MLB Expansion & Realignment

[A.E]

Theres belief well see MLB expand to 32 teams and realign in the very near future. Manfred has MLB actively monitoring public funding for stadiums in Portland, Oregon and Downtown Montreal. It is also being speculated that MLB would use this expansion to realign the league, cut down on travel, offer more days off, and expand the post season.

Ive read a few proposals but one I really like comes from Baseball America. Under their proposal, MLB geographically realigns to 4 divisions:

East: Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Miami, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Washington.

North: Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, Montreal, both New York franchises and Toronto.

Midwest: Both Chicago franchises, Colorado, Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Texas.

West: Anaheim, Arizona, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

Abolishing AL & NL is a huge change for the game but all things considered, it might be worth it.

This proposal offers a 156-game regular season and a routine off day each week. Postseason would essentially be 12 of 32 teams with division winners getting in and having play-in games against the eight remaining teams with the best records.

The winners of the four wild card games would advance to the Division Series, which would feature a wild card team against each division champion.
Those four winners would advance to the Championship Series, and the winners of that round would meet in the World Series.

What do we think? Personally, I like it for many reasons. Ill miss the AL/NL quirks but this is the kinda shakeup that improves fan interest in the game. I also like the players having more stability and rest periods during the regular season.

 

[bosoxlover12]

That East division would be awful

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Too radical of a change that I doubt happens. As Bosox said, too much power imbalance exists.

 

[A.E]

Too radical of a change that I doubt happens. As Bosox said, too much power imbalance exists.

I dont believe baseball is hurting as much as some claim it, but I do believe radical changes are coming to MLB regardless. Once upon a time, the DH and interleague Play were too radical for the purists.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Why do you believe radical changes are coming?

 

[A.E]

Why do you believe radical changes are coming?

Manfred was in office about 10 mins and replay was expanded. Hes since been hell bent on speeding up the game and constantly experimenting with pitch clocks and killing the lag time between innings. Then theres smaller things like Players Weekend and the changes in All Star Weekend that signal the commish isnt afraid to shake things up.

Ill admit a lot of the current format is dated and like Billy Bean (as played by Brad Pitt) said, adapt or die.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I hate the pace of play rules. Does the pitch clock and other changes really same thst much time? Are there statistics on this?

Will the casual fan be more inclined to see a 2hr 25m game instead of a 2hr 40m game?

Will people ignore the length of a game if there are more homeruns?

 

[A.E]

Manfred was destined to cut down on all the bullshit between pitches and was enforcing one foot in the box at all times for batters... Not sure what happened to it. Apparently we’re going to see more aggressive pitch clocks in Spring Training though. I would guess it was a big enough difference in the minors to justify trying it in the bigs.

I don’t think casual fans will care about games that are 15 mins shorter but I do think most would rather watch long balls and prefer elimination games above all.

 

[Mexi]

Im all for a universal DH

 

[CoachAF]

Anyone who believes radical changes are coming hasnt paid any attention to baseball history. I guess it could happen, but I wouldnt bet on it!! All the owners would have to sign off on it which is highly unlikely! They generally prefer predictability over radical change with their billion dollar investments.

 

[PWNdroia]

Im all for a universal DH

I'm all for a universal pitcher hits instead of DH.

 

[Phil The Thrill]

tell me how that would have gone during Ortiz's years.

 

[PWNdroia]

tell me how that would have gone during Ortiz's years.

I know what you're saying, but even though Ortiz is great, I can't agree with the DH role just because of one guy. I prefer athleticism and the traditional rules.

 

[A.E]

Anyone who believes radical changes are coming hasnt paid any attention to baseball history. I guess it could happen, but I wouldnt bet on it!! All the owners would have to sign off on it which is highly unlikely! They generally prefer predictability over radical change with their billion dollar investments.

 
What about baseball history? 
 
And this doesn't happen tomorrow. We're talking over a decade, at least.

 

[CoachAF]

 
What about baseball history? 
 
And this doesn't happen tomorrow. We're talking over a decade, at least.

 
When they expand to 32 teams (not if, I think expansion is a given) there is a much better chance of re-alignment within the same Leagues. There is a precedent for that with the 1994 re-alignment and creation of the Wild Card. That was certainly a big change, but the AL/NL were shuffled a little bit to make the 3rd division. I just can't see the owners voting to disintegrate the 2 leagues that have existed since pre-1900 with the NL and 1901 with the AL. I'd bet on a re-alignment within the leagues. Maybe something like this: 
 
NL East: Reds, Nationals, Braves, Marlins
NL West: Padres, Dodgers, Giants, D-Backs
NL Central: Rockies, Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals
NL North: Montreal (EXP), Mets, Pirates, Phillies
 
AL West: Portland (EXP), Mariners, Angels, A's
AL South: Royals, Rays , Rangers, Astros
AL Central: White Sox, Tigers, Indians, Twins
AL North: Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles
 
I think this works fairly well. It keeps all the BIG rivalries together (LA/SF, NYY/BOS, CHC/STL). It does make for a couple weird divisions like the AL South with teams from 3 different divisions combining. But if you look at the map, the AL South is the only team that has super large travel distances. 
 
With this, I would give each division winner an automatic playoff spot and continue have two wild cards just like the NFL. Top two teams in the league get a bye in the first round. 
 
 
I really just don't think the leagues will be disbanded. 

 

[CoachAF]

 

[A.E]

 
When they expand to 32 teams (not if, I think expansion is a given) there is a much better chance of re-alignment within the same Leagues. There is a precedent for that with the 1994 re-alignment and creation of the Wild Card. That was certainly a big change, but the AL/NL were shuffled a little bit to make the 3rd division. I just can't see the owners voting to disintegrate the 2 leagues that have existed since pre-1900 with the NL and 1901 with the AL. I'd bet on a re-alignment within the leagues. Maybe something like this: 
 
NL East: Reds, Nationals, Braves, Marlins
NL West: Padres, Dodgers, Giants, D-Backs
NL Central: Rockies, Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals
NL North: Montreal (EXP), Mets, Pirates, Phillies
 
AL West: Portland (EXP), Mariners, Angels, A's
AL South: Royals, Rays , Rangers, Astros
AL Central: White Sox, Tigers, Indians, Twins
AL North: Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles
 
I think this works fairly well. It keeps all the BIG rivalries together (LA/SF, NYY/BOS, CHC/STL). It does make for a couple weird divisions like the AL South with teams from 3 different divisions combining. But if you look at the map, the AL South is the only team that has super large travel distances. 
 
With this, I would give each division winner an automatic playoff spot and continue have two wild cards just like the NFL. Top two teams in the league get a bye in the first round. 
 
 
I really just don't think the leagues will be disbanded. 

 
Your plan is feasible and I can understand the argument against abolishing the leagues, but I think you're wrong about owners. Owners care more about bottom lines and top dollars. Remember, the realignment I posted above is about less travel and routine days off per week. Less travel saves money and routine days off would help mitigate some of the season-long wear and tear of players. Nobody wants to lose their expensive start players late in a season.

 

[PWNdroia]

I think you're better off just making American League and National League and having the best 5 or 6 teams in each league move on (with last two being wild cards).  In this way, the best teams move on and not ones tied to a specific region.  
 
The 2006 Cardinals went on to win a World Series but it never would have happened if the best teams moved on and not ones tied regionally.
 
You can still have teams play the majority of their games regionally.  Might make the schedule a bit unbalanced, but would still keep the game within regions for rivalry.  The better teams in the league are still going to be the ones to win, no matter their location.

 

[catman]

I can agree with this expansion, re-alignment plan.  As you said, it keeps the natural rivalries together and cuts down on travel, especially for the West Coast teams.  Seattle has the most travel of any team in either league.  The only problem with the the AL West is that the city of Portland might not be a major league baseball city.  

 

[CoachAF]

I can agree with this expansion, re-alignment plan.  As you said, it keeps the natural rivalries together and cuts down on travel, especially for the West Coast teams.  Seattle has the most travel of any team in either league.  The only problem with the the AL West is that the city of Portland might not be a major league baseball city.  

makes me want to go watch The Battered Bastards of Baseball again...