Baseball Realignment

Rather than subjecting you to diarrhea of the keyboard, it was great to take a bit of a break.  But back by popular demand … well, that could be an overstatement … nevertheless, I’m back and ready to blog. 

While I was gone, many of the higher-ups in the baseball world spent some time discussing how MLB might realign their divisions to solve a few of their issues.  For quite some time, baseball has been tinkering to see how it can reinvent itself, whether it be an exhibition game that gives home field advantage in the World Series, interleague play that serves no real purpose, or a luxury tax that supposedly helps small market teams.  This experiment proves to be no different. 

I will start by saying that there are aspects of the present alignment that make very little sense … for Texas to play in the American League West is bad geography … for Pittsburgh to play in the National League Central also strikes me as odd.  But, attempting to blow up divisions and leagues over THESE matters seems a bit drastic.  However, there were a few other motivations for changing things up that are noteworthy.  Ken Rosenthal mentions several of these in this article.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/rosenthal-realignment-proposal-022510

IF … and that is one big if … changes need to be made … allow me to offer my own radical realignment; one that takes time zones, geography, and payrolls into consideration … and doesn’t include some of the bonehead ideas presented by MLB.

American League

Northeast – Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Phillies 

Central – Blue Jays, Tigers, Indians, Reds, Pirates

Southeast – Braves, Rays, Nationals, Marlins, Orioles

All of these teams are in the Eastern time zone, which would cut down on traveling and make scheduling for television easier.  Because geography and payroll have a degree of overlap (cities with a massive fan base and huge TV contract can afford to spend more money), putting the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Phillies together in one division would make for great competition.  With the wild card in place, there will still be an opportunity for two of these teams to make the playoffs each year.  However, with these being four competitive clubs, the assumption the Yankees will win every year is not safe.  Both the AL Central and the AL Southeast allow for teams with similar payrolls to be grouped together in a way that would enhance geographical competition and keep traveling at a minimum. 

National League

Midwest – Twins, Brewers, Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals

Southwest – Astros, Rangers, Rockies, Royals, Diamondbacks

West Coast – Mariners, A’s, Giants, Dodgers, Angels, Padres

Once again, these geographical configurations overlap a great deal with payroll, allowing smaller to mid-market teams a better chance of making the playoffs in both the NL Midwest and NL Southwest.  In the same way the NL Central is aligned presently, the NL West Coast would consist of 6 teams, with two of these being larger payrolls in the Dodgers and Angels. Still, the wild card allows both of these teams access to the playoffs each year. 

Before I present this to Bud Selig, any thoughts?