[heat84]

http://sportsillustr...ment/index.html

I'm against it. While there is competitive imbalance in MLB, its only really bad in the AL East. Move either the Yankees or Red Sox to another division. At the very least, the AL wildcard won't be the AL-East-Runner-Up-Card anymore.

Compatitive imbalance is much worse in the NBA because of its train wreck of a financial structure, but nobody ever talks about that. Women's college Basketball is even worse.

[poptart]

changing divisions each year based on PLANS TO CONTEND?
woooow

[el penguino]

Stupid idea. This will confuse the hell out of the fans. A lot of people will be turned off by this.

Baseball has enough parity. I've done the numbers out of curiousity in the past comparing the percentage of different MLB teams playing in the WS to the percentage of different NFL teams playing in the Super Bowl over the past ten years or so. The results have been comparable despite the NFL having the salary cap, extra playoff rounds, and uneven schedules.

Teams like Pittsburgh and Baltimore don't make the playoffs because they have incompetent front offices. Baltimore, in particular, hasn't had a winning season since 1997 despite having healthy sized payrolls.

I don't understand this dedication to wanting to change the game of baseball. I think the divisions are fine and I think the playoffs are fine. I don't think baseball needs to consider modifying anything outside of instituting instant replays or perhaps shortening the regular season to prevent so many playoff games from being played in the cold.

[Schnellders]

This is a horrible idea and one I do not think will happen. It would destroy many rivalries and it is these grudge games that fans love.

[mystikol87]

• Baseball has a chance for a tremendous period of growth because it is blessed with a class of very young, talented players who have the potential to be great, not just good, and to represent the game well. The gold mine includes Heyward, 20; Madison Bumgarner, 20; Justin Upton, 21; Clayton Kershaw, 21; Rick Porcello, 21; Stephen Strasburg, 22; and Aroldis Chapman, 22 -- and that's not forgetting Felix Hernandez, 23; Tommy Hanson, 23; Matt Wieters, 23; Evan Longoria, 24; Troy Tulowitzki, 25; Prince Fielder, 25; Tim Lincecum, 25; and Joe Mauer, 26.


LOL @ this idea, and LOL @ this list. No Hanley? No Mike Stanton? No Josh Johnson? Lame.

[Puma]

Words cannot express how strongly I am opposed to this idea. I would rather see another wild card added to each league than to see this happen.

[gizmo]

Puma, on March 10, 2010 - 02:56 PM, said:

Words cannot express how strongly I am opposed to this idea. I would rather see another wild card added to each league than to see this happen.

Ditto.

[ArtisticHate]

Reading this just reminded me of a Ken Rosenthal article where he made his own suggestions/proposal:

http://msn.foxsports...proposal-022510

I actually liked this one.

[Dr Beinfest]

You guys think this is stupid?

The NHL proposed a new playoff system where teams 1 through 7 in each conference make it in, and teams 8-15 in each conference battle it out in a pre-playoff wildcard series of single elimination matches.

There are so many stupid things about that I cant even begin to note them.

[heat84]

Dr Beinfest, on March 10, 2010 - 04:41 PM, said:

You guys think this is stupid?

The NHL proposed a new playoff system where teams 1 through 7 in each conference make it in, and teams 8-15 in each conference battle it out in a pre-playoff wildcard series of single elimination matches.

There are so many stupid things about that I cant even begin to note them.

Wasn't it the NBA that proposed that?

[Dr Beinfest]

I dont know if they've proposed it before but most recently it's the NHL. And it's pathetic.

[BosnianBaller_]

gizmo12688, on March 10, 2010 - 03:33 PM, said:

Puma, on March 10, 2010 - 02:56 PM, said:

Words cannot express how strongly I am opposed to this idea. I would rather see another wild card added to each league than to see this happen.

Ditto.

i agree as well. if u want to give teams more chances then add another wild card team to each league. making a total of 5 teams from each league and the 2 teams with the best record in their league gets a bye to the next round of the playoffs. kinda like the NFL

[el penguino]

I don't understand why so many people think MLB needs another wild card or additional playoff rounds. Why is this better?

Having the best record over a 162 game stretch is in many ways more impressive than getting hot in October and winning some best of 5/7 series. As much as I love the Marlins, their championships are diminished to some degree because they have never been able to secure a division title.

Why marginalize the regular season when there has been a healthy distribution of different playoff teams over the past ten years?

[Puma]

I, for one, don't think MLB needs to add another wild card team. I think the current structure is perfect the way it is. But adding another wild card team would be more tolerable than re-adjusting the divisions on a year-to-year basis. That would really turn me off as a fan.

[MrMarlinPride]

This has to be one of the stupidest if not the stupidest ideas in the history of the MLB!
Changing a few teams to diferent divisions for a few years to even out contention is one thing, but teams floating freely from division to division is just dumb. For god sakes keep the Red Soxs and Yankees in the same division because there is no greater rivalry in baseball, same goes with Cards and Cubs and there should be a rivalry starting between the Phillies and Marlins soon as they battle for the top spot in the NL East for years to come.

[el penguino]

Puma, on March 10, 2010 - 11:08 PM, said:

I, for one, don't think MLB needs to add another wild card team. I think the current structure is perfect the way it is. But adding another wild card team would be more tolerable than re-adjusting the divisions on a year-to-year basis. That would really turn me off as a fan.

I certainly agree that it would be the lesser of two evils, but on the whole I consider both to be terrible ideas that would only hurt the game.

To reiterate what I said earlier, a realignment or expanded playoff pool won't result in teams like Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Toronto making the playoffs. These teams have been so consistently bad over the years that it can be attributed to bad front offices.

Most of the rest of the league has had success in producing playoff calibre teams in recent years to the point where I don't think MLB requires any drastic modifications. These bottom of the barrel teams could only be saved by new ownerships or some form of salary cap (which I am also opposed to).

I think too many people dwell on the dynasties in New York and Boston. Still, I think MLB maintains a reasonable amount of parity.

[Dr Beinfest]

el penguino, on March 10, 2010 - 10:29 PM, said:

I don't understand why so many people think MLB needs another wild card or additional playoff rounds. Why is this better?

Having the best record over a 162 game stretch is in many ways more impressive than getting hot in October and winning some best of 5/7 series. As much as I love the Marlins, their championships are diminished to some degree because they have never been able to secure a division title.

Why marginalize the regular season when there has been a healthy distribution of different playoff teams over the past ten years?

I dont think that was quite the point he was making that he was for another wild card.

I personally think that the NFL has the playoff system the best. Of course no system is flawless, but I love the idea of bye weeks for the top teams, I am a fan of single elimination (although best of 3 might also be fair; certainly not for football though). I do not think it's fair when you see a team that barely got to .500 like in the NBA or NHL make it to the finals. Like Edmonton vs. Carolina back in 2006 in the NHL. Doesn't make sense. Yeah, they beat the better team, but key word there was better. They dont play 82 games for nothin... why should the 1st seed be knocked out after absolutely dominating 82 games? Every sport sould have 1st's bye.

[el penguino]

The NFL model can't be translated to MLB well.

The NFL's regular season and playoff structures only work well because the sport of football demands that games played so infrequently. Obviously they also have two extra teams.

[Nny]

It does suck though that the best 3 teams are in one division, and that only 2 of them will make the playoffs.

The only thing I can really think of is say screw divisions and let top 4 teams go to playoffs but divisional battles/rivalries are interesting to watch.

[el penguino]

Nny, on March 11, 2010 - 11:56 AM, said:

It does suck though that the best 3 teams are in one division, and that only 2 of them will make the playoffs.

The only thing I can really think of is say screw divisions and let top 4 teams go to playoffs but divisional battles/rivalries are interesting to watch.

I thought about this myself. I think it's much more appealing than expanding the playoffs or some "floating" realignment scheme.

[Dr Beinfest]

el penguino, on March 11, 2010 - 01:06 AM, said:

The NFL model can't be translated to MLB well.

The NFL's regular season and playoff structures only work well because the sport of football demands that games played so infrequently. Obviously they also have two extra teams.

Baseball runs a pretty decent system too... it's the NHL and NBA that have terrible, flawed systems.