In the last few days the fires of realignment in Major League Baseball have been stoked and the flames have been fanned and it seems that the players would really like this to happen.
While we are hearing that the players and the Major League Baseball Players Association are on board with the potential realignment it appears some of the owners maybe lukewarm to the proposition.
The players and the union like it because the proposal of two 15-team leagues with no divisions would produce a more balanced schedule making it easier for some teams to qualify for the post season. By easier I mean that teams like Baltimore, Toronto and Tampa Bay along with Florida and the New York Mets would have to play less face to face games with the New York Yankees, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
One of the reasons championing the move to realignment is the imbalance of two divisions. The American League West has only four teams while the National League Central has six. The National league currently has 16 total team to the American Leagues 14.
The proposal of two leagues of 15 teams would do a few things. First a National League team would have to be relocated to the American League. Rumors are that the Houston Astros would be likely to move. This is kind of up in the air as Drayton McClain has put the club up for sale. To me it would be highly unfair for McClain to make the decision to move or not before a buyer is found which at this point could possibly make a Houston move a no go.
The second thing that would happen, and if I had a vote my biggest objection, would be year round interleague play. With this move there would be no way around it as all teams need to play 162 games in roughly a 180-day window. I despise interleague play.
The new plan would also call for a fifth team from each league to make the playoffs in an expanded post season scenario tied to realignment. So in the new format you would have the top five teams in each league going into the post season. The four and five seed from each league would play each other in either a play in game or a short series (best of three). The winner of the play in/short series would play the top seed from the league, while the two and three seeds would face each other in a five game series. The winners would then go the League Championship Series (best of seven) and the league champions would face each other in the best of seven World Series.
To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the homepage.
ESPN reporter Buster Olney says that while the proposal has less than a 50-50 chance at this time of passing it is gaining momentum.
Under the rumored proposal let’s look at who would have been in the playoffs in 2010:
The AL five would have been Tampa Bay, New York, Minnesota, Texas and Boston.
The NL five would have been Philadelphia, San Francisco, Atlanta, Cincinnati and San Diego. Cincinnati and Atlanta would have tied for 3rd with the same win percentage. I would imagine head to head would be first tiebreaker.
I don’t know if the proposal is good or bad I just know that I’m not thrilled with the idea due to full season interleague play as I think that helps create the problem of schedule imbalance that the players and owners are chirping about.
With a full season of interleague play you would have to schedule every team for the same amount of interleague games. So let’s use the Red Sox, say they play each NL team four times, 2 home and 2 away. That’s 60 games against NL teams leaving 102 open dates to face 14 AL opponents on an even basis that doesn’t work (7.29 games vs. each AL team).
So let’s reduce the season to 158 games, Boston could play 60 interleague games (4 games x 15 teams) and 98 league games (7 games x 14 teams). Or go to a season of 157 games and play 45 interleague games (one series of 3 games against each club) and 112 league games (8 games x 14 teams).
Each schedule creates minor imbalances that can be overcome. In the first schedule idea the Red Sox would have 4 home games and 3 road against seven American League teams in 2012 while the other seven teams they’d play 3 home games and 4 road games. The next season Boston would flip schedules. While against the National League the Red Sox would have two series of two games each; one home and one away.
In the second schedule idea the Red Sox would play their league 8 times (4 home; 4 away) and only have one three game series against the senior circuit, either a road or a home series. The next season Boston would flip locations with those National League teams.
If a full season of interleague play is forced on us with the realignment I could live with it as long as it’s balanced in some form similar to the above.
The one thing this realignment would do is Boston wouldn’t have as many head to head meetings with Tampa Bay and New York while having more games with teams like Kansas City, Texas, Minnesota and Detroit which I like. As a fan I miss getting to see the outstanding players on the non-division teams. It would also give us more familiarity with National League players than seeing them once every three years or so.
How do you feel about realignment? Sound off and let Sox & Dawgs know. You can tweet me @djstevem or Ian @soxanddawgs; email me at steve[at]soxanddawgs[dot]com or leave a comment below I’d love to hear your thoughts.
