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There has been talk about expansion for a few years now and Jim Bowden recently proposed this atrocious idea.
I have liked the idea of adding 2 teams, but my thoughts on it are much simpler. Add a team in Portland or Las Vegas and another in Nashville or Charlotte. Colorado goes to the AL. Tampa Bay to the NL.
NL
North: STL, CHC, MIL, CIN
South: ATL, MIA, TB, Charlotte/Nashville
East: NYM, PHIL, PIT, WASH
West: LAD, SF, AZ, SDAL
North: CLEV, DET, MIN, CHWS
South: COL, HOU, TEX, KC
East: NYY, BOS, BAL, TOR
West: LAA, SEA, OAK, Portland/Las Vegas2 home/away vs Division, 3×12=36
H/A vs league, 12×6=72
1 series vs opposite league, alternate H/A annually, 16×3=48
36+72+48= 156 games. Throw in 6 4 game series, preferably against in Division teams, and you have 162 games still and a more “balanced” schedule.
As for the opposite league games NL North could play AL North and East at home, South and West on the road, then the following year it’s the opposite.Well the article I read on it had the cubs being in a different division than the Cardinals and I don’t agree at all. Now I would prefer the cubs would just disband but since they won’t do that, why mess with tradition.
Right, and had SF and LAD in different divisions. I like the idea of adding 2 teams, but I don’t want to see some sort of drastic change with it. Keep it simple and then get away from TV blackouts and let people watch the games.
Yeah, a drastic redo is dumb. Let’s see – if we do one southern team, Nashville or Charlotte, and then Montreal. Here is a proposal. It loses one rivalry (Houston-Texas), but adds several.
NL East
NYM
Phil
Pit
CinNL Central
StL
ChiC
Col
MilNL South
Mia
Atl
Nash/Char
TampaNL West
LA
SF
SD
AzALEast
NYY
Bos
Wash
BaltAL Central
ChiWS
Minn
KC
HouAL North
Det
Clev
Tor
MtlAL West
LAA
Oak – Vegas?
Sea
TexIf the bosses of the Big Leagues decide to expand and add a couple of teams, one of them should most definitely be an AL ballclub right here in St. Louis…I’m thinking the St. Louis, Mudcats. It’d give Billy Jr. and his cohorts a little competition for fan allegiance.
Any realignment proposal that advocates breaking up historic rivalries is worthless. I saw so many fan proposals that showed the Cards/Cubs in different divisions and I wanted to scream.
Would love to have an MLB team here in Nashville but would always be a Cards fan first. That would not change.
I was always an NL man but now that the NL has unfortunately adopted the DH and with all the crossover games I suppose I don’t care if the Nashville team is in the AL.
Miami and Oakland need a place to play. I think that should be addressed first. Tampa also. The other teams that don’t draw flies just need new ownership. They need to focus on making teams that exist now competitive.
I will probably be the minority opinion. I think there is not enough talent especially pitching for expansion. MLB doesn’t need more teams.
I think the Rays will stay in Tampa but the A’s will probably move to Las Vegas. That means the two expansion teams will come from Nashville, Charlotte, Montreal or Portland. They will probably do eight divisions of four teams each but splitting up the Cards-Cubs and Dodgers-Giants would be dumb.
Also, I doubt the owners are too worried about diluting the talent. They just want to get their hands on those expansion fees.
Saturday SOC: Expansion and Realignment
A stream-of-consciousness look at possible MLB expansion and what that could mean for realignment. https://t.co/MQe5TtH3Q4 pic.twitter.com/FvBqCo3mrv
— viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) February 11, 2023
Although it’ll make me a little sad to see a team move to a new city that was a three consecutive season WS champion and a genuine rebel type dynasty in the 70’s, there’s no question that those tacky lime green and bright yellow uniforms of the once proud Oakland, A’s along with the cleats that take on the look of white Gucci loafers will fit right in with the tasteless and gaudy atmosphere of Las Vegas…
I agree that MLB has bigger fish to fry than expansion – with stabilizing some existing franchises high on the list.
Having said that, if expansion were to happen, I like my alignment much better than the silly one brought out in the original article. You lose the divisional battle between the Rangers and Astros, but I am not sure how big that one really is as the teams were in different leagues for most of their existence.
It keeps the remaining historical competitors and you gain these divisional foes:
Pirates-Phillies for the Pennsylvania Cup.
Marlins-Rays for the Orange Cup
Tigers-Blue Jays for the Northern Border Trophy
Montreal-Toronto for the Canadian Cup
Orioles-Nationals for the Congressional CupSchedule could be 16 games versus divisional foes and 6 intra-league matchups against teams in the other divisions in your league. That gets you to 120 games. The remaining 42 would be filled in as inter-league contests.
The primary motivation remains the easy money, of course. Expansion fees are expected to be more than $2 billion per team. Two new teams would create roughly a $133 million windfall for each of the current 30 teams.
For years, the hang-up has been resolution of stadium issues in Oakland and Tampa Bay. Not sure anything is new.
I like BikeMike’s idea of 16 games between division foes. Not only because it fosters a better chance for intense rivalries, but also because face to face contests have always been the best method to reflect a genuine placement in the standings. That placement instantly moves one way or another when a final is posted for that game. What I’m driving at is in Sept. with a 2 or 3 game difference separating the Cardinals/Cubs for first place, it seems a bit anticlimactic to have the Redbirds playing Marlins while the Cubbies are out in Colorado facing the Rockies. I say let those two teams play a regular season game that puts the meaning back into the phrase pennant race and play a 3 or 4 game series that will most definitely take on the atmosphere of any post-season series.
Yep, you got that right 1TD. And the way my divisions are set up, every one of the 8 divisions has good rivalries.
The owners should love rivalry games, as the attendance would be higher in pennant race situations, plus over the years you build “brand” power.
I attended all 3 games of an Oct. of ’85 Cardinals/Mets series that began with 3 games separating the teams in the NLE standings with a handful of games to go. It was as intense as any post-season game I’d ever attended before or after. I had to look up all the details to refresh my memory, but I recall being situated way up high in the upper deck section above RF at Busch Memorial Stadium for all 3 games. That stadium was so loud and raucous that I vividly recall looking up at the precast arch shaped concrete overhang architectural adornments hanging above our heads. The entire venue seemed to be bouncing and swaying as over 50,000 rabid baseball fans were clapping their hands and stomping their feet in unison and I was a little concerned about having somewhere near 100 long tons of concrete conk me on my coconut…Haha! The first game was a Redbird loss which pulled the hated Mets within 2 games, but it’s the one I best recall. John Tudor and Ron Darling battled pitch for pitch in a game that extended into extra innings tied at 0-0. In the visitor half of the 11th with the score still tied at zero, Strawberry uncoiled on a bases empty, 2 out mistake from Ken Dayley that seemed to still be rising as it violently slammed into the RF scoreboard right below where we were sitting. It’s one of the longest HR’s I’ve ever seen hit to RF at the old venue and proved to be the winning run of a 1-0 final. The Mets also won the next night’s ballgame to pull within 1 game, but the Cardinals salvaged the last game of the series to place them 2 games atop the NLE with 3 to go. At any rate, those 3 games were the definition of a pennant race that was hotly contested to the very end. I don’t think they make ’em quite like that anymore.
Great memories 1TD. Mention of the long Strawberry homer off the scoreboard reminded me of one of the earliest, and longest, homers I ever saw. I was a young kid and witnessed Mike Shannon line one off the stadium club glass way up in left field. Back then we had a half share of season tickets, field level about halfway up behind home plate offset a little toward the third base side. So I had a great view of the drive and remember thinking it was the greatest thing ever. (One of my younger brothers says his earliest baseball memory was in those same seats getting drenched by a spilled drink when dad reached for and caught a foul pop off the bat of Roger Maris. He still had the ball the last I knew.)
Haha! Yeah, it seems like you really remember those gargantuan HR’s to a greater degree when you’re in attendance. I’d say it’s because you have a better perspective of the entire expanse of the field and ballpark no matter where you’re situated and you witness the entire flight of the baseball from that same angle and perspective. They really seem to travel a looong way when one of those big hitters barrels one up…Haha!
This is the prime time of year for lists articles and speculation topics like that one. Fortunately, real news will return this week.
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