Comments on: Want to Realign? Look to the Premier League

By: rick

rick — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:32:48 +0000

great thoughts, the threat of relegation will keep the season interesting for those at the bottom, maybe you could alternate the relegations between the divisions,

and how will you handle promotion, the winner of the “federal series”?

i think their are many current to aaa cities, or cities who lost their mlb team (montreal) which would be nice to include..or a mexican division…

By: Franco

Franco — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:22:40 +0000

A few of us at work have been talking about having relegation in baseball for a while. i think it would be an interesting idea

By: Dan Twohig

Dan Twohig — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:14:43 +0000

@Jim The division names weren’t meant to necessarily honor the 6 greatest players period, but rather to honor those who hold a special place in baseball. I don’t think there would be any argument with Ruth or Aaron. After that, my logic was Robinson to honor Jackie’s contribution (obvious); Clemente to honor arguably the greatest Hispanic player; Paige to honor arguably the greatest Negro Leaguer; and Williams to honor one of the greatest hitters, who was also a war hero.
All that said, I am certainly not married to any names after Ruth & Aaron.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:55:35 +0000

I have an issue with the names of the divisions. Paige? Why not Johnson (as in Walter), Spahn, or Koufax? Or Feller? Or Seaver? Or Gibson?

And, not to say that the other names aren’t of great ball players, but what about Mays? Mantle? Bench?

Just a thought.

By: Dan Twohig

Dan Twohig — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:48:06 +0000

@Former – Actually all the cities chosen have a larger population than Milwaukee (1.5 million). Here are the metro area pops according to US census 2008 estimates:
Portland – 2.2 Million
Buffalo (w/Rochester) – 2.1
San Antonio – 2.0
Las Vegas – 1.9
Indianapolis – 1.7
Nashville – 1.6

Beyond that though, both you and VJ have a point in that realignment alone would not solve the competitive issues. Any radical realignment would have to also include a form of revenue sharing as well as salary floors and ceilings for it to really work. Yeah, I know tha’s not lkely to happen, but then again neither is this realignment plan – so when we’re dreaming, let’s dream big.

By: Dan Twohig

Dan Twohig — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:30:28 +0000

@VJ – I thought about doing the relegation every year, but I though that was a bit too much. Four years though may be too far apart. How about every 2 years, combining the records of the 2 years.

By: FormerDirtDart

FormerDirtDart — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:23:55 +0000

I don’t believe your additional 6 teams added to fill out the Federal League could ever be competitive. Their home cities may lack the population to fill a stadium large enough to pay for potential “Premier League” talent, let alone fund a farm system to feed the team.
Also, with this configuration it is likely that you would replace the 4 least competitive teams in th “P” league with teams that are in fact even less competitive.

By: VJ Vazquez

VJ Vazquez — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:55:27 +0000

Love the avenue you’re going down here…would like it a whole lot more if the relegation were to occur on an annual basis rather than just every four years.

Thing is, realignment is supposed to increase competitive balance. Across the pond, it’s usually the same teams (ManU/Chelsea)that alternate at the top of the charts, much like the Yanks/Sox. So although it’s a radically different idea, it may not be the solution for the issue at hand.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:39:14 +0000

I’m not sure if I’m on board for this, but it’s an interesting idea to consider if you’re going to go with any kind of realignment plan.

I like the idea of bumping chronically uncompetitive teams to a lower level league.