MLB Realignment

[Viper]

My few cents on MLB reel-line-mint:

1) If anyone moves from the NL to the AL in the near future it will be Houston, because [a] none of the other NL teams, including Milwaukee, have any interest whatsoever in switching, and the Astros are currently up for sale, so MLB can effectively force any buyer to agree to switch to the AL as a precondition for allowing the sale.

2) Houston could move from the NL Central right into the AL West, without any other teams having to switch divisions to accommodate them (unlike, say, the Atlanta-to-Winnipeg move in the NHL).

3) If this happens and we have interleague play across the entire regular season, don't be surprised to see AL teams start clamoring for MLB to adopt a single unified rule set (read: the same DH rule) for both leagues, in order to avoid disadvantaging AL teams in playoff races having to bat their pitchers in September/October interleague games while their rivals are still using DH's.

4) And if that happens, for all intents and purposes the AL and NL will be separate leagues in name only. We might as well start calling them the American and National Conferences, à la the NFL.

[McCall]

My few cents on MLB reel-line-mint:

1) If anyone moves from the NL to the AL in the near future it will be Houston, because [a] none of the other NL teams, including Milwaukee, have any interest whatsoever in switching, and the Astros are currently up for sale, so MLB can effectively force any buyer to agree to switch to the AL as a precondition for allowing the sale.

2) Houston could move from the NL Central right into the AL West, without any other teams having to switch divisions to accommodate them (unlike, say, the Atlanta-to-Winnipeg move in the NHL).

3) If this happens and we have interleague play across the entire regular season, don't be surprised to see AL teams start clamoring for MLB to adopt a single unified rule set (read: the same DH rule) for both leagues, in order to avoid disadvantaging AL teams in playoff races having to bat their pitchers in September/October interleague games while their rivals are still using DH's.

4) And if that happens, for all intents and purposes the AL and NL will be separate leagues in name only. We might as well start calling them the American and National Conferences, à la the NFL.

1. Houston already has a buyer.

2. Colorado and Arizona can go right into the AL West and moving Houston to the NL West would not be difficult. They also haven't been in the NL for even half as long as the Astros have.

3. NL won't adopt the DH. Interleague play won't increase even with full season play. At minimum teams would play 9-12 games so it would probably stay at around 15-18 as is now. I personally would prefer 12 for everybody.

4. 3 will prevent 4.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Wasn't part of the Arizona and Tampa Bay expansion agreements in 1998 that they could be moved into the opposite league at any time if needed? I seem to remember the Diamondbacks publicly complaining about that. MLB wouldn't need to interfere with the Astros sale, they already wrote it into two other contracts, I believe.

[ESTONES6]

I like the Astros staying in the NL. It keeps the Texas teams split up, just like the Chicago, New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Baltimore/Washington teams.

But does no one else want to see Philly or Pittsburgh go to the AL, thus splitting up the Pennsylvania teams? My thoughts:

NL West: Rockies, Giants, Padres, Dodgers, Diamondbacks

NL Central: Cubs, Reds, Brewers, Astros, Cardinals

NL East: Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Nationals, Mets

AL West: Athletics, Angels, Mariners, Royals, Rangers

AL Central: Indians, White Sox, Tigers, Pirates, Twins

AL East: Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays

Geographically it makes sense.

[BBTV]

What benefit at all does splitting up the Pennsylvania teams have? There is no benefit either way - splitting them up or having them in the same league.

[Mac the Knife]

But does no one else want to see Philly or Pittsburgh go to the AL, thus splitting up the Pennsylvania teams?

No. No one else does.

[ESTONES6]

What benefit at all does splitting up the Pennsylvania teams have? There is no benefit either way - splitting them up or having them in the same league.

1.) Potential Pennsylvania World Series. (Obvious)

2.) Geographically, its a wash.

3,4,5,6,7,8,9.) The Ohio, Texas, New York, Florida, Missouri, Chicago, and Baltimore/DC teams are split up...

[Mac the Knife]

As long as we're discussing radical realignment concepts along with less ambitious ones, here's just another log on the proverbial fire...

With the lines between the AL and NL being blurred with interleague play, realignment, consolidation of their operations into MLB's New York offices, etc., if you're going to go ahead with a radical realignment plan why not just obliterate the AL/NL entirely, and operate the competition under the MLB banner?

Realign teams into six divisions of five teams purely on geography, with no reference to their prior AL/NL affiliations:

Northeast: Boston, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Philadelphia, Toronto.

Eastern: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington.

Midwestern: Chicago Cubs, Chicago Sox, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minnesota.

Southern: Atlanta, Kansas City, Miami, St. Louis, Tampa.

Western: Houston, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Texas.

Southwest: Arizona, California, Colorado, Los Angeles, San Diego.

Each team plays:

- The other four teams in division the eighteen times each that currently is in the schedule, for 72 games.

- 10 of the 25 teams from the other divisions in one, 3-game series each, for 30 games.

- 15 of the 25 teams from the other divisions in one, 4-game series each, for 40 games.

162 games total.

Give the six division champions, along with four wild card qualifiers, without regard to division, playoff berths. The wild cards play a best of three series. The divisional series are best of five, with LCS' and the World Series being best of seven series.

[BBTV]

What benefit at all does splitting up the Pennsylvania teams have? There is no benefit either way - splitting them up or having them in the same league.

1.) Potential Pennsylvania World Series. (Obvious)

2.) Geographically, its a wash.

3,4,5,6,7,8,9.) The Ohio, Texas, New York, Florida, Missouri, Chicago, and Baltimore/DC teams are split up...

1.) And that would make it extra interesting to... who? Someone who may not have watched the world series will now want to watch because two teams that happen to play in cities that share a governer are playing each other? It's two totally separate metro areas, and the teams aren't even rivals. It doesn't matter. Political boundaries are the most overrated thing when discussing rivalries. Cleveland and Pittsburgh would be more interesting than Phila and Pittsburgh.

2.) Right. They don't even belong in the same division under most reasonable realignment proposals.

3 - 9) Again, so? It really doesn't mean anything unless the teams are in the same market. Texas has traditionally been looked at as one big market, regardless of the individual metro areas (I don't know if that's actually the case though, but I know that we sometimes think of it that way.) Other than that, I can't think of a reason that teams should be split up.

[ESTONES6]

What benefit at all does splitting up the Pennsylvania teams have? There is no benefit either way - splitting them up or having them in the same league.

1.) Potential Pennsylvania World Series. (Obvious)

2.) Geographically, its a wash.

3,4,5,6,7,8,9.) The Ohio, Texas, New York, Florida, Missouri, Chicago, and Baltimore/DC teams are split up...

1.) And that would make it extra interesting to... who? Someone who may not have watched the world series will now want to watch because two teams that happen to play in cities that share a governer are playing each other? It's two totally separate metro areas, and the teams aren't even rivals. It doesn't matter. Political boundaries are the most overrated thing when discussing rivalries. Cleveland and Pittsburgh would be more interesting than Phila and Pittsburgh.

2.) Right. They don't even belong in the same division under most reasonable realignment proposals.

3 - 9) Again, so? It really doesn't mean anything unless the teams are in the same market. Texas has traditionally been looked at as one big market, regardless of the individual metro areas (I don't know if that's actually the case though, but I know that we sometimes think of it that way.) Other than that, I can't think of a reason that teams should be split up.

I think you would garner more attention from the casual fan if the Battle of Pennsylvania was for the World Series. Even during the regular season. Hell, when the Indians and Reds were both terrible, bottom of the barrel teams, the "Battle for Ohio" still got high ratings and peaked attendance at games during the regular season.

To mean, I would think if you separate all the other teams within the same state, why not Pennsylvania?

[rams80]

The Battle for Ohio gets ratings because you have two teams who spent 90 years never playing each other within that same geographic area. That just isn't there for Philly and Pitt.

[McCall]

- Move Colorado to the AL West. Houston to the NL West.

Scheduling:

- With 18 Interleague games: 12 games agains each team (4) in division, 12 games against 4 teams in league, 9 against 4 other teams and 6 against the remaining 2. (this is a little more complicated league breakdown).

- Or up the Interleague play to 24 games (which I wouldn't be crazy about) and still play 12 games against the 4 other division teams and 9 against the other 10 teams in the league.

- You can also go the minimum 12 Interleague games and have the 12 vs division and 12 against 4 league teams and 9 against the other 6.

With these plans, divisional games drop to 12 but still are annually the most games against while balancing out the games against the rest of the league so it accomplishes both. A lot more balanced than it us now.

[McCall]

What benefit at all does splitting up the Pennsylvania teams have? There is no benefit either way - splitting them up or having them in the same league.

1.) Potential Pennsylvania World Series. (Obvious)

2.) Geographically, its a wash.

3,4,5,6,7,8,9.) The Ohio, Texas, New York, Florida, Missouri, Chicago, and Baltimore/DC teams are split up...

1.) And that would make it extra interesting to... who? Someone who may not have watched the world series will now want to watch because two teams that happen to play in cities that share a governer are playing each other? It's two totally separate metro areas, and the teams aren't even rivals. It doesn't matter. Political boundaries are the most overrated thing when discussing rivalries. Cleveland and Pittsburgh would be more interesting than Phila and Pittsburgh.

2.) Right. They don't even belong in the same division under most reasonable realignment proposals.

3 - 9) Again, so? It really doesn't mean anything unless the teams are in the same market. Texas has traditionally been looked at as one big market, regardless of the individual metro areas (I don't know if that's actually the case though, but I know that we sometimes think of it that way.) Other than that, I can't think of a reason that teams should be split up.

I think you would garner more attention from the casual fan if the Battle of Pennsylvania was for the World Series. Even during the regular season. Hell, when the Indians and Reds were both terrible, bottom of the barrel teams, the "Battle for Ohio" still got high ratings and peaked attendance at games during the regular season.

To mean, I would think if you separate all the other teams within the same state, why not Pennsylvania?

Because, first if all, it's a slim chance that the two are gonna play each other in the WS even if both are good teams. And second, they're two of the oldest and most storied NL teams. If the Phillies who had been the ones to leave and the A's stayed, then that'd be the case. However, this is not like MLB decided to put a team in each league from each state except maybe Florida and the additional California teams. Most of the splits came from the merger of the NL and AL.

[BBTV]

What benefit at all does splitting up the Pennsylvania teams have? There is no benefit either way - splitting them up or having them in the same league.

1.) Potential Pennsylvania World Series. (Obvious)

2.) Geographically, its a wash.

3,4,5,6,7,8,9.) The Ohio, Texas, New York, Florida, Missouri, Chicago, and Baltimore/DC teams are split up...

1.) And that would make it extra interesting to... who? Someone who may not have watched the world series will now want to watch because two teams that happen to play in cities that share a governer are playing each other? It's two totally separate metro areas, and the teams aren't even rivals. It doesn't matter. Political boundaries are the most overrated thing when discussing rivalries. Cleveland and Pittsburgh would be more interesting than Phila and Pittsburgh.

2.) Right. They don't even belong in the same division under most reasonable realignment proposals.

3 - 9) Again, so? It really doesn't mean anything unless the teams are in the same market. Texas has traditionally been looked at as one big market, regardless of the individual metro areas (I don't know if that's actually the case though, but I know that we sometimes think of it that way.) Other than that, I can't think of a reason that teams should be split up.

I think you would garner more attention from the casual fan if the Battle of Pennsylvania was for the World Series. Even during the regular season. Hell, when the Indians and Reds were both terrible, bottom of the barrel teams, the "Battle for Ohio" still got high ratings and peaked attendance at games during the regular season.

To mean, I would think if you separate all the other teams within the same state, why not Pennsylvania?

But it's not the battle of Pennsylvania. If the NY Rangers and Buffalo Sabres were to meet for the Stanley Cup somehow, would that be the battle of New York? It's just two teams. Nobody in the middle of America is going to get all excited because one team will prevail and rule the state. The whole "battle of [insert state here]" thing is so overrated. It's not like if the Pirates were to beat the Phillies, they'd take over the state, enslave me and my family, and raise my taxes or anything. It's not like the Phillies would be fighting to defend my honor and keep it so that anyone from Pittsburgh could just drive down here, kick in my door, and take over my house. It's just two teams with separate fan bases that just happen to play within the same antiquated more-or-less arbitrarily drawn lines.

[The_Admiral]

I do like the mental image of actual pirates rollicking through Philadelphia, raping and pillaging Comcast headquarters, singing "A Pirate's Life For Me."

I think people underestimate how different western Pennsylvania is from eastern Pennsylvania. I laughed when people attributed ESPN's/the NFL's Steelers love to an "east coast bias." Yeah, Pittsburgh with its cosmopolitan big-city sensibilities.

[Mac the Knife]

I do like the mental image of actual pirates rollicking through Philadelphia, raping and pillaging Comcast headquarters, singing "A Pirate's Life For Me."

I think people underestimate how different western Pennsylvania is from eastern Pennsylvania. I laughed when people attributed ESPN's/the NFL's Steelers love to an "east coast bias." Yeah, Pittsburgh with its cosmopolitan big-city sensibilities.

Yeah, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are diametric opposites who happen to be in Pennsylvania, much as Raleigh and Charlotte are diametric opposites who happen to be in North Carolina. Aside from those facts, they don't have a lot in common with one another.

[BBTV]

What made sense ~250 years ago doesn't necessarily make sense now. Maybe it's time to re-draw the state lines... and maybe contract a few while we're at it too!

[illwauk]

I do like the mental image of actual pirates rollicking through Philadelphia, raping and pillaging Comcast headquarters, singing "A Pirate's Life For Me."

I think people underestimate how different western Pennsylvania is from eastern Pennsylvania. I laughed when people attributed ESPN's/the NFL's Steelers love to an "east coast bias." Yeah, Pittsburgh with its cosmopolitan big-city sensibilities.

Yeah, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are diametric opposites who happen to be in Pennsylvania, much as Raleigh and Charlotte are diametric opposites who happen to be in North Carolina. Aside from those facts, they don't have a lot in common with one another.

I'd say Raleigh and Charlotte are more akin to Milwaukee and Green Bay, especially when supporting each others' sports teams. Phily and Pittsburgh don't even do that. Phily is definitely an east coast city where Pittsburgh is a Midwestern city that just happens to be a little further east than most of its contemporaries.

And I'm all for redrawing state borders. Maybe it's time to dust off that "Chiwaukee" concept from the 1920s. The idea of policy in Milwaukee being dictated by a corrupt political machine in Chicago is somehow slightly more stomachable than having a bunch of suburban drones and rubes from upstate sticking us with a union-busting dropout governor who shamelessly whores Wisconsin out to the highest corporate bidder.

[Mac the Knife]

I'd say Raleigh and Charlotte are more akin to Milwaukee and Green Bay, especially when supporting each others' sports teams. Phily and Pittsburgh don't even do that. Phily is definitely an east coast city where Pittsburgh is a Midwestern city that just happens to be a little further east than most of its contemporaries.

You could say that, but for the most part you'd be wrong. While Raleigh allegedly is Panthers country there's a generational divide: if you're over 30, odds are you're still a Redskins fan here (if you're native to the area), with the Panthers as a "second team." The Bobcats? They might as well not exist to Raleigh. The Hurricanes? They might as well not exist to Charlotte.

There is, however, no true dislike among them in that regard, unlike Eagles/Steelers or Flyers/Penguins. Those fans just flat out don't like one another. If Raleigh and Charlotte did have teams in the same major league, I think they'd have a similar type of rivalry; there's just no overlap for there to be one.

[Drakonius26]

I'm surprised that with all this talk about realignment no one has made the suggestion of splitting the 30 teams up into 3 regional conferences and eliminating the "leagues" altogether, and removing interleague play to make way for a balanced schedule.

MLB Alternate Realignment

Western League

Arizona Diamondbacks

Colorado Rockies

Houston Astros

Los Angeles Angels

Los Angeles Dodgers

Oakland Athletics

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Seattle Mariners

Texas Rangers

Central League

Chicago Cubs

Chicago White Sox

Cincinnati Reds

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

Milwaukee Brewers

Minnesota Twins

Pittsburgh Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals

Eastern League

Atlanta Braves

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox

Miami Marlins

New York Mets

New York Yankees

Philadelphia Phillies

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

Washington Nationals

The regular season breakdown is as follows: 108 games against league opponents (2 home and away, three-game series) and 54 games against interleague opponents (1 three-game series, with the 9 interleague series for each league being split between home away, i.e. @ATL/@BAL/@BOS/@MIA/@NYM and NYY/PHI/TAM/TOR). Also it should be noted that to allow for a balanced schedule, you will not be able to face the team that is ranked the same as you in their respective leagues the year before, providing for more balance and unique matchups (i.e. NYY ranked 2nd in the East, wouldn't face SF or STL, ranked 2nd in the West or Central respectively).

The Top 3 "League Champions" are seeded 1 through 3 based off of record, while the Top 5 "Wild-Cards" are seeded 4 through 8 based off of record. All series are best-of-seven series, with a bracket that doesn't re-seed after every round. And the main tiebreakers to seed teams, who happen to have identical records, are as follows: League Record, Interleague Record, and finally Run Differential Rate.

Keep in mind I'm simply throwing this out there as an idea, something to digest, not to say it's the only or best plan for realignment.