Too bad THIS one isn't going to happpen and my predicted format is way-detailed and it even has maintained in the 162-game season format comparing my previous ideas.

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Well, fast forward a few years.

I was thinking about the problems with baseball in Florida and wondering if there were a way to give the South their own division. Perhaps a more regional feel would build the sport in the southern cities. And while more areas with 2 teams like to keep them separated in the Al/NL like the Yankees/Mets, Florida seems to be a worthwhile exception as both cities could benefit from having the teams play more often.


Again, it will never happen. But it would only require * Milwaukee returning to the AL and * Tampa going to the NL.
~ Cleveland would move to the AL East
~ Washington, Florida and Atlanta would swap divisions with Pitt, Chi Cubs, Cincy and St. Louis.


AL EAST:
Boston
NY Yankees
Baltimore
Toronto
~Cleveland

AL CENTRAL:
Detroit
Minnesota
* Milwaukee
Chicago
Kansas City

AL WEST:
Texas
LA Angels
Oakland
Seattle



NL EAST:
NY Mets
Phillies
~ Pittsburgh
~ St. Louis
~ Chicago Cubs
~ Cincy

NL SOUTH:
~ Washington
~ Atlanta
* Tampa Bay
~ Florida
Houston

NL WEST:
San Diego
LA Dodgers
San Francisco
Colorado
Arizona

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I love it when I get done typing a post after working out the kinks, and it makes me log back in and completely loses the post. *sigh*

Anyways, the main problem with MLB going to a divisional format is that instead of being a single entity, it is actually the overseer of two independent Leagues, and to put it bluntly, there is no way in hades they are going to change that. Two big reasons: 1) Baseball is the oldest organized sport, and with its rich tradition are many purists (a huge reaason why the steroid debate is as big as it is), and that move would drive off enough of them that it would do more damage than the lockout did, and 2) Interleague play is hugely popular, especially the rivalries, and they want to keep that. This means they want to keep their rosters largely intact. That leaves Colorado, Florida, Arizona, Tampa Bay, the new expansion teams, and Milwaukee in play. Side note about Milwaukee, I think by them time MLB is ready to expand, Selig won't be the commish anymore, which leaves them open to a return to being division rivals with Minnesota.

This brings us to where expansion would take place. Portland, New Jersey, Norfolk VA, and Las Vegas fielded offers to get the then-Montreal Expos, which would put them under consideration. I would also add Oklahoma City and Columbus OH to that list of potential candidates with the population base needed to sustain a team. However, territory rights pair down that list. While New Jersey came very close to landing the Expos, that was in a very strange situation, as they had to find a home for them rather quickly. NJ is in Yankees, Mets, and Phillies territory, which probably eliminates them from the list. With Washington getting the Expos, Norfolk is considered under their territorial rights. Columbus's only pro team is in a sport that is not represented in either of the other main cities in the state, as well as being considered the dividing line between Indians Country and Reds country. Despite being the largest city in Ohio and about halfway between Cleveland and the Nati, it's considered within both teams' regional territory. This leaves Portland, Oklahoma City, and Las Vegas left, and gambling in Vegas notwithstanding, all three would be potential candidates, with Portland very likely to get a team, and Vegas and OkC duking it out over the other.

I had divisions and interleague rivalries set up, but since that was erased, I'll try to come up with one momentarily.

The Marlins are stuck in a garbage baseball stadium and have problems having to go through firesales every so often, and Tampa had been garbage for years until last year, which doesn't help gain a fanbase at all. The problems are at the management level, and having the southern teams in one division isn't going to help.

I don't think there is a reason for MLB to be in any hurry to expand. What does need to change is the difference in the number of teams in the American and National leagues. It's ridiculous to have one league with 16 teams (with one division in that league having six teams), and the American League having 14 teams (with one division only having four teams).

Major league baseball should either move one team from the American League to the National League, and making all divisions have the same number of teams. Or they should add two teams to the American League, creating two leagues with four 4-team divisions.

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Agreed. Baseball teams in Tampa, Florida and Kansas City should be targeted for relocation before expansion EVER happens. Minnesota would be on that list, but a new stadium will prevent that.

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I was with you on this for a very long time, however the more I learned about how the scheduling process works, it does make more sense for them to have unbalanced leagues.

MLB has their set times for Interleague play, other than that the NL and AL operate pretty much as separate entities until the World Series. If you had an even 15 teams in each League, you would end up with one team from each being idle for an entire series. This would mean either you have the teams rest for three days (which would greatly prolong the season), or you have the teams play each other, which greatly devalues Interleague play, and can end up with teams having an imbalanced number of games against the opposite league, which can greatly skew where teams end up in the playoff race. With the unbalanced Leagues, you can keep all teams playing, and still have the Interleague games be meaningful.

The main reason you see Leagues/Conferences across the country in MLB and the NFL, and geographical conferences in the NBA and NHL is because their rival leagues in the sport were in varying degrees of health when they were merged. The American League and AFL were healthy enough that the NL and NFL were willing to take the leagues in under an equal partnership, allowing them to maintain their own identity under the MLB and NFL banners. The ABA and WHA were very unstable, allowing the NBA and NHL to just swallow their opposing leagues whole, with both leagues only taking certain markets into the fold and dissolving others. Those teams invited in adopted an identity within the NBA or NHL, losing their ABA or WHA identity.

I think Minnesota has the base to ensure their safety there, any threat of a move is a ploy for a new stadium, however with the economy in the gutter, there's really no one else who can pony up the money for a new stadium anyways.

Florida has severely needed a new stadium for years, and while they've had success, this has also been followed by a quick selling off of the best players shortly afterwards, which can really fluster the fans there. They would really benefit from a retractable dome stadium, since the weather can either be extremely nice or extremely brutal, with usually very little middle ground.

KC just needs ownership that aren't total muppets. Much like the Sonics were run like a Starbucks under Howard Schultz, the team is now being run like another Wal-Mart, whose business practices are not conductive to fielding a competitive team. Either ownership needs to start learning the ropes on fielding a competitive team, or the Royals may need to be moved, despite having a good fanbase that is anything but fairweather.

Tampa was a joke until last season, if they can have a good 4-5 run of being competitive with the two richest teams, maybe another playoff appearance or two, they'll probably grow a fanbase enough to be a comfortable fit in Tampa.

I think Minnesota has the base to ensure their safety there, any threat of a move is a ploy for a new stadium, however with the economy in the gutter, there's really no one else who can pony up the money for a new stadium anyways.

Florida has severely needed a new stadium for years, and while they've had success, this has also been followed by a quick selling off of the best players shortly afterwards, which can really fluster the fans there. They would really benefit from a retractable dome stadium, since the weather can either be extremely nice or extremely brutal, with usually very little middle ground.

KC just needs ownership that aren't total muppets. Much like the Sonics were run like a Starbucks under Howard Schultz, the team is now being run like another Wal-Mart, whose business practices are not conductive to fielding a competitive team. Either ownership needs to start learning the ropes on fielding a competitive team, or the Royals may need to be moved, despite having a good fanbase that is anything but fairweather.

Tampa was a joke until last season, if they can have a good 4-5 run of being competitive with the two richest teams, maybe another playoff appearance or two, they'll probably grow a fanbase enough to be a comfortable fit in Tampa.

Here's another one with a simple twist:

* Keeps the 16/14 split in leagues for scheduling purposes
* Aids the AL West: they have 4 teams...3 in the Pacific and 1 in the Central time zone. If a division is going to cross 3 timezones, it should have 5 teams.
* Keeps the interconference regional rivalries intact (texas/houston, LAA/LAD, etc)

EAST
NY Yankees
Boston
Toronto
Tampa Bay
Baltimore

CENTRAL
Detroit
Chicago Sox
Minnesota
Kansas City
Cleveland
* Milwaukee

WEST
LA Angels
Oakland
Texas
* Arizona
* Colorado


National League

EAST
Philadelphia
NY Mets
Atlanta
Florida
Washington

CENTRAL
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh
Houston

WEST
LA Dodgers
San Francisco
San Diego
* Seattle

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You can have a 15 - 15 split, and not have continuous BYES, simply by scheduling an odd number of interleague games year round. What is so bad about that ?

I think a lot of the baseball "purists" have died off. A purist would have abandoned the sport, with the advent of the DH and inter-league play. The unbalanced schedule and the unbalanced sizes of the leagues and divisions truly stink.
But nothing will get fixed until Selig and Fehr are gone, and a professional management orgainization with a vision moves in. Perhaps not in our lifetime....

Baseball used to be my summer past-time (during the 1960s and 1970s).

I really have lost all interest in the sport anymore, because of all the silliness.
1) One league with 16 teams, one league with 14 teams
2) Division sizes of 6, 5, and 4
3) Unbalanced schedules.
4) Inter-league play (no objection to inter-league play per se) where opponents are arbitrarily selected, and this differential could sway the division champions / wild cards.
5) DH in one league, pitcher bats in the other. How do we decide which rule to apply when AL meets NL ?
One set of rules needs to be adopted for all.
6) Competitive imbalance, due to lack of salary cap. Should large market teams have a competitve advantage, due to a free-spending owner vs. an owner who is willing to spend money more in line with team revenues ?
This virtually guarantees the Yankees will forever have better talent than 2/3 of MLB. Is that fair ? Why should I feel interested in following a team whose payroll (relative to the big boys) leaves them no real chance to compete ?
7) Token lip service paid to the performance-enhancing drug issue. If you believe in purists, you will recognize that they dwell on all-time records. All-time records are made irrelevant by all of these cheaters. Admittedly steroid use was rampant in the NFL during the 1970s and early 1980s (in fact since adoption of steroid testing and penalties, there may still be previous usage or usage timed to have one's body flushed prior to testing (even though testing is supposed to be random). But the NFL got out in front of this issue and decided to do something about it. It's hard to invest any interest in a baseball slugger who has a fair likelihood of being a cheater (and incentives to cheat - performance enhacing drugs DO WORK, testing is lax, penalties are minor). Performances in the lat 15 years by McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, A-Rod have been remarkable - until later it is revealed that it is all a fraud.
8) What has happened to the great black athlete baseball players. ? Blacks seem to show no interest in the sport anymore... When Bonds and Griffey are gone, who is left ? I am white, but grew up idolizing great talents like Mays, McCovey, Aaron, Robinson, Gibson, Griffey, Morgan, Stargell, Oliver, Parker, Dawson, Rice, Blair, Baylor, Ozzie Smith, etc. They have largely been replaced by some very talented Latino players. Nothing against them - they belong in the game as well, however an entire race of players has deserted the sport.
9) Post-season baseball has become intensely BORING. Games start too late (Selig may have recently moved up the start time), and games can last 4+ hours. This is magnified by Tim McCarver over-analyzing every pitch. Compared to watching the other 3 major sports, watching baseball is like watching paint dry (the commercials typically have far more action).
10) The players are generally uneducated (by far the lowest percentage of college attendees), and have a culture of being big babies. A hangnail means the 15-day disabled list.... Was it Henry Cotto who went on the DL for a Q-tipping accident ? Starting pitchers used to ROUTINELY pitch complete games. Now few pitchers can go more than 115 pitches without becoming totally ineffective or "risking injury"... What is up with that ? During his stint with the Cardinals, Rolen (a BIG guy) had a few collisions on the basepaths that were typical of what a hockey player endures perhaps 3-4 times / game, or what a football player endures 10-12 times a game. Rolen (with roughly $7-10 million / year invested in him) wound up on the DL for MONTHS.... If you are a fan of the NHL or NFL, and witness how tough those guys are, it becomes nearly impossible to sympathize with baseball "injuries".

Baseball needs a vision to fix all the above, and a bold leader who is empowered by the owners to fix it.
They are raking in the money, while the public keeps building them new stadii. So they see no problem. But I think the younger generations are steadily shiftng their interest toward other sports that have more action, and are more fan-friendly.

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Quinn -

You make some good points.

Again - 15 / 15 would work if you accept the odd team from each league playing inter-league games (and thus avoiding the BYE). When Selig shifted Milwaukee to the NL to get to 16 / 14, I think inter-league play was "experimental".

DH - Originally (being a "purist", I suppose), I saw no need for it. I think it came in around 1974 or so. Evidence shows that it contributes maybe an additional run per game for each team. I don't feel strongly in favor of or against it, I just want the rules to be standardized across MLB. Lately, I see so many injuries relating to pitchers injuring themselves running the bases and swinging the bat, that adopting the DH may be far less ruinous to a team's pitching staff. Pitchers tend to be so specialized in their repetitive motion (throwing the ball) that subjecting them to having to make other random movements is becoming risky. This may sound like a sarcastic comment, but no, I believe it to be true. I think fans would enjoy watching a batter who is a good offensively (but perhaps bad defensively) take some whacks, rather than watch a pitcher who might bat .185. So at this point, I think I'd vote for the DH to be adopted by the NL, All-Star Game, World Series (everything).

Salary cap - You contend that a well-managed team can compensate by effective player development. A little bit. But here's the problem. Free agents.... free agents continue to migrate from the small market / lower payroll teams to the larger market / higher payroll teams. The Yankees simply do not need to focus as hard on scouting and player development as the KC Royals / Pittsburgh Pirates / Tampa Bay Rays / etc. because they will simply fill any roster holes by buying up free agents. Of course the player's union doesn't want a salary cap, because [in a vacuum] a salary cap means less total money for the players. Hockey imposed a salary cap, but also a salary FLOOR, and both are tied to league-wide revenues. The players could perhaps agree to a payroll-neutral proposal. But the small market owners might only be able to afford the salary floor without revenue sharing. Then you have shifted the dispute from the players to the large market vs. small market owners. Something needs to be done, or baseball will have [already has] perrennial have-nots. Pittsburgh gets the tax-payers to build them a new $250 million ballpark / Yankees get tax-payers to build them a new $1 billion dollar ballpark. Pittsburgh's stadium sits empty even though ticket prices are fairly reasonable... WHY ?
The team is viewed as payroll-constrained and hence, not competitive. MLB needs to look at NFL / NHL to see how a decent competitive balance means that fans of every franchise have reason to believe that their team is worth watching. Selig knows this, but is hamstrung as far as pushing for meaningful change.