The Reorganization of Major League Baseball

Bud Selig and Major League Baseball have recently proposed adding another wild card team to the playoffs, expanding from 8 members to 10.  There is still debate about how this will be done, but it seems like a pretty good idea.  Now the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays can all play in October.

While I was thinking about the impact a new playoff system would bring, I thought about what a completely new system could do.  I thought about how baseball could restructure divisions and avoid having a four team division along with a six team division.  How we could give each team an equal chance at the playoffs.

So here's how it works - there are four divisions per league, four teams per division - just like the NFL.  That would require us to make the leagues even and add two teams.  I propose adding teams in Portland and New Orleans.  Adding two teams could spread talent pretty thin, but for the sake of fantasy, let's say the class of 2012 is filled with Bryce Harpers and Stephen Strasburgs.

The addition of two teams create divisions that look something like this:

American League

West
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Portland Team
Seattle Mariners

South

Kansas City Royals
New Orleans Team
Tampa Bay Rays
Texas Rangers

North

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins

East

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays

National League

West
Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants

South

Colorado Rockies
Florida Marlins
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals

North
Chicago Cubs
Cincinatti Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates

East

Atlanta Braves

New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals


This setup makes geographic sense, and keeps nearly all of the major division rivalries intact.   The only one that gets split up is Cardinals-Cubs.  If we were to do this now, the skill level of each division would be pretty even as well.  Each division has its' all-star and suck team (the only exceptions are the AL West and NL North, where there is no clear #1, but definitely a suck team [for those of you wondering what a suck team is, just think about the Pirates - they have brought a new level to the very professional term "suck team."]).

Each division would send one team to the playoffs, and depending on how good the competition is, we could add two wild-card teams per league and have a playoff setup similar to the NFL's.


Extra Fantasy

For this part, ignore all of the logistical problems it would cause and just focus on how cool it could be.  With the introduction  of the World Baseball Classic, the game is becoming more and more international (we'll get our Olympic spot back sooner or later).  And it's not really fair to call MLB's championship the World Series when there are so many great international teams not eligible.

Latin America
Carribean (Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico)
Cuba
Mexico
Venezuela

International
China
Chinese Taipei
Japan
South Korea

BAM!!!

Add Latin America to the American League and International to the National League, replace a wild card spot with each division.

Now, obviously this would never work in today's world.  First, nobody would want to fly to the far east or South America every weekend to play three games.  Also, Cuba would have to loosen up on their emigration laws.  And if there was ever a labor dispute?  There would be so much  legal hell that professional baseball might as well be dead.

I chose the teams based on success in the World Baseball Classic and reputation.  Granted, solid baseball countries like the Netherlands and Australia were left out, but Egypt was left out of the World Cup.  Sometimes you just have to, well, suck it up and move on.


Rule Changes

No reorganization would be complete without some rule changes.  Here are the ones I would like to see go through:

1. Get rid of designated hitters.  They were good in the '90s when everybody was on steroids, but now we have people like Jack Cust, who hit .171 with a .186 slugging percentage.  There are a number of pitchers who can do better than that.  I say restore the American League and make it play real baseball.  My apologies to the few decent DHs that still remain.

2. Add more instant replay.  Don't go as far as balls and strikes, but we can't rely on umpires to make all the right calls when we have the technology to ensure that the calls are right.  Would it slow games down? Probably, but I don't know a single fan that wouldn't trade 15 minutes for a well-called game.

3. Implement a salary cap.  You can shoot this proposal down right away by pointing at the Tampa Bay Rays, but I still think it's necessary.  Player salaries are getting unbelievably high, and when Pujols sign a contract next offseason, they'll only get higher.  Right now the league has a luxury tax, but the threshold is high enough that only the Yankees pay it every year.  The MLB is the only major professional sports league in the United States without a salary cap, and although it's a complex law to put in place, it could be good for the sport.


Final Thoughts

The start to this year's season has been incredible.  Jered Weaver became the earliest to ever hit four wins, the Indians and Royals are on top of the AL Central, and the Red Sox were enjoying life in the cellar of the AL East.  Unfortunately for me, they seem to have realized that they want to be at the top and not the bottom,  and promptly won three straight against my Angels. 

Also, Vernon Wells is hitting .174 and Carl Crawford is hitting .154.  Looks like the Angels came out as winners in that one!