Media Proposal: MLB Expansion and Complete Realignment

[Moranis]

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/mlb-geographic-realignment-proposing-eight-divisions-expansion-teams-charlotte-portland?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwMTESFjbGNrAxMRB2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeGJnBaexTJldBokXmSHTgu7sIGDRRAYFRPoittdIlJ3UK-NNA0x-8qKQI0qc_aem_fhQaXAFFpf5n69Pa4rcVpw

[Roy H.]

I updated the title so that people didn't think this was an actual MLB proposal.

[Roy H.]

I don't think it makes sense to have cities with two MLB teams (NY, Chicago, LA) be in the same league.  I know that that's part of the appeal to some people, but to me it's breaking up rivalries for the sake of doing so. 

[Moranis]

I think part of that is traveling expense, part of that is regional rivalries, and all of it is driven by revenue opportunities.  Having and East and West makes a lot of sense. The NFL can get away with it because they play so few games, but with year round interleague and the same rules, there is no reason to really not have realignment that better matches geography.

[Vermont Green]

I think this is a good idea.  Reduce travel.  It is really east and west more than AL and NL.

I would quibble a bit with MIN as a great lakes team.  MIN should be mid-west (NL).  CLE should be great lakes (AL), and then CIN in the mid-Atlantic (AL).  My proposed changes in red.  The Northeast division would be brutal.  The Red Sox might never win the division again.  It would be nice if there was at least one small market team in that division.

Northeast
New York Yankees
New York Mets
Boston Red Sox
Philadelphia Phillies

Mid-Atlantic
Baltimore Orioles
Washington Nationals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cincinnati Reds

Great Lakes
Cleveland Guardians
Milwaukee Brewers
Detroit Tigers
Toronto Blue Jays

Southeast
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays
Charlotte (Expansion)

Midwest
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
St. Louis Cardinals
Minnesota Twins

Central
Colorado Rockies
Kansas City Royals
Texas Rangers
Houston Astros

Southwest
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Los Angeles Angels
Arizona Diamondbacks

Northwest
Seattle Mariners
Las Vegas Athletics
San Francisco Giants
Portland (Expansion)

[slamtheking]

the real realignment would be separating the major markets from the small markets into different leagues so there'd be some real competition on the field.  the small markets are just basically glorified minor league teams for the major markets at this point since they cannot financially retain their top players and have to trade them around the time when they can start making real money in arbitration or free agency.   That's coming from a Brewer fan in a season when they have the best record in baseball too at the moment.

also, if they're going to do this volume of rearranging, might as well ditch American and National leagues.  either go with East/West or just have 8 divisions period and build the playoffs based on division winners playing each other using final records as seeding.

[Roy H.]

I think part of that is traveling expense, part of that is regional rivalries, and all of it is driven by revenue opportunities.  Having and East and West makes a lot of sense. The NFL can get away with it because they play so few games, but with year round interleague and the same rules, there is no reason to really not have realignment that better matches geography.

Some geography, perhaps.  But, looking at the Northeast, is there a meaningful difference between Boston traveling to NY and Philly, versus traveling to Baltimore and Toronto?  We're talking maybe an extra half hour in the air.

I've got no problem with dumping Tampa, though. 

[Roy H.]

the real realignment would be separating the major markets from the small markets into different leagues so there'd be some real competition on the field.  the small markets are just basically glorified minor league teams for the major markets at this point since they cannot financially retain their top players and have to trade them around the time when they can start making real money in arbitration or free agency.   That's coming from a Brewer fan in a season when they have the best record in baseball too at the moment.

I get what you're saying, but MLB actually has pretty good parity.  In the AL, the worst team is a very large market (Chicago), and the only other team winning fewer than 45% of their games is the As.  The NL is a bit worse, but even there the Brewers are dominating, as you say.

But, what MLB needs is either a hard cap, or a really punishing NBA-style luxury tax.  Only a handful of teams need it -- the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, etc. -- but it would be good for the league.  Particularly fan interest:  no fan likes seeing all of the major free agents select from maybe five rich clubs.

[Donoghus]

They should pre-emptively place the White Sox in the Southeast since they'll be the Nashville White Sox when their lease runs out at Guaranteed Rate in a few years. 

[slamtheking]

the real realignment would be separating the major markets from the small markets into different leagues so there'd be some real competition on the field.  the small markets are just basically glorified minor league teams for the major markets at this point since they cannot financially retain their top players and have to trade them around the time when they can start making real money in arbitration or free agency.   That's coming from a Brewer fan in a season when they have the best record in baseball too at the moment.

I get what you're saying, but MLB actually has pretty good parity.  In the AL, the worst team is a very large market (Chicago), and the only other team winning fewer than 45% of their games is the As.  The NL is a bit worse, but even there the Brewers are dominating, as you say.

But, what MLB needs is either a hard cap, or a really punishing NBA-style luxury tax.  Only a handful of teams need it -- the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, etc. -- but it would be good for the league.  Particularly fan interest:  no fan likes seeing all of the major free agents select from maybe five rich clubs.

they've needed cap for decades but neither the players (who have the real power between them and the owners) nor the big market owners will ever go for it.  A luxury tax might slow them down a bit but I don't think they'd go for that either. 

when players are getting ridiculous salaries under the current system, they will never change the status quo.