So in the past few days apparently Bud Selig and his group of buddies have been tossing around random ideas. One of the ideas was on a yearly basis to rotate teams into different divisions and possibly leagues. The belief is that this could help with competitive balance and allow a boost in revenue for teams. Personally I believe that this idea might sound good on paper, but as an avid baseball fan it goes against everything in which I believe in. You completely lose the rivalries within divisions, and basically change the entire face of competition in the game. How do some of you feel about this idea ?
Yea i'm not much of a DH fan either. It makes managing a game tons easier when you have that DH slot compared to a pitchers slot.
I second that motion. The idea with division realignment is thus: If your team is on the verge of being competitive, they can move into a weak division and make the playoffs (boost revenue) If your team is lousy, they can move into a competitive division with big name opponents. While they rebuild, they can reap the benefits of playing opponents people will come see. Personally? I love it. It's way better than interleague play or DH. The Cubs and Cards will always be on each others' schedules no matter what. And maybe it'd give the Astros a chance at having a rival again -- Braves or Dodgers maybe? Anyone who thinks it's St. Louis is kidding themselves.
So this would be like musical chairs each year? Sound interesting but I am a purist at heart so not sure I like radical change like this. Would it still be NL vs AL or would it just be one big league with 6 divisions? If they want competitive balance why not try....something like....A SALARY CAP.
Would they go back to playing a uniform schedule (ie - every team plays everybody, in either division, the same), along with no interleague???
One thing I don't like about no interleague play is the fact that you don't play the 'other' league till the world series. Most leagues you get a chance to play all or most of the teams within the league, with 162 games you figure you can get a few games with the other side, even if it's one or two games per team?!?
But that's what used to make the World Series (and to some extent, the ASG) special. There were really two seperate leagues coming together to play to see who is best in one single series. Also, the way it is set up now means you get an inherent imbalance... as the Astros have to play the improved Rangers every year, while the Cardinals get to play the lowly Royals every year due to these "natural" rivalaries that really aren't. But as long as people go to those games (which they do), it will be around foreverl
I'd rather see the pre-interleague schedule where we got to see other NL teams such as the Braves, Dodgers, etc. more than one series but attendance numbers are much higher during divisional games. There are only a handful of AL teams I care to watch.
here's what I read about it a few days ago: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/03/09/floating-realignment/index.html
I believe they have a minimum range. I think I read something where baseball is making the Marlins increase their payroll.
wish I could edit, here you go though it was more of an issue with the Player's Union: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4819982
Nothing serious, but if I were to take over as All Powerful Tyrant of MLB, I'd do the following: Apologize to the fans for the Steroid era. Admit Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame, with his plaque making mention of his gambling Ditto for Shoeless Joe Jackson and select others on the MLB banned list. Slap an Asterisk on Bud Selig's name in the history books, too Make sliding with cleats up an automatic ejection Make throwing at a player an automatic ejection (I don't care if those things are "part of the game" - they're dirty, I hate them, and I'm a Tyrant now. I'll ban you, too.) Institute a Luxury Tax Revenue Sharing system, with a minimum payroll number, a 1:1 tax threshold, and a 2:1 tax threshold. For this coming year, those numbers would be $50M, $100M, and $150M. You don't have to pay the tax if you (a) were below the tax line the previous 2 years and (b) are under the double tax line. Kill the DH. For fun, I'll play along with realignment. AL East: NYY, Bos, Tor, Phi, Bal Central: Chi-Sox, Det, Cle, Cin, Pit West: LA Angels, Sea, Oak, SD, SFG NL South East: NYM, Tampa, Florida, Atl, Was Central: Cubs, Brewers, Min, KC, St Louis South West: LA Dodgers, Hou, Texas, Col, Ariz Play your division rivals 14 times each (4- and 3-games home and away) Play your nondivision league rivals 6 times each (home and away 3-game) Play opposing league teams 3 times each (alternate years home and away) Add in one random game somehow to stay at 162 games (let's have fun and make this a neutral site game in an non-MLB city).
