MLB Realignment

[Mac the Knife]

Right now the top 5 teams in the AL are Boston, New York, Cleveland, Detroit, and Texas. The top 5 teams in the NL are Philadelphia, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

So in theory, you'd have...

A Detroit-Texas wild card series in the AL, with

Boston awaiting the winner, while Cleveland and New York duke it out for an ALCS berth, and

An Atlanta-San Francisco wild card series in the NL, with

Philadelphia awaiting the winner, while St. Louis and Milwaukee duke it out for an NLCS bid.

I could live with that.

[smith03]

They should just move Milwaukee back into the AL where they belong, instead of Houston who has more historic rivals in the Central and has never had any history in the other league, unlike Milwaukee who won their first and only pennant in the AL.

Not to mention, they should just stop it with expanding the playoffs. It's an 162-game season they play, and the last thing they need to do is remove even more value to an already inflated schedule by having a larger playoff field. Soon, winning the wild card won't mean anything either.

agree but Bud wants Milwaukee in the NL

[crashcarson15]

I am for this. I would like this because my team, the Tigers would have a much better shot at the playoffs. Another wild card spot would give good teams a chance not named the Red Sox or Yankees. Also, I would love to see more NL teams come to town. I love the interleague play because we never get to see those teams play. I honestly don't see this happening though.

hahahahahahahaha, that's hilarious. If this were instituted for this year, I'd bet that the top 4 teams right now in the AL would be Toronto, Tampa Bay, Boston, and New York.

All you guys have to do right now is beat out the Indians, and that shouldn't take much effort. The AL Central is the worst division in baseball right now. Why would you want to move out of that arrangement?

Right now the top 5 teams in the AL are Boston, New York, Cleveland, Detroit, and Texas. The top 5 teams in the NL are Philadelphia, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

Based on what? Record? You realize the AL Central has a terrible record against the AL East, right? Without the weights of being able to beat up on the rest of the AL Central, neither the Indians or Tigers would be a playoff team under the new system. You're losing almost half of your games against the AL-worst Twins as well as the Royals and White Sox, 2 of the other worst teams in the AL. What you have as the "top 5 teams" in each league are all based off of a weighted schedule, which wouldn't happen anymore. The SOS for AL Central teams would go up, and you'd likely see Toronto and Tampa Bay in there as the representatives instead of Detroit and Cleveland.

[McCall]

I am for this. I would like this because my team, the Tigers would have a much better shot at the playoffs. Another wild card spot would give good teams a chance not named the Red Sox or Yankees. Also, I would love to see more NL teams come to town. I love the interleague play because we never get to see those teams play. I honestly don't see this happening though.

hahahahahahahaha, that's hilarious. If this were instituted for this year, I'd bet that the top 4 teams right now in the AL would be Toronto, Tampa Bay, Boston, and New York.

All you guys have to do right now is beat out the Indians, and that shouldn't take much effort. The AL Central is the worst division in baseball right now. Why would you want to move out of that arrangement?

Right now the top 5 teams in the AL are Boston, New York, Cleveland, Detroit, and Texas. The top 5 teams in the NL are Philadelphia, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

Yes. And the other teams in those divisions are only chasing one or two teams, rather than 5 or 6 or even more if there are no divisions. In that scenario, some teams are pretty much out of it by the end of May at the latest. Some are done in April. At least with a 5 or 4 team division, you're chasing fewer teams and may be in a race later in the year, even by only a couple months. That's going to keep fans interested longer.

[OnWis97]

Not to mention, they should just stop it with expanding the playoffs. It's an 162-game season they play, and the last thing they need to do is remove even more value to an already inflated schedule by having a larger playoff field. Soon, winning the wild card won't mean anything either.

This, this, 1000 times this! Please leave the number of playoff teams. It's still special to get in and it's what makes a 162 game season in MLB more fun than an 82 game season in the NHL/NBA. And you'll never convince me that, unlike the other sports, a bye is not a disadvantage in baseball.

I am overall against anything that causes there to literally be an interleague matchup every day and would rather leave it as is. However, the below post makes a good point:

I LOVE this idea, all because it actually seems FAIR. Coming from a Jays fan it would be a welcome change not having to play the Yanks and Sox twenty something times a year. With this you can have a balanced schedule between all 15 teams in the league. It would be exciting to see the 15 teams all trying to get into that top 5. As for the interleague issue, I say why not? Interleague play is not special anymore. Marlins VS Rays is just another game. So I think having it every day would not make it less special than what it is now. If anything this might allow them to play an interleague schedule that is the same for each team, which would just make things more fair.

My response would be to balance the schedule more like it was pre-1994...where the teams in the league essentially all played the same schedule. It's WAY to unbalanced at this time. At least then the wild-card would be a fair race.

You could easily argue fairness in eliminating divisions, but to make the "race for 5th" the biggest deal seems silly. I like the race for first in the divisions and giving that one team that probably would have won the other divisions a wild card.

I know this ain't the deadball era and that league separation will never be what it used to be. But I don't want to see any more moves that make it look like the "leagues" are becoming "conferences". (Particularly not that Western Conference (NL) / Eastern Conference (AL) plan that was floated by Bud several years ago.

[FrankCostanza]

I could live with the single table format, IF they keep the playoffs at 4 per league. It keeps the integrity of the 162 game season and it makes it fair for every team in the league to qualify for the playoffs. The idea of adding a second wildcard team (fifth overall) to each league's playoffs is to make it fairer for teams like Baltimore and Toronto who a stuck in tough divisions. Eliminating divisions eliminates this problem and as every team in each league will have the same chance at making the playoffs (assuming that the teams play the same, or very similar schedules).

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

i have no problem with interleague play. I like seeing teams from the other league/conference play. That's one of the reasons like watching the other sports because i can see teams from the other conference play. I get tired of seeing the same teams play. if your the pittsburgh pirates and you wanted to see the yankees play well you would have to wait until the yankees and the pirates went to the world series.

I have a better chance of taking a dump made entirely of gold than i have seeing the Pirates in the world series to take on the Red Sox, Yankees, Mariners or Rangers.

[rams80]

I'm only in favor of adding a playoff team if the team is intended to play the current Wild Card team in a one and done or best of 3 situation-only because that would handicap both compared to the division winners.

[crashcarson15]

Hell, I'd be happy to be honest if there were 2, 7-team divisions in the AL and 2, 8-team divisions in the NL. Division winners play in the LCS, winners of that play in the World Series.

[TBGKon]

Now, Jim Bowden has his own idea...geographic realignment:

http://espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office/post/_/id/363/mlb-needs-geographic-realignment

[Breakwood]

Now, Jim Bowden has his own idea...geographic realignment:

http://espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office/post/_/id/363/mlb-needs-geographic-realignment

Is there a point to the rest of the League when there is a division with the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies all in one division? Poor Blue Jays.

[OnWis97]

Now, Jim Bowden has his own idea...geographic realignment:

http://espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office/post/_/id/363/mlb-needs-geographic-realignment

That's pretty much what I was alluding to above, except Bud tried to keep the "AL" and "NL".

This "conference" plan would assure that we never again get to see the strategic NL, as both conferences would adopt the DH.

[Lights Out]

Actually, Bowden's idea eradicates the DH.

This, of course, would include the eradication of the American and National Leagues, as we know them, as well as the designated hitter rule.

[crashcarson15]

And he has no clue how his own playoff system would work. He has them going from 6 to 3 teams in each conference. WTF.

[McCall]

No wonder he's out of baseball. That is the stupidest argument I have ever heard for realignment. "Baseball and Hockey have 16 so why can't baseball have 12?" the other leagues playoff structure has nothing to do with it. If anything most complain about how LONG the NBA and NHL playoffs drag out from April to June. MLB and he NFL are known for their October and January playoffs. They work.

[Lights Out]

Another problem with Bowden's idea: I can accept getting rid of the DH (I've always hated that rule), and even a radical realignment, but having both New York teams, the Red Sox, and the Phillies in the same division is absolutely preposterous. That would completely screw over the Blue Jays. Good luck ever making the playoffs again when the top three teams in payroll and the team with the seventh-highest payroll are in your division and you can't match their resources.

[Brass]

Why not move the Pirates to the AL Central and have the Royals play in the AL West? Wouldn't this also secure that states with two or more teams, have at least one team in each league?

Why does that even matter? Markets with two or more teams should be split up, but even then, since revenue sharing isn't what it is in some of the other sports and the TV contracts aren't done by league, even that doesn't really matter much.

It was more of an observation, not a point, skipper.

[Eye]

Why not move the Pirates to the AL Central and have the Royals play in the AL West? Wouldn't this also secure that states with two or more teams, have at least one team in each league?

Why does that even matter? Markets with two or more teams should be split up, but even then, since revenue sharing isn't what it is in some of the other sports and the TV contracts aren't done by league, even that doesn't really matter much.

It was more of an observation, not a point, skipper.

But does it really matter? I don't really think it does one way or the other. You?

[CubsFanBudMan]

I like the idea that was floated the other day (and several times before): one new wildcard team that plays the other in a one-game playoff. There should be no bye-ing in baseball. But it would be an advantage for the No. 1 seed if whoever comes out of the wildcard had to waste their best pitcher. It also would be an exciting kickoff to the playoffs. The model discussed before eliminated the one-game tiebreakers, but they shouldn't do that. The more one-game playoffs in a row, the better.

[BrySmalls]

He has no clue about baseball.

Fixed your post.