MLB Realignment

Last night I heard that Joe Girardi and Buck Showalter are going to present MLB with their own versions of a re-alignment plan.  So I have decided that I would like to pitch my own realignment plan to all of the bar mates here at Goldy's.

Both Girardi and Showalter are looking at eliminating the AL and NL to make regional divisions.  I am not a big fan of the idea as a whole because I am a baseball traditionalist.  I like having the 2 separate leagues, however if we are going to make changes it has to make sense and keep the structure of what drives baseball in place. (My one disclaimer is that the most simple fix to all of this is happening in large part next year with the return of the balanced schedule)

Here is my plan......

Create new divisions using Payroll.  This would not be very hard to figure out...You set base lines for each division and adjust with inflation. This also levels the playing field with no salary cap anywhere in the future.  It sounds crazy at first but look how each division is matched up....

AL Division 1:                                         NL Division 1: 

Yankees                                                     Phillies

Red Sox                                                    Marlins

Tigers                                                        Giants

Rangers                                                     Brewers

Angels                                                       Cardinals

AL Division 2:                                        NL Division 2:

Orioles                                                       Dodgers

White Sox                                                  Mets

Mariners                                                    Cubs

Twins                                                         Braves

Indians                                                       Reds

AL Division 3:                                         NL Division 3:

Rays                                                          Nationals

A's                                                            Diamondbacks

Blue Jays                                                   Padres

Royals                                                       Pirates

Astros                                                       Rockies



As teams spend more and less the divisions can change.  This will allow teams that are rebuilding to build the confidence of their younger players in a more competitive environment.  An environment that is going to push each team as it matches up against their division opponents more evenly. 

Schedule

I would eliminate inter-league play all together.  It has run its course.  I would cut back from 162 to 140.  That was a great number and will make the playoff scenario more exciting because of the importance of 20 less regular season games.   I would however then keep the schedule unbalanced so that the division games meant that much more.  Here are my bullet points

--Each team plays 20 games against their division
--each team plays 6 games against everyone outside their division
--All Star game would stay where it is and would go back to meaning nothing
--Every Monday would be an off today for everyone.  This is the lowest attended day across baseball and will keep each team fresher with a guaranteed day off each week.

Playoffs:

This is the fun part....

--It would be set up exactly like the NFL..3 division winners and 2 wild cards per league...Top seeds (best record) get a bye
--Wild Card Round would be best of 3
--Divisional Round would be best of 5
--Championship series and World Series best of 7.

What do you think?  How would you tweek this?  What does your realignment plan look like?

Share this with your FB friends and Twitter followers to see what they think ...

GOLDY