A while ago, I wrote that MLB should just scrap the divisional format. I still agree with all of that, but if it is just too much for you ... well, you probably won't like this either.
Keep two divisions in two leagues ... but readjust the leagues in a class system.
The problem with baseball is that you have a bunch of haves and a bunch of have-nots. There are 10+ cities in this great nation of ours that go into virtually every season knowing they have no shot at postseason success. And despite the crying that there are small market teams that do find successes now and then, that doesn't compare to the Yankees, Cardinals, Red Sox, Angels and Dodgers knowing that they should be in the playoffs regardless of what happens.
The Florida Marlins or Tampa Bay Rays can't have a dynasty as they could of 20-30 years ago. There would be no Big Red Machine of the 1970s. There would be no Pirates run of NL East titles in the early 1990s. How long would the Bash Brothers last in Oakland nowadays? Of course, those Pirates and Reds teams were broken up quicker than they should have.
So instead of the Commish's plan of floating realignment where teams move divisions depending on their perceived competitiveness, how about just nipping it in the bud and realigning by the resources the teams have.
Make the National League the league of rich teams. Make the American League the league of small-market teams (the reasoning? The NL has been around longer and having "National" tagged to the rich league and "American" tied to the poorer teams seems proper).
NATIONAL LEAGUE
EAST: Braves, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Red Sox, Tigers, White Sox, Yankees
WEST: Angels, Astros, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Mariners, Rangers
AMERICAN LEAGUE
EAST: Blue Jays, Indians, Marlins, Nationals, Pirates, Rays, Reds
WEST: Athletics, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies, Royals, Twins
The beauty of this is that it can be fluid. Things change. The Mariners are in the rich league because they have Nintendo backing them. What if Nintendo starts a rapid decline? Or what if they just sell the team to a group that doesn't have anywhere near those kinds of resources? Things change. The Minnesota Twins were the epitome of a small market team. Well, they just popped open Target Field which will bring in a bunch of new revenue. You can float these teams across leagues if it seems as if the rich get poorer and someone goes from rags to riches.
Now, this doesn't mean that one of the American League teams cannot overspend for talent. Remember how the Diamondbacks and Marlins both exploded their payrolls in order to get to ... and ultimately win ... the World Series? Those were one-year fixes that paid off. With all the poor teams lumped together to compete, it will empower some of these teams to go for it and break their ceiling. Those teams are a bit more reluctant to do that now because they don't feel as if they have a shot to compete with the big dogs.
Sure, it will lead us to a World Series where we have a rich team against a "poor" team. So? We had the Phillies-Rays of a couple years ago. We had the Red Sox-Rockies. We had the Marlins-Yankees, D'backs-Yankees, Yankees-Padres, Marlins-Indians, Blue Jays-Phillies, Blue Jays-Braves and ... gasp ... two lower level teams with the Reds-A's. It's baseball where anything can happen. The wealthy Yankees can take on an upstart Marlins team and lose in the World Series.
The rich teams will like this because you can take the revenue sharing part out of the equation. Why should they put money back in to help the smaller market teams when they have their own league? Sure, the competition will be rabid in that National League, but that's good for all of us and keeps franchises from just writing checks to get into the postseason.
The poor teams will like this because, obviously, it gives them a better shot at winning something. There are no excuses, like "we can't compete with those large market teams".
Keep two divisions in two leagues ... but readjust the leagues in a class system.
The problem with baseball is that you have a bunch of haves and a bunch of have-nots. There are 10+ cities in this great nation of ours that go into virtually every season knowing they have no shot at postseason success. And despite the crying that there are small market teams that do find successes now and then, that doesn't compare to the Yankees, Cardinals, Red Sox, Angels and Dodgers knowing that they should be in the playoffs regardless of what happens.
The Florida Marlins or Tampa Bay Rays can't have a dynasty as they could of 20-30 years ago. There would be no Big Red Machine of the 1970s. There would be no Pirates run of NL East titles in the early 1990s. How long would the Bash Brothers last in Oakland nowadays? Of course, those Pirates and Reds teams were broken up quicker than they should have.
So instead of the Commish's plan of floating realignment where teams move divisions depending on their perceived competitiveness, how about just nipping it in the bud and realigning by the resources the teams have.
Make the National League the league of rich teams. Make the American League the league of small-market teams (the reasoning? The NL has been around longer and having "National" tagged to the rich league and "American" tied to the poorer teams seems proper).
NATIONAL LEAGUE
EAST: Braves, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Red Sox, Tigers, White Sox, Yankees
WEST: Angels, Astros, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Mariners, Rangers
AMERICAN LEAGUE
EAST: Blue Jays, Indians, Marlins, Nationals, Pirates, Rays, Reds
WEST: Athletics, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies, Royals, Twins
The beauty of this is that it can be fluid. Things change. The Mariners are in the rich league because they have Nintendo backing them. What if Nintendo starts a rapid decline? Or what if they just sell the team to a group that doesn't have anywhere near those kinds of resources? Things change. The Minnesota Twins were the epitome of a small market team. Well, they just popped open Target Field which will bring in a bunch of new revenue. You can float these teams across leagues if it seems as if the rich get poorer and someone goes from rags to riches.
Now, this doesn't mean that one of the American League teams cannot overspend for talent. Remember how the Diamondbacks and Marlins both exploded their payrolls in order to get to ... and ultimately win ... the World Series? Those were one-year fixes that paid off. With all the poor teams lumped together to compete, it will empower some of these teams to go for it and break their ceiling. Those teams are a bit more reluctant to do that now because they don't feel as if they have a shot to compete with the big dogs.
Sure, it will lead us to a World Series where we have a rich team against a "poor" team. So? We had the Phillies-Rays of a couple years ago. We had the Red Sox-Rockies. We had the Marlins-Yankees, D'backs-Yankees, Yankees-Padres, Marlins-Indians, Blue Jays-Phillies, Blue Jays-Braves and ... gasp ... two lower level teams with the Reds-A's. It's baseball where anything can happen. The wealthy Yankees can take on an upstart Marlins team and lose in the World Series.
The rich teams will like this because you can take the revenue sharing part out of the equation. Why should they put money back in to help the smaller market teams when they have their own league? Sure, the competition will be rabid in that National League, but that's good for all of us and keeps franchises from just writing checks to get into the postseason.
The poor teams will like this because, obviously, it gives them a better shot at winning something. There are no excuses, like "we can't compete with those large market teams".
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