Realignment, Removal of Divisions?

[gizmo]

A simple form of realignment has been raised in the labor talks between Major League Baseball and the players' association, according to four sources: two leagues of 15 teams, rather than the current structure of 16 teams in the National League and 14 in the American League.

 

According to a highly ranked executive, one consideration that has been raised in ownership committee meetings is eliminating the divisions altogether, so that 15 AL and 15 NL teams would vie for five playoff spots within each league. Currently, Major League Baseball has six divisions.

 

A source who has been briefed on the specifics of the labor discussions says that the players' union has indicated that it is open to the idea of two 15-team leagues, but that the whole plan still hasn't been talked through or presented to the owners.

 

"I'd still say the odds of it happening are less than 50-50," one source said.

 

 

 

A sticking point involves interleague play. Because of the odd number of teams in each league, it is possible that a team in contention late in the season will have to be playing its final games in interleague play.

 

 

 

One of the biggest issues that would have to be resolved in any realignment resulting in two 15-team leagues is which of the National League teams would switch to the American League.

 

Two highly ranked executives believe the Houston Astros would be a possibility, because a switch to the AL for Houston would foster a rivalry between the Astros and the Texas Rangers.

 

"There are still a lot of details that would have to be discussed," one source said.

 

Buster Olney is a senior MLB writer for ESPN The Magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't mind any of this really. What say you all?

[Rabbethan]

F it. Lets just end the nl. Al rules for all teams. The marlins need one less automatic strikeout.

 

F*** that. We play baseball in the senior circuit, not little league ball.

[Entendu]

The f*** is this? Removing divisions is terrible. If people want to realign teams, that's fine - but removing them altogether sounds like a terrible idea. I like focusing my attention on 4 other teams for half the season, and then dividing my attention between those 4 teams and the rest of the league for the Wildcard.

 

And no way to the poster who wants to remove NL rules. The American league is one huge mess. There's just way too much offense in that league.

[poptart]

The f*** is this? Removing divisions is terrible. If people want to realign teams, that's fine - but removing them altogether sounds like a terrible idea. I like focusing my attention on 4 other teams for half the season, and then dividing my attention between those 4 teams and the rest of the league for the Wildcard.

 

And no way to the poster who wants to remove NL rules. The American league is one huge mess. There's just way too much offense in that league.

 

why would removing division be a terrible idea? divisions are a terrible idea, really. lead to unbalanced schedules for no good reason. Pittsburgh plays in the central division, while Philly plays in the East. Texas plays in the west, while Houston plays in the central. it's all stupid. taking the best teams from a league, regardless of whichever fake ass 'divisions' makes too much sense. (see: the 2006 Cardinals or the '05 Padres)

also, moving the Astros to the AL would be stupid too. move the Pirates. as long as you're going to have two teams in the same state you need to set up the opportunity for a Marlins/Rays, Phillies/Pirates, Rangers/Astros world series, just like Cubs/Sox and Yanks/Mets are possible.

[Entendu]

The f*** is this? Removing divisions is terrible. If people want to realign teams, that's fine - but removing them altogether sounds like a terrible idea. I like focusing my attention on 4 other teams for half the season, and then dividing my attention between those 4 teams and the rest of the league for the Wildcard.

 

And no way to the poster who wants to remove NL rules. The American league is one huge mess. There's just way too much offense in that league.

 

why would removing division be a terrible idea? divisions are a terrible idea, really. lead to unbalanced schedules for no good reason. Pittsburgh plays in the central division, while Philly plays in the East. Texas plays in the west, while Houston plays in the central. it's all stupid. taking the best teams from a league, regardless of whichever fake ass 'divisions' makes too much sense. (see: the 2006 Cardinals or the '05 Padres)

also, moving the Astros to the AL would be stupid too. move the Pirates. as long as you're going to have two teams in the same state you need to set up the opportunity for a Marlins/Rays, Phillies/Pirates, Rangers/Astros world series, just like Cubs/Sox and Yanks/Mets are possible.

 

 

Because you're going to hurt a ton of rivalries by balancing the schedule. If every team has a select few teams that they play constantly, you're going to develop more interest in competition between them. To me, baseball is more than just taking the best teams and placing them in the playoffs. You play with the cards you're dealt and form your team according to how your main opponents form their teams, and you go from there. I like focusing my attention to being better than 4 other teams in the season, and then being the best in the postseason. Seeing some teams/ballparks regularly and others rarely allows for both familiarity and novelty in the game. Removing divisions and just having a pool is a terrible idea. You're going to make any form of competition boring. Hell, why don't we just take the #1 team in every league and have them go straight to the World Series. With what you're saying, playoffs don't make much sense either, because every team's had enough exposure to the rest for us to accurately gauge who the best is.

[True CRaysball]

I think the AL needs two more teams honestly to even out the number of teams in each league out to 16 all. But removing divisions is stupid.

[Entendu]

I think the AL needs two more teams honestly to even out the number of teams in each league out to 16 all.

 

 

I think the general consensus is that contraction may be needed, and expansion definitely is not.

[True CRaysball]

then who would you contract in the NL?

[GoFishGoMs628]

I personally am sick of our division, I would love to see the Marlins go into more of a pool format or maybe a new division with new teams.

[Out of the Past]

I think it should be two 15 teams leagues. Having to play interleague games throughout the season is a problem not as big a problem as having a 4 team division and a 6 team division and noone seems to care about that. The NL Central teams get screwed.

[Entendu]

then who would you contract in the NL?

 

 

I'm talking generally. Expansion isn't a good idea when there are a few teams you could contract and then move others around.

[mystikol87]

The f*** is this? Removing divisions is terrible. If people want to realign teams, that's fine - but removing them altogether sounds like a terrible idea. I like focusing my attention on 4 other teams for half the season, and then dividing my attention between those 4 teams and the rest of the league for the Wildcard.

 

And no way to the poster who wants to remove NL rules. The American league is one huge mess. There's just way too much offense in that league.

 

why would removing division be a terrible idea? divisions are a terrible idea, really. lead to unbalanced schedules for no good reason. Pittsburgh plays in the central division, while Philly plays in the East. Texas plays in the west, while Houston plays in the central. it's all stupid. taking the best teams from a league, regardless of whichever fake ass 'divisions' makes too much sense. (see: the 2006 Cardinals or the '05 Padres)

also, moving the Astros to the AL would be stupid too. move the Pirates. as long as you're going to have two teams in the same state you need to set up the opportunity for a Marlins/Rays, Phillies/Pirates, Rangers/Astros world series, just like Cubs/Sox and Yanks/Mets are possible.

 

 

Because you're going to hurt a ton of rivalries by balancing the schedule. If every team has a select few teams that they play constantly, you're going to develop more interest in competition between them. To me, baseball is more than just taking the best teams and placing them in the playoffs. You play with the cards you're dealt and form your team according to how your main opponents form their teams, and you go from there. I like focusing my attention to being better than 4 other teams in the season, and then being the best in the postseason. Seeing some teams/ballparks regularly and others rarely allows for both familiarity and novelty in the game. Removing divisions and just having a pool is a terrible idea. You're going to make any form of competition boring. Hell, why don't we just take the #1 team in every league and have them go straight to the World Series. With what you're saying, playoffs don't make much sense either, because every team's had enough exposure to the rest for us to accurately gauge who the best is.

 

 

162 games, and 14 other teams in your league. You could play each team 10x per year -- for example, alternating between 4 home, 6 road; then 6 home, 4 road -- and then that would leave 22 interleague games, which is more than now (18 for AL teams, 15 for NL). That seems like you could get pretty familiar with all of the teams in your league, instead of a bit more familiar with Braves/Phillies/Mets/Nats, but a bit less familiar with every other team.

[Entendu]

The f*** is this? Removing divisions is terrible. If people want to realign teams, that's fine - but removing them altogether sounds like a terrible idea. I like focusing my attention on 4 other teams for half the season, and then dividing my attention between those 4 teams and the rest of the league for the Wildcard.

 

And no way to the poster who wants to remove NL rules. The American league is one huge mess. There's just way too much offense in that league.

 

why would removing division be a terrible idea? divisions are a terrible idea, really. lead to unbalanced schedules for no good reason. Pittsburgh plays in the central division, while Philly plays in the East. Texas plays in the west, while Houston plays in the central. it's all stupid. taking the best teams from a league, regardless of whichever fake ass 'divisions' makes too much sense. (see: the 2006 Cardinals or the '05 Padres)

also, moving the Astros to the AL would be stupid too. move the Pirates. as long as you're going to have two teams in the same state you need to set up the opportunity for a Marlins/Rays, Phillies/Pirates, Rangers/Astros world series, just like Cubs/Sox and Yanks/Mets are possible.

 

 

Because you're going to hurt a ton of rivalries by balancing the schedule. If every team has a select few teams that they play constantly, you're going to develop more interest in competition between them. To me, baseball is more than just taking the best teams and placing them in the playoffs. You play with the cards you're dealt and form your team according to how your main opponents form their teams, and you go from there. I like focusing my attention to being better than 4 other teams in the season, and then being the best in the postseason. Seeing some teams/ballparks regularly and others rarely allows for both familiarity and novelty in the game. Removing divisions and just having a pool is a terrible idea. You're going to make any form of competition boring. Hell, why don't we just take the #1 team in every league and have them go straight to the World Series. With what you're saying, playoffs don't make much sense either, because every team's had enough exposure to the rest for us to accurately gauge who the best is.

 

 

162 games, and 14 other teams in your league. You could play each team 10x per year -- for example, alternating between 4 home, 6 road; then 6 home, 4 road -- and then that would leave 22 interleague games, which is more than now (18 for AL teams, 15 for NL). That seems like you could get pretty familiar with all of the teams in your league, instead of a bit more familiar with Braves/Phillies/Mets/Nats, but a bit less familiar with every other team.

 

You'd be just as familiar with your division as you would with everyone else. Regardless of how many games we're playing, I'd rather be less familiar with some teams and more familiar with others. I like the excitement of seeing an NL Central team because I don't see them often, just as I enjoy playing select teams constantly because I have a special dislike for those teams specifically. As far as Interleague goes, I don't really care. They can shorten that if they'd like, but I'd much rather have them shorten it and add more games against your division than against everyone else.