So Bud Selig wants to discuss some radical new realignment ideas. I’m ok with that – in fact I think it’s about time that baseball did something serious, rather than the half-way attempts of the past. The days of the AL and NL being really different (other than DH – a discussion for another time) are long gone. So if they are going to do it, they should do something truly radical.
Shannon offered up his suggestion the other day – here’s mine.
Baseball should adopt the English Premier League rule that the worst teams are demoted and the best teams from the lower league are promoted. Under the current system though, that is not possible since AAA teams are not independent of the majors. What needs to happen is a radical realignment. This is my proposal (see below for more)
MAJOR LEAGUE (Premier equiv)
Eastern League
Ruth Division |
Robinson Division |
| Boston Red Sox | Atlanta Braves |
| Cleveland Indians | Cincinnati Reds |
| Detroit Tigers | Florida Marlins |
| New York Yankees | Milwaukee Brewers |
| Tampa Bay Rays | New York Mets |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Philadelphia Phillies |
Western League
Aaron Division |
Clemente Division |
| Anaheim Angels | Chicago Cubs |
| Arizona Diamonbacks | Colorado Rockies |
| Chicago White Sox | Houston Astros |
| Minnesota Twins | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Oakland Athletics | San Francisco Giants |
| Seattle Mariners | St. Louis Cardinals |
FEDERAL LEAGUE (Lower League)
Paige Division |
Williams Division |
| Baltimore Orioles | Kansas City Royals |
| Buffalo Bisons | Las Vegas Gamblers |
| Indianapolis Hoosiers | Portland (OR) Beavers |
| Nashville Sounds | San Antonio Missions |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | San Diego Padres |
| Washington Nationals | Texas Rangers |
So 24 teams in the Premier League and 12 in the Lower League. The top 2 teams in the Paige Division over the course of say 4 years will replace the worst 2 teams over 4 years in the Eastern League (1 from each division). And the same for the Williams Division and Western League.
In the Major League, each team plays 152 games – 80 games within their division (16 games against each team), 54 games against teams in the other division within their league (9 games against each team), and 18 out of league games (3 games against each team in one of the other league’s divisions – alternating each year).
Playoffs – Division winners and then top 2 teams in each league get wild card slots. The 2 league Wild Cards play a 1 game playoff the day after the season ends to see who advances. The WC winner then plays the Division winner that had the poorer record in a 5 game series – the team with the best record gets a bye into the Championship Series.
The Federal League will have a 144 game schedule – 90 games in division and 54 out of division
Baseball would increase interest with more playoff races and teams. And every 4th year, in addition to the regular playoff races, there would be the added Premier race – which teams will be demoted and which will be promoted.
Thoughts?
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.
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.
@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.
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.
@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.
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.
@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.
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
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…