The Future of MLB

[Oxblood]

Heard Mike & Mike talking about contraction this morning and it got me thinking. For the good of baseball contraction needs to happen, I believe it would strengthen the sport and return it to the "national pastime". Below would be my new alignment. What say you?

National League

East
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets
Atlanta Braves
Pittsburgh Pirates

Central
Cincinnati Reds
Chicago Cubs
St. Louis Cardinals
Milwaukee Brewers

West
LA Dodgers
San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres
Houston Astros

American League

East
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Baltimore Orioles
Cleveland Indians

Central
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City Royals

West
Anaheim Angels
Oakland A's
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers

Playoffs would remain the same, 3 division winners and a wild card.

[brm7675]

How do you justify the teams you removed?

[swaisuc]

I don't see the need personally, but regardless I'd say Colorado and Toronto are safe simply because of their fan bases. Toronto also has an appeal as the only Canadian team.

If for some reason they went to 24 teams, keep those 2 and get rid of Pittsburgh and Kansas City. They might have more history than the other two, but they bring way less to the table in terms of the present and the future.

[Revering4Blue]

Contraction a pipe dream that shouldn't be realized

Of course, the beauty of contraction arguments is that they never make any sense. No league has the money to pay off owners to disappear -- that's how Selig's early 2000s suggestion about contraction died so quickly.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/1...nt-be-realized

[Oxblood]

Probably won't happen, but it should. Would be sweet IMO.

Way too many teams right now and squads like Florida barely have a fan base.

[DirtyBaker]

It's not fair to take away both Florida teams and have California keep all 5 of theirs, but I can see the logic behind it. If the Reds disappeared over night, many of us wouldn't automatically become fans of the Indians.

What really needs to happen is a realignment. Having 6 teams in the NL central and 4 in the AL west has always bothered me.

[mlh1981]

Florida is getting a new stadium, so they aren't going anywhere.

Also, for the teams removed, being as how most teams have new stadiums, just what in the hell do they do with the ballparks? In most cases, they are taxpayer funded, so I'm not sure having no primary tenant would go over well.

[VottoFan54]

What really needs to happen is a realignment. Having 6 teams in the NL central and 4 in the AL west has always bothered me.

I agree, this is one of the stupidest things in sports when teams like the Reds have to beat out 5 other teams to win the division yet the Athletics only have to be better than 3 other teams.

[takealeake]

The time for contraction has passed. Who do you contract now? The Expos have moved to Washington and with a new stadium, the Marlins are moving to a new stadium, Tampa is working on a new stadium and is a contender, the Twins are always a playoff team and have a new stadium. These were the teams mentioned a few years ago when it was brought up.

[lidspinner]

you dont contract....you align teams based on payroll....you re-align every 2-4 years or so based on new payroll....bottom line is past history in divisions and creating rivals is just got to go out the window.....basically you put the top 4-5 teams according to payroll in a div, and the next 4-5 and so on all the way down the line....you can do this with both the NL and AL and keep the playoff system the same...so your wildcard will still more than likely come out of the high payroll div but your bottom 4-5 teams in each league will still get a fighting chance to make the playoffs and have a good chance at keeping their fanbase attracted to them past Memorial day......

I have thought about this for many years and this is the only win-win-win situation that can happen.....win for the players, win for the owners, win for the fans....

maybe later when I am not at work I will break it down and show what each div would look like...but at work, I just dont have time to do that....

[bounty37h]

I agree it wont ever happen, however, the new stadium arguement doesn't do it for me. If those same taxpayers actually went to games, they wouldnt be considered (cough cough, Florida). Dont build a new stadium if you cant get people there.

[Spazzrico]

If the Reds disappeared over night, many of us wouldn't automatically become fans of the Indians.

Frankly I wouldn't be a baseball fan anymore, I'd be so bitter.

[lonewolf371]

you dont contract....you align teams based on payroll....you re-align every 2-4 years or so based on new payroll....bottom line is past history in divisions and creating rivals is just got to go out the window.....basically you put the top 4-5 teams according to payroll in a div, and the next 4-5 and so on all the way down the line....you can do this with both the NL and AL and keep the playoff system the same...so your wildcard will still more than likely come out of the high payroll div but your bottom 4-5 teams in each league will still get a fighting chance to make the playoffs and have a good chance at keeping their fanbase attracted to them past Memorial day......

I have thought about this for many years and this is the only win-win-win situation that can happen.....win for the players, win for the owners, win for the fans....

maybe later when I am not at work I will break it down and show what each div would look like...but at work, I just dont have time to do that....

So far the best suggestion I've seen is to just eliminate divisions.

[Tadasimha]

Instead of dumping teams, shorten the season. Either get rid of games and go to a 154 game schedule again, or start schedulinng double headers regularly. Either way, try to have the season end earlier so that the World Series doesn't stretch into November.

[brm7675]

I agree it wont ever happen, however, the new stadium arguement doesn't do it for me. If those same taxpayers actually went to games, they wouldnt be considered (cough cough, Florida). Dont build a new stadium if you cant get people there.

have you been to the Marlins stadium (cough/cough if you want to call it that)? It's a football stadium and not a very good one at that. Plus it's florida so it's hot, humid and uncomfortable. So unless the team is really, really good, i wouldn't go either.