Posted on 06/11/2011 1:57:58 PM PDT by rawhide
As Major League Baseball continues to discuss possible realignment, one idea that has come up is going to a league with 15 teams per league, reports ESPN's Buster Olney.
Currently, the National League has 16 teams and the AL 14 for scheduling purposes. Should baseball go to two 15-team leagues, that would likely require interleague play every day of the season. Given baseball likes to treat interleague play as an event, that could dilute the appeal of interleague play to the point it would no longer be a moneymaker. However, there is still real resistance to the idea which has not been presented to owners yet, although the player's union is reportedly open to it.
"I'd still say the odds of it happening are less than 50-50," the source said.
CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler says that players are open to it because they are not happy about AL West teams having a 25 percent chance of making the playoffs, the NL Central just 18 percent and the rest all at 20 percent.
To switch to a 15-team alignment, one team from the NL would have to move to the AL. According to Olney, two highly-ranked executives think the Astros could receive the call in order to tap into a rivalry with the Texas Rangers. Picking the Astros would also allow baseball to remove one team from the NL Central and slot Houston into the AL West, which would address the issue of playoff percentages.
Charlotte, NC
Memphis, TN
Portland, OR
New Orleans, LA
Calgary, Alberta,Canada
Las Vegas, NV
Jacksonville, FL
“According to Olney, two highly-ranked executives think the Astros could receive the call in order to tap into a rivalry with the Texas Rangers. Picking the Astros would also allow baseball to remove one team from the NL Central and slot Houston into the AL West, which would address the issue of playoff percentages.”
That is a horrendous idea.
Makes my stomach turn.
MLB cannot add two teams as it would dilute pitching at a time when pitching just overcame the steroid era.
Portland and Nashville?
Memphis and New Orleans have a hard time with pro sports (save for the resurgent Saints of the past five years.) Portland is too small and too close to Seattle. Las Vegas would have to have Nevada amend the gaming laws, and they're too close to the Diamondbacks. As for Jacksonville, there's not a great attendance record among Florida teams, even during a play-off series.
Don’t watch Major League ball
Watch the Minors. They are right in my home town, they have a nice stadium, the price is much cheaper, no one ever tries to beat my head in, and it’s a nice evening out without facing traffic in a major city.
The game played is just as good sometimes better.
I think Portland is the most likely candidate from that list and Vegas the least likely just because of the gambling fears.
FWIW, the DH is an abomination. As a reluctantly offered compromise, remove the pitcher from the batting line-up in both leagues and dump the DH. no one wants to see a pitcher flail away at a fast ball and they don’t make pitchers like Babe Ruth anymore.
They should drop two teams. The players union would never go for it though....
Calgary
SW Connecticut (a third New York team, in essence)
Nashville
You’re kidding right?
Portland too close to Seattle? It would make for a good rivalry!
Are the White Sox too close to the Cubs?
Are the A’s too close to the Giants?
Perhaps not, but the strategy involved in mid to late inning pinch hitting when a pitcher may be coming up in the batting order during a crucial point in the game is compelling. That's what makes the NL superior to the AL hands down.
Or just add the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, Seattle Pilots and the Kansas City Royals....switch to 2 divisions in each league, with a playoff to advance to the World Series, and, and....awe heck, that would never work!
Huge markets. Seattle isn't huge.
If market size were no issue, you'd have teams in Columbus, Buffalo and Indianapolis.
There were rumors of contracting teams in the past, like the Twins... Expos had moved to D.C. but should they have simply contracted instead? (D.C. really wanted a team bad though.)
A’s interesting situation—they’d like to move to San Jose
but Giants feel it’s their territory.
Team mergers? Teams contracting? Or a couple more expansion teams? Some of the cities may really want it but would
there be enough fans at the games (after the initial novelty)?
And as for “one big league, with conferences”, etc., keep in mind AL and NL are dead set about having DH or not having it. It would be mass warfare among the owners if such a move were floated.
A team in SW Conn.: Yanks and Mets would object. How would Red Sox feel, for example, if an NL team tried to move
to Boston? (For one thing, I don’t know where a team would play...Foxboro? Hey, the Foxboro Foxes, just put a diamond down at Gillette and try a kind of seat re-alignment...naah)
The problem with Calgary is that it's just not a "baseball" city. What hampered attendance for the Cannons was the short summer season and cool summer evenings. Fans needed to bring jackets to night games even during the peak of summer, as temperatures often dip down into the 50s once the sun goes down at that elevation.
I may be wrong about this, but I believe Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio are the largest metro areas in the U.S. without a MLB team.
You're kidding, right?
This is the best pitching we've seen in at least 20 years, maybe more.
I rarely see a game where a team scores more than 3 runs...of course, I'm a Giants and A's fan:)
For a second Boston team. I’d put them smack in the middle of MetroWest. The old Route 30 Mall area in Framingham would be perfect.
AL is addicted to the DH. Boston, for example, where David Ortiz is a very hot hitter these days. Heavens, the Red Sox would shudder at the thought of putting Papi in the field, so they breathe easy that they don’t have to.
>>But here’s another question: Is Ortiz making teams like the Yankees — and even the Red Sox — rethink their strategy toward the DH spot?...Not only does no DH come close to Ortiz’ production against lefties, but his .355 batting average against southpaws ranks among the best in baseball.
http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/rob-bradford/2011/06/08/david-ortiz-quest-make-designated-hitter-cool
(Yanks may covet Ortiz next year...)
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