http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6651634&source=LOSANGELESHeadlines

I totally agree with this. There is no reason for divisions. Have everybody in the NL and AL play each team the same amount of times to figure out the top 5 and they make the playoffs. That's the fair way to do it. That's how it should be.

I like it as well. The only problem may be having interleague games late in the sreason deciding playoff spots, but other than that I'm for it.

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So what? You often have a good AL team playing a bad AL team down the stretch. Same with the NL. That decides playoff teams too. It could also be where a good NL team is playing a good AL team in the final week of the season where they both need it.

Leave things alone old man selig.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Maybe just eliminate AL and NL. Just have 30 god damn teams all playing everybody the same amount of times with the top 10 making the playoffs. That's acutally the best solution.

That's true Beardown. Like I said I likes it.

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What about returning to 2 divisions in each league? The winners of each division get playoff spot, the remainng spots are seeded like the NHL and NBA. Either way, this is not a good thing for the Sox. Since the Royals have been pretty much useless since the strike, they have had to compete against 3 other teams for the playoffs since 1995. In reality one of those other teams has been awful most years and they still have only made the playoffs 3 times. In a 15 team league, the Yankees and Red Sox would make the playoffs every year. So, the Sox would be competing with 12 other teams for 3 spots, I dont like their chances.I hope Uncle Jerry uses his influence to make sure this does not happen.

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"YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPING ME"

I know some of you people don't know history. Before 1969, it was two leagues where they played an entire season to determine the 2 teams that played in the World Series. There were no divisions and playoffs to get to a World Series. Granted, there were only 8 team in each League back then I believe.

That is true, but the as you said, there are twice as few teams back then. The reasons this is being discussed is the teams in the AL East are pissed, and rightfully so. If MLB had a salary floor and salary cap, this would not be an issue.

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"YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPING ME"

I know. I just kind of felt the need to point out this fact.

I think it would be cool if it were just 30 teams fighting for 10 spots. That way the Cubs and Sox can fight for the playoffs against each other and still match up in the World Series, or at least take each other on in the playoffs. Same for the NY teams, LA teams, SF/Oak, STL/Cubs, BOS/NYY, and all the other rivals. MLB would have the best of all of it. Think about that. That would be awesome.

I think I just stumbled upon the greatest idea in the history of sports. I don't know of any other person that has suggested this. I win!!!!

name all the AL teams that moved to the NL to play teams they wanted to play?

hasnt Bud been bragging about this alignment for years?

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Don't you think my 30 teams for 10 spots is a good idea? No NL and AL. I value your opinion oh great one.

I say go back to four divisions. No bad division winners can make the playoffs. It happens way to much.

The AL/NL must be kept in tact. There has to be some semblance of tradition. One reason baseball and the NFL are so successfull is due to their lack of geographic conferences.

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"YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPING ME"

I think baseball has been moving toward "MLB" as a single entity rather than two separate and distinct leagues. Obviously, the first step toward that was interleague play. Just as important was the integration of the umpiring crews and the adoption of the NL style chest protector for all plate umps. Previously each league had a different strike zone. The next step will be for half the teams to join the 21st century and play with the designated hitter like every other team at every other level on earth.

But since we're talking about history, you should understand that the leagues are separate entities. Each of them has a long history and there has been contention between them in the past. Baseball is the most traditional game. It's not as easy as Bud Selig decreeing it for these types of changes to take place.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

One day, maybe we can expand the AL to 16 teams. Then have four divisions, four playoff teams.

NL EAST: New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Cincinnati
NL WEST: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Arizona, Colorado, Miami, Washington (they get the old ATL/CIN wtf slots)
AL EAST: New York, Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland
AL WEST: Los Angeles, Oakland, Texas, Seattle, Minnesota, Kansas City, San Antonio, Portland

Screw the designated hitter, by the way. Let's just reduce it to absurdity and designate hitters for every position so that everyone can specialize.

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CH

The idea of adding two (2) more teams is completely absurd. The product has been watered down by expansion over the last twenty (20) years. If anything, contraction should happen to two (2) teams, and go back to having fourteen (14) teams in each league.

My recommendations for contraction would be Toronto and Oakland (age and crappiness of the ballparks taken into coupled with lousy organizations are the reasons). My league alignment would be as follows:

AL: Yankees, Boston, Baltimore, Tampa, Sox, Minnesota, Detroit, KC, Cleveland, Angles, Rangers, Seattle, and move Washington and Houston

NL: Mets, Atlanta, Philly, Miami, Cubs, St Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Dodgers, San Diego, Arizona, San Fran, Colorado, and Milwaukee

Division alignment as follows:

AL East: Yankees, Boston, Baltimore, Tampa, Detriot, Cleveland, Washington
AL West: Sox, Minnesota, KC, Angles, Rangers, Seattle, Houston

NL East: Mets, Atlanta, Philly, Miami, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Milwaukee
NL West: Cubs, St Louis, Dodgers, San Diego, Arizona, San Fran, Colorado

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Wouldn't Pittsburgh and Kansas City be more deserving of contraction?

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Money has been sunk into the ballparks by the local economy. Toronto and Oakland are far more neglected. I am of the belief that two fewer teams will spread the talent a little more, and bring some sort of competitive nature to Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

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I'm all for that if you can find another position with an aggregate batting average below .190.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Maybe KC, but I'm not sure anything will help Pittsburgh outside of new ownership.

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Contraction is not going to happen, if it is, KC and Pittsburgh are NOT good choices. The reason those teams have been awful since the strike is poor management. Similar markets have had periods of extended success in the post-strike era (Cleveland, Minnesota, Colorado, Seattle to name a few). Both are in divisions that are winable every year. Both Central divisions have produced a grand total of 1 World Series champion and 4 pennant winners in 15 seasons. Its not like they are in the AL East. All it would take is some actual management. It was just a few years ago that the Twins were on the contraction list. People forget, baseball has a history of having a lot of bad teams. For about 20 years, the only team in the AL to actually win a World Series was the Yankees (the 50s and 60s). The Phillies have won a grand total of 2 World Series in their history. Obviously the White Sox and Cubs have struggled for more than a century. If you look at the history of the sport, we have actually had one of the most balanced decade in the sports' history. Attendence is down this year, so maybe the sport needs a shot in the arm of some sort. However, contraction is not the answer.

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"YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPING ME"

There's never gonna be contraction in any league. The NHL is the lowest of the four leagues and they've moved mountains to protect the Phoenix Coyotes from folding. If we can't wipe the shitty worthless Phoenix Coyotes off the face of the earth, good luck getting rid of the Blue Jays.

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Those last two posts are spot on. They'd move a team to Vegas before they contracted. And I don't think there's the slightest possibility a franchise with the history Pittsburgh has would ever be contracted or even moved. You could say the Cleveland Browns are a precedent, but baseball is far more hidebound and traditional than the NFL.

I thought I heard there was a possibility the other owners might force Houston to move to the AL West. That would create six five-team divisions. It would also mean there would always be at least one interleague series taking place. I think that's much more likely than any contraction.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Oh I don't think it'll happen.

Just throwing it out there that if you are gonna contract, why not the two teams that haven't been relevant in a generation?

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meh, call me old fashioned but i still like the AL and NL... i could see breaking up the divisions somewhat or even entirely, as i think that MLB would LOVE for a way to have the yankees, red sox, and rays/jays/orioles all make the playoffs during one season if they have better records than scrubs in the west/central, cuz let's be honest here, the east-coast is the center of the baseball universe cuz that's where FOX gets their ratings and that's where the boo-yahs really ramp up their hype machine (one of those sportscenter anchor/jabronis pointed out that short of i think ~2 positions the starting AL all-star team is all yankees and redsox, SO IT'S OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE OF THAT MEDIA-DRIVEN EAST COAST BIAS, HEH HEH HEH) and like, you know that MLB would love to have a season or two where they're able to have as many as 3 or 4 east-coast teams in the playoffs at any given time... then in the NL if you could get the mets, phillies, and braves in there it'd be TITS, dude!

so to do that, i could see 2 divisions and 2 wildcards, which would allow 3 east coast teams in each league to make it, as opposed to having a mandatory central AND west team in the playoffs each and every year. the MLB knows where it's bread is buttered, they know where FOX gets their ratings, and they will do whatever it takes to deliver everything that fox wants and thensome on a platter made out of a nude 18 year old burgeoning supermodel laid out on a buffet table with a truckload of viagara-pounding old greedy pudgeballed rich white fuckers salivating at their piece of the "cherry pie"

/me fights off the urge to suddenly go and listen to warrant

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Taking contraction out of the equation, I think there is more likelihood that you would see every team get 3 days off every 15 series than an interleague series every day of the season.

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Get rid of the DH, and MLB can do anything they want with the divisions.

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I doubt that will happen. I'm ambivalent about the DH. I like baseball with it or without it. But I think the fans have weighed in overwhelmingly in favor of it. It's in use in every single league at every single level with the lone exception of the National League. With heavier attention being paid to PED usgae, you can see offense decreasing before your eyes. The elimination of the DH would exacerbate that. I'm fairly certain that isn't the way MLB wants to go.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I heard the soon-to-be-married, still Jenny Jones-looking Kerry Sayers on FOX32 News Saturday night mention this MLB realignment story, and I doubt seriously that "Commissioner" Allan H. Selig and MLB powers that be have the votes to make it a reality.