Move the Houston Astros...

[BigPoppa]

...to the American League West, and voila - MLB is balanced.

3 divisions of 5 teams in each league.


discuss..................................

[Knightro28]

I've thought about that as well, but then that makes the AL/NL split 15-15. Unless there is one interleague series at all times, then one AL team and one NL team have no dancing partner.

[redsfan_12]

I've thought about that as well, but then that makes the AL/NL split 15-15. Unless there is one interleague series at all times, then one AL team and one NL team have no dancing partner.

Great point...I never thought about that. It makes no since that there are 6 teams in our division, and 4 in another.

[sivman17]

I've always thought they should be moved to the AL West as well. It would create a natural rivalry with in-state Texas Rangers. It only makes sense to do that.

[BLEEDS]

I've thought about that as well, but then that makes the AL/NL split 15-15. Unless there is one interleague series at all times, then one AL team and one NL team have no dancing partner.

THIS.

Is why it doesn't make sense.

Baseball should never have expanded. Should be 14 teams in each league.

The Marlins are a joke and could close up shop easily and nobody would blink an eye. They only have a couple good players that anyone would fight over anyways, and they're likely headed to FA or trade here shortly.
Finding another team to do the same would be an issue however.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[ian_madden]

Since our last playoff appearance,
2009 NL division series Rockies vs. Philadelphia
2008 World Series Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay
2007 NL championship Rockies vs. Arizona (both expansion teams)
2003 World Series Marlins vs. Yankees
2002 NL division series Arizona vs. St. Louis
2001 World Series Arizona vs. Yankees
1999 NL division series Arizona vs. NY Mets
1997 World Series Marlins vs. Cleveland

Underlined indicates the expansion team that won the series. There has been plenty of good baseball that I am happy I saw because of the the expansion.

The Houston Astros should be in the NL west if nothing else. But I will take ANOTHER bad team to play as much as possible.

[Roush's socks]

Something has to be done because it is a 20-30% disadvantage playing in a division with 6 teams as opposed to 4. Big time unfair.

[improbus]

Something has to be done because it is a 20-30% disadvantage playing in a division with 6 teams as opposed to 4. Big time unfair.
Ask the Cardinals if they like playing in the Central. They love seeing the Reds/Astros/Pirates 16-18 times.

[Vottomatic]

MLB should eliminate 2 teams - Nationals and Pirates. They are both a waste of space.

Then they should eliminate divisions. Every team plays every other team the same amount of times. 14 NL teams and 14 AL teams. The ones with the 4 best records make the playoffs.

As for interleague play, they should keep natural rivalries alive such as the Reds-Indians, the Twins-Brewers, the Yanks-Mets, etc. Then they could possibly interject an evening out type of scenario where last year's worst NL teams play last year's worst AL teams and the tougher NL teams play the tougher AL teams. Kinda like the NFL does it based on your finish this year determines your toughness of schedule the following year.

Just my $.02.

[The Operator]

The Marlins are a joke and could close up shop easily and nobody would blink an eye. They only have a couple good players that anyone would fight over anyways, and they're likely headed to FA or trade here shortly.
Finding another team to do the same would be an issue however.

The Marlins have won two World Series titles since The Reds last playoff appearance and have been MUCH more relevant in terms of competitiveness than our own beloved Reds in recent years.

They have an attendance issue, yes, but they're getting a new ballpark and it's not as if The Reds are packing the house at GABP every night.

Personally, I'd trade the last 15 years of team history between the Reds and Marlins in an instant.

The Marlins, for all their struggles, at least know when to call it a day and rebuild their team. The Reds, year in and year out try to half heartedly rebuild and contend at the same team. And thanks to that approach the last time we've seen .500 in Cincinnati was the turn of the century.

It's never wise to point out a splinter in someone's eye while ignoring the plank in your own.

[The Operator]

MLB should eliminate 2 teams - Nationals and Pirates. They are both a waste of space.

How are either of those teams any less relevant than The Reds?

It's easy to poke fun at other pitiful franchises, but outside of Cincinnati The Reds are viewed right in line with The Nationals, Pirates, Royals, etc. of the world.

That's why talk of contraction scares me so much. The Reds obviously have the fact that they were the first MLB team on their side, but that can only hold them for so long. They aren't far behind those teams you listed on the chopping block if contraction does ever come down the pike.

[sivman17]

I don't think the solution is to get rid of two teams. Having 30 teams is not the problem. Yeah, two teams in the same league will have to play each other during Interleague play if the Astros were to move to the AL, but who cares? Is it really that big of a deal that not all 30 teams will be playing a team from the other league on the same day? Seems pretty trivial to me.

The fact that there are an even number of teams and divisions, but an uneven number of teams in those divisions is a joke. What was the MLB thinking? Just move them to the AL West and problem is solved.

[Caveman Techie]

Actually I vote for the Brewers to go back to the AL. It never seemed right that Bud was able to move them from the AL to the NL while his family still owned them.

[swaisuc]

I don't think the solution is to get rid of two teams. Having 30 teams is not the problem. Yeah, two teams in the same league will have to play each other during Interleague play if the Astros were to move to the AL, but who cares? Is it really that big of a deal that not all 30 teams will be playing a team from the other league on the same day? Seems pretty trivial to me.

The fact that there are an even number of teams and divisions, but an uneven number of teams in those divisions is a joke. What was the MLB thinking? Just move them to the AL West and problem is solved.

Opposite.... two teams in different leagues would have to play each EVERY day. If they still had interleague play, two teams would the same league would now NOT have to play each other, but I assume that the above scenerio would already generate all the interleague play you could handle. Imagine playing an AL team on opening day... or the last series of a playoff race.

[BLEEDS]

Yeah, how TERRIBLE would it be to have an interleague series every day?
Actually, I think it would be Interesting!

I can't see one negative thing about it actually. It's much better than going 2-3 weeks at a time where everyone plays teams outside of their division/leauge, affecting their records - like when one team has to play the Yankees while the other plays the Royals - if you broke it up and spread it out, it would seem less of a sore thumb sticking out then it currently does.

Having the ONLY 6 team division is the most ridiculous thing in baseball - with the Yankees and Red Sox being in the ONLY 4 team division in baseball a close second, and the All-Star game determining home field advantage for the World Series right behind in 3rd.

Bud and the rest of the MLB FO folks are a complete joke.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[sivman17]

Opposite.... two teams in different leagues would have to play each EVERY day.

Oh yeah good call. My math was a little off on that one. Didn't quite think it through.



Having the ONLY 6 team division is the most ridiculous thing in baseball - with the Yankees and Red Sox being in the ONLY 4 team division in baseball a close second, and the All-Star game determining home field advantage for the World Series right behind in 3rd.


Actually, NYY and BOS are in the AL East, which has 5 teams (NYY, BOS, TB, TOR, and BALT). The AL West has only 4 teams.

[TheBigLebowski]

The Marlins have won two World Series titles since The Reds last playoff appearance and have been MUCH more relevant in terms of competitiveness than our own beloved Reds in recent years.

They have an attendance issue, yes, but they're getting a new ballpark and it's not as if The Reds are packing the house at GABP every night.

Personally, I'd trade the last 15 years of team history between the Reds and Marlins in an instant.

The Marlins, for all their struggles, at least know when to call it a day and rebuild their team. The Reds, year in and year out try to half heartedly rebuild and contend at the same team. And thanks to that approach the last time we've seen .500 in Cincinnati was the turn of the century.

It's never wise to point out a splinter in someone's eye while ignoring the plank in your own.

If we still had the "reputation" system in place here, I would have tapped that button 5 times on this post.

[Jack Burton]

I agree, move them to the AL west. Not sure how it has gone this long w/ unbalanced divisions.

[The Operator]

Couldn't we move The Cardinals instead? ;)

[BigPoppa]

Couldn't we move The Cardinals instead? ;)

St. Louis in the AL West makes as much sense as when they were in the old NL East and Atlanta and Cincinnati were in the NL West

[KySteveH]

St. Louis in the AL West makes as much sense as when they were in the old NL East and Atlanta and Cincinnati were in the NL West

Don't forget the Cubs in the east as well.

That being said, the NFL has had Dallas in the NFC East forever, and no one has complained much. Same with St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals, until a few years ago. I like having little quirks like that. I wish the old NL West, with the Reds playing SF and LA was still around.

I know that travel concerns aren't as much an issue in the NFL, but they really shouldn't be in MLB either. I mean, you don't go to work until 4 in the afternoon, and stay in 4-star hotels with charter flights.