Nonstopdrivel
15 years ago

Originally Published: February 1, 2010
An outside-the-box plan for realignment 

Each season divisions would change, increasing fairness and hope for more teams

By David Schoenfield | ESPN.com

In this article, I explained why baseball's competitive balance is better than you realize, actually on par with the NFL's.

This does not mean baseball is "fair" and it certainly seems most fans desire the sport to be more fair. And what makes baseball unfair, mostly, is the New York Yankees. As you probably know, the Yankees spend a lot of money and win a lot of games. They don't win it all every season, but they won it all last season, so now everybody is again hyper-concerned about fairness in baseball.

(For those who argue that the Red Sox are the new Yankees, well, consider this: the Pirates were closer in payroll to the Red Sox in 2009 than the Red Sox were to the Yankees.)

Of course, leveling the playing field is a difficult task. How do you do it? The NFL revenue-sharing model won't work for baseball, because the NFL shares its national television money; so does baseball, but the amount is nowhere near the same. If you created a salary cap of $88 million -- the average MLB team payroll in 2009 -- several franchises would likely go bankrupt or possibly relocate. You could force the "rich" teams to provide even more revenue sharing, but good luck with that. You could institute a rule like the NFL will have this offseason (when it will likely play under an uncapped system): the final eight playoff teams are not allowed to add any new players through free agency except to replace those they lose.

Now, I'm not exactly sure how that will work, but a similar system in baseball wouldn't have prevented the Yankees from signing Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett -- remember, the Yankees had missed the playoffs in 2008. Plus, do you penalize teams like the Rays or Cardinals, who may make the playoffs even though they aren't "big-market" teams?

So, yes, it's a complicated situation without an easy (or realistic) solution. That's why I'm here. I have one.

Change the divisions. Each season.

Why does baseball have to keep the same division format every year? Why should Tampa Bay and Baltimore always have to beat out the Yankees and Red Sox while the AL Central teams duel each other to 87 wins? Why should the Angels only have to beat out three teams instead of four in the AL West?

So the plan is to realign the divisions after every season. For the American League, there would be three basic rules:

1. The Yankees and Red Sox always remain in the AL East. It makes sense and it's good for the game.

2. Tampa, Toronto, Baltimore, Detroit and Cleveland can play only in the AL East or AL Central. All five cities are in the Eastern time zone and having them play in the West creates logistical and television issues.

3. The Angels, Seattle and Oakland always remain in the AL West. This makes sense for logistical reasons, as well.

Now, how do we disperse the remaining teams? Simple. MLB holds a big telecast two days after the World Series ends. We put all the team names in a big ball like during the NBA lottery selection show. Teams send their general manager and a star player and Hall of Famers like George Brett and Reggie Jackson draw out the team names. You wouldn't watch this? You wouldn't love to see Dave Dombrowski throw up in his mouth when the Tigers draw the AL East? You wouldn't get excited to see Andrew Friedman high-fiving Evan Longoria when the Rays draw the AL Central? You know you would watch this.

So, here's how it theoretically would work. Each division would rotate as the four-team division once every three years. The Red Sox, Yankees and West Coast teams are locked into place. The other teams are drawn until the divisions are properly filled out.

Here are the results of my own mock draft for the next three seasons:

2010 ALIGNMENT
AL East 	Yankees 	Red Sox 	Indians 	Tigers 	  
AL Central 	Blue Jays 	Rays 	        Orioles 	Twins 	        Royals
AL West 	Angels 	A's 	Mariners 	Rangers 	White Sox

2011 ALIGNMENT
AL East 	Yankees 	Red Sox 	Tigers 	        Royals 	        White Sox
AL Central 	Blue Jays 	Orioles 	Indians 	Rays 	 
AL West 	Angels 	A's 	Mariners 	Rangers 	Twins

2012 ALIGNMENT
AL East 	Yankees 	Red Sox 	Indians 	Orioles 	Rays
AL Central 	White Sox 	Twins 	        Blue Jays 	Rangers 	Tigers
AL West 	Angels 	A's 	Mariners 	Royals 	


Aren't things suddenly a lot more fair? Sure, the Yankees still have their big payroll advantage, but at least a team like the Orioles wouldn't be completely screwed by having to compete with New York every season. Tampa Bay, with its plethora of young talent and low payroll, would suddenly be the favorite to win the AL Central in 2010 and 2011. The AL West would have more competition with the White Sox or Twins joining the division.

The National League hasn't had the same disparity, primarily because the biggest spenders (the Mets, Cubs and Dodgers) haven't been as successful. But you could certainly do something similar; for example, the Cardinals move to the NL East for a season with the Marlins moving to the NL Central (where they become the favorite to win the division).

No, this wouldn't solve all of baseball's problems. But it is a realistic solution to increasing fairness. It provides more hope for more teams. And it's fun. It's time for the sport to think outside the box.

David Schoenfield is a senior editor for ESPN.com.


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wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
15 years ago
And this guy gets paid to write this stuff? :wickedfart:

I would rather read RP's brother's articles.
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Formo
15 years ago
lol WPR

I don't like it. I don't have any other solutions, but I don't like the realignment idea one bit.
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Thanks to TheViking88 for the sig!!
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
15 years ago

lol WPR

I don't like it. I don't have any other solutions, but I don't like the realignment idea one bit.

"Formo" wrote:



Well if nothing else it tears down the "Traditional Rivalry" thing the MLB works so hard to build up.

If the Cubs were in the west with Milwaukee in the Central and StL in East means they would see very little of each other witht he current unbalanced schedule.

The CHi Sox have a rivalry with the Twins and Detroit. It is nice that they can play them more often.

If they change from division to division every year or two there won't be any continuity. Why even have divisions then?

Just have two leagues and the top 4 teams advance.

I thought this guy was going to discuss getting another team in the AL West. They should move AZ or Colorado over. Then move Houston to the NL West.

edit-
Actually what I would like to see is to add 2 more teams. bring it to 32. Shorten the season by a week by adding double headers. then add another round of playoffs with 4 division winners and 2 wild cards like football. 1st round byes for the top teams. or 3 divisions and 3 wild cards with byes for the top teams.
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IronMan
15 years ago
Can we just get rid of the Royals and Pirates? I'm sure no one would notice.
Wade
  • Wade
  • Veteran Member
15 years ago
Put all the biggest spenders in one division out of four; that way only one of them can get to the Series in a given year.

(Can you tell I don't much care for baseball anymore?)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
15 years ago

Can we just get rid of the Royals and Pirates? I'm sure no one would notice.

"IronMan" wrote:



I would tell them to stop whining.
Put out a quality product and the fans will come. If you don't have a winning record and some stability for your team (IE: They can't sell off all the best players all the time.) you must sell the franchise to someone else after 10 years. (6 yrs 8 yrs something.)
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The_Green_Ninja
15 years ago
Can't we just automatically assume the Yankees are going to win the World Series? That would make things easier.
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wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
15 years ago

Can't we just automatically assume the Yankees are going to win the World Series? That would make things easier.

"The_Green_Ninja" wrote:



I wondered when you would put in your 2 cents.
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