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?