Expansion

[RED VAN HOT]

No idea. Why wouldn't they?

Probably would depend on how they designed the schedule and the post season qualifications. Perhaps I'm cynical, but I would think they would want to provide a path to the post season for the big market teams.

[Slyder]

I'll give it a go.



AL West OAK, LAA, POR, SEA
NL West LAD, SD, SF, AZ

AL South COL, TX, HOU, KC
NL South MIA, ATL, TB, STL

AL North MIN, CHI SOX, DET, CLE
NL North MIL, MON, CIN, CHI CUBS

AL East NYY, BOS, BAL, TOR
NL East NYM, PHI, WAS, PIT

This assumes Montreal and Portland and switches leagues for a number of teams. My eyes hurt.

My mistake I didn't think Tampa had been this good since 2008.

[TRF]

Good Lord St. Louis would quickly catch the Yanks with division titles in this setup as Fla/TB are barely above us in terms of dumpster diving/cheapskate owners.

For dumpster divers FL has 2 WS championships since '97, and TB is in the playoffs all the time now.

[InsaneinthBrame]

Good Lord St. Louis would quickly catch the Yanks with division titles in this setup as Fla/TB are barely above us in terms of dumpster diving/cheapskate owners.

You do realize the Rays have won the East the last two years vs Boston and New York so what makes you think the Cardinals would be able to beat them. The Rays are very good at taking players that are gettting expensive and trading them for cheap controllable talent. (Wish the Reds could do this)

[Chip R]

I think if they do expand - and even if they don't - they are going to do away with the old concept of NL and AL as we have known them. It's been heading that way for a while anyway. The universal DH was one of the last threads holding that together. It will be scheduling next where everyone will play everyone home and away at least in one series. Eventually the post-season awards will go to one individual. It'll be more along the model of the other leagues where the separation is there for post-season play and the ASG.

[Slyder]

You do realize the Rays have won the East the last two years vs Boston and New York so what makes you think the Cardinals would be able to beat them. The Rays are very good at taking players that are gettting expensive and trading them for cheap controllable talent. (Wish the Reds could do this)

I take back my insult of Tampa Bay, I hadn't followed them near enough. Since 2008 only 1 year of fewer than 70 wins.

[Assembly Hall]

I think if they do expand - and even if they don't - they are going to do away with the old concept of NL and AL as we have known them. It's been heading that way for a while anyway. The universal DH was one of the last threads holding that together. It will be scheduling next where everyone will play everyone home and away at least in one series. Eventually the post-season awards will go to one individual. It'll be more along the model of the other leagues where the separation is there for post-season play and the ASG.

Conversely, I hope if and when MLB expands they do away with interleague play. Instill back the AS mystique and make the WS a helluva lot more interesting...like it was from the days of my youth.

[klw]

Conversely, I hope if and when MLB expands they do away with interleague play. Instill back the AS mystique and make the WS a helluva lot more interesting...like it was from the days of my youth.

The AS mystique would not come back. Back when that existed there was little free agency and you only could watch your local team and the Saturday Game of the Week and for a while Monday Night Baseball. Now you can watch any game and any player plus see almost any highlight. The other league is no longer an unknown.

[Rojo Rijo]

The MLB is actually going even further into interleague play starting next year. Teams will start playing 46 interleague games, up from 16. Each team will play 4 against their geographic rival (CIN-CLE) and 3 each against the other 14 teams, rotating home and away annually.

Breakdown:
3 games H or A against 14 AL teams - 42. All 3 game series. 7 series at home, 7 series away.
4 games against CLE - 4. 2 games at home, 2 games away.
14 games against NLC opponents - 56 - Looks like two 3 game sets and two 4 game sets, each one home, one away.
6 games against 10 other NL teams - 60 - 3 game sets, one home, one away.

One thing this will do is really make rainouts/makeup games difficult to schedule.

[Old school 1983]

Two leagues made MLB special from the other major sports IMO. Losing that kinda stinks.

[Assembly Hall]

The AS mystique would not come back. Back when that existed there was little free agency and you only could watch your local team and the Saturday Game of the Week and for a while Monday Night Baseball. Now you can watch any game and any player plus see almost any highlight. The other league is no longer an unknown.

Meh. My point was that the only time American Leaguers and National Leaguers would square off would be in the ASG and WS. To me, that would be garnering some of the former mystique. I do agree with you on the TV and FA points. I have reluctantly accepted that the game I grew up with no longer exists.

[oregonred]

The MLB is actually going even further into interleague play starting next year. Teams will start playing 46 interleague games, up from 16. Each team will play 4 against their geographic rival (CIN-CLE) and 3 each against the other 14 teams, rotating home and away annually.

Breakdown:
3 games H or A against 14 AL teams - 42. All 3 game series. 7 series at home, 7 series away.
4 games against CLE - 4. 2 games at home, 2 games away.
14 games against NLC opponents - 56 - Looks like two 3 game sets and two 4 game sets, each one home, one away.
6 games against 10 other NL teams - 60 - 3 game sets, one home, one away.

One thing this will do is really make rainouts/makeup games difficult to schedule.

This is interesting and actually makes sense given 6 playoff teams in each league diluting the need for 72 intra-divison games

[oregonred]

You know, more and more I'm convinced that the people who said putting Major League Baseball teams in Florida would never work were, in fact, correct.

The fact MLB can't make the fast growing, 8M+ population of the I-4 corridor work between Tampa and Orlando is an MLB issue. The Rays stadium in St Pete is the worst stadium and location in MLB (or at least East of Oakland).

Miami is a different animal and the region down here isn't interested in a franchise/ownership that doesn't try to compete.

Separate the FL teams from their NY/NE ex-pats and let them grow an identity (I think M2 suggeted this a while back)

[TRF]

Move TB to Montreal. Add Portland and San Antonio, 2 west centric teams helps with regional rivalries. The east has enough.