Bowden: expansion is inevitable..and so is realignment?

[Bahama O's Fan]

28 minutes ago, oriole said:

It’d be a lot cooler if every team played each other an even amount of times and then every year the divisions are made to reflect the spending power of that team. So divisions with teams with unlimited resources only have one league leader and the rest in that division have to be okay with potential wild card spots. Then teams that don’t spend so much have a chance. Maybe it’s just me but Yankees and Dodgers every single year is just boring and more detrimental to the sport overall than having a handful of behemoth. 
 

I’m aware that it’ll never happen because the logistics would be a nightmare and a lot of teams would find more reason to spend less money, not more…so the players association would never agree to it. But maybe couple it with a complete removal of the salary cap so that the Yankees and Dodgers can each have $600 million pay roll or whatever but the playing field is evened out with a balanced schedule and then in the end they are only really competing against other financial juggernauts to get a good spot in the playoffs. 
 

Probably more trouble than it’s worth, but the “balanced schedule” is a half-measure when you still have to win more games than the others in your division who have the ability to sign stupid contracts and then eat the contract when the player stops being productive. The O’s still won’t be able to win more games than the Yankees unless it’s a fluke because one team will spend money and the other won’t. 

See I wouldn't even have divisions, just two leagues, American League and National League, or maybe I would even get rid of them. Play everyone equally, best 8 or 12 or whatever teams advance to the playoffs.

[waroriole]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

Why not? It's kind of good for everyone if they're just battling each other in one division instead of spreading their dominance out across multiple divisions. At least that's how I see it. Put em in a division and let em try to out spend each other like goons. 

I like it better, as a fan of a small market team. I doubt MLB as a whole likes it better, because they make more money when all of those teams are in the playoffs. 

[ScGO's]

1 hour ago, NJOriolesFan said:

I think I would make a couple of changes.  I think Toronto should go to the East (Northeast) Division.  Then Pittsburgh should go to the North Division.  Philadelphia should then be in the mid-Atlantic.  I think I could be convinced to swap the Charlotte and Nashville expansion teams.  Although it may work better if it was Charlotte/Nashville/Louisville in the mid-atlantic and New Orleans in the Southeast.

The other divisions, I suppose would be:

Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, St Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers

Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins

Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, {Las Vegas} Athletics, San Francisco Giants

Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks

 

I would go:

Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers

Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, St Louis Cardinals

Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants

San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, {Las Vegas} Athletics

[yark14]

Bring back the Expos.

Have an expansion team in Austin and schedule the Orioles to play in Austin 20-30 games a year.

That's all I'd like to see.

[24fps]

2 hours ago, NJOriolesFan said:

I think I would make a couple of changes.  I think Toronto should go to the East (Northeast) Division.  Then Pittsburgh should go to the North Division.  Philadelphia should then be in the mid-Atlantic.  I think I could be convinced to swap the Charlotte and Nashville expansion teams.  Although it may work better if it was Charlotte/Nashville/Louisville in the mid-atlantic and New Orleans in the Southeast.

The other divisions, I suppose would be:

Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, St Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers

Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins

Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, {Las Vegas} Athletics, San Francisco Giants

Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks

 

I suspect each team in LA, Chicago and NY would insist on not being in the same division as the other team in its market for brand identity (and consequently financial) reasons.  That would guarantee that two leagues would remain in existence.  That would probably also mean that DC and Baltimore would remain in separate leagues which is fine with me.

[Tony-OH]

4 hours ago, waroriole said:

I can’t see them putting all those heavy payroll teams in one division. I like our division though. 

I agree, it would be great for us, but baseball wants those big payroll teams to make the playoffs.

[Sports Guy]

Would you guys care if they got rid of “American” and “National” league?

[Roll Tide]

2 hours ago, crowmst3k! said:

Yes, but the Red Sox and Yankees fans fill the park. The gate takes for those games are something the O's will absolutely miss.  

With the new schedule format that’s already changing 

[RZNJ]

8 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Would you guys care if they got rid of “American” and “National” league?

With interleague play, uniformity with the DH, umpires, etc. there's really no difference between the leagues like the old days when there were differences and the AL tended to be sluggers and the NL tended to have more speed players (and bigger astro turf fields), there's not really a difference anymore.   It would not bother me although it sounds sacrilegious. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Would you guys care if they got rid of “American” and “National” league?

As I said earlier, no problem 

[ChipTait]

3 hours ago, yark14 said:

Bring back the Expos.

Have an expansion team in Austin and schedule the Orioles to play in Austin 20-30 games a year.

That's all I'd like to see.

After 30+ years in Austin, I just returned to Baltimore.  Which pretty much makes this a lock to come true!

I really don't think MLB would play that well in Austin.  There are lots and lots of ways for folks there to dispose of their entertainment dollars.  And anyone in ATX with lots of dough tends to spend July and August somewhere else.

[bpilktree]

6 hours ago, ChuckS said:

LOL.  Good luck requiring MLB players to take up residence in Mexico. 

Agreed playing a game or two in Mexico is one thing placing a team there 80+ games a season and having them live there is completely different thing.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

6 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I agree, it would be great for us, but baseball wants those big payroll teams to make the playoffs.

As much as the NFL gets it wrong their revenue sharing model gives every team a chance to compete on the same level. If the NFL was like MLB, Patrick Mahomes would be playing for a big market team like the Rams by now leaving the Chiefs to rebuild with a rookie or journey man quarterback.

I get MLB is different with local television contracts, but fans aren't going to watch the Yankees play intra-squad games 162 times. There has to be other teams for them to compete against. 

[foxfield]

2 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

As much as the NFL gets it wrong their revenue sharing model gives every team a chance to compete on the same level. If the NFL was like MLB, Patrick Mahomes would be playing for a big market team like the Rams by now leaving the Chiefs to rebuild with a rookie or journey man quarterback.

I get MLB is different with local television contracts, but fans aren't going to watch the Yankees play intra-squad games 162 times. There has to be other teams for them to compete against. 

I think this disparity will lead to more harm with further expansion and dilution of the traditions of the game.  I think failing to level the field is the biggest hindrance to the game today.

[Tony-OH]

5 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Would you guys care if they got rid of “American” and “National” league?

Well, I still think there is room for two leagues though they could move the teams around and I wouldn't care. My preference is still to have two leagues with a balance schedule within the leagues themselves. Interleague can still continue, but should be no more than one three game series against one Division that would change each year.