Since realignment seems to be such a hot topic these days, I figure I might as well write that post I've had on draft for the last couple of years. It has always bugged me that MLB is not set up better geographically. Real rivalries should be local. Jim Bowden gave it a decent go, and is pretty close. Because baseball is one of the un-greenest sports around, it makes sense to reduce the travel costs of both the teams and the fans. So here's what I would do:
AL Northeast
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Baltimore Orioles
NL Southeast
Washington Nationals
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays
Houston Astros
AL Central
Toronto Blue Jays
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cincinnati Reds
NL Midwest
Minnesota Twins
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
St. Louis Cardinals
AL West
Kansas City Royals
Texas Rangers
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks
San Diego Padres
NL Pacific
Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland A's
San Francisco Giants
Seattle Mariners
Short of contracting a team or two and expanding to places like Nashville or New Orleans, this is as close as I can figure the map. Pirates fans want to play Philadelphia a lot, but I don't think Pittsburgh matches with New York or Boston. It feels more natural with the Lake Erie and Ohio regions. I have always wanted Houston to play up their Gulf location more, and be with Atlanta and Florida teams. I'd rather have Kansas City with St. Louis obviously, but as with Houston and Arlington Texas, the map just starts breaking down and you have to compromise somewhere. I like Bowden's California Divsion, but that leaves him matching up Seattle and Houston, 2,300 miles apart, which is hardly geographical (and makes my 1600 mile Kansas City-San Diego jaunt look a little better). Regarding the traditional American and National Leagues, who cares really? A pennant is a pennant.
There are inherent problems with 15 team leagues, such as an odd number of games for an even number of teams meaning someone's not playing on weekends. The season is far too long to start granting "bye weekends" - so unless we get two more teams (paging Mr. Selig) then the number of games has to change. I say add 2 more games, and start playing day/night doubleheaders. Baseball needs to be played in sunlight more often, and it's more efficient (and flexible with spring rain). As far as scheduling goes, do like the NFL, NHL, and NBA do, inter-league all year round. I know the traditionalists hate it, but get over it already. The rest of us have. Here's my schedule plan:
- Play each team in your division 16 times (8 home 8 road) - 64 games
- Play each team in your league 8 times (4 home 4 road) - 80 games
- Play each team in one IL division (rotates each year) 4 times (2 home, 2 road) - 20 games
Then there's the playoffs. I've never been in favor of one-game play-in style games for baseball. It degrades the long season, even if it does generate lots of buzz and money. I'd rather leave it as it is. A second or third wild card team would create long stretches of time that would penalize the best teams. Give all the playoff teams two days off, then start playing. 5 game wild card, 7 game league championship and World Series. Nice and tidy.
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