rangers would immediately benefit from a natural rivalry.

I'm not sure, but I think I saw someone crunch the numbers once and they said that with the current number of interleague games, MLB could not make two 15 team leagues work.

[Gary]

NO!

BAD!

BAD HUMANS!

BAD!

I think what Brian is trying to say is, you should be hit with a newspaper and sent to your corner cowering for even thinking about this