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Forget contraction, let's expand MLB to 32 teams and make eight four team divisions (like the NFL)

EstilEstil Posts: 6,923 ✭✭✭✭
in Sports Talk
The ground rules for the two expansion teams are that at least one of them must be WEST of the Mississippi River (and both would go in the AL of course). And with 32 teams, we can make four four team divisions like so (and geographically correct ones at that!!)

NL EAST
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
Washington Senators (eh, I mean Nationals)

NL NORTH
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
St. Louis Cardinals

NL SOUTH
Atlanta Braves
Colorado Rockies
Florida Marlins
Houston Astros

NL WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants

AL EAST
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays

AL NORTH
Cleveland Indians
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins

AL SOUTH
Carolina/Tennessee Expansion
Kansas City Royals
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (can move to whichever of Carolina/Tennessee doesn't get expansion team)
Texas Rangers

AL WEST
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Oakland Athletics
Portland Expansion Team
Seattle Mariners

And how would the playoffs work? One of two ways. Either the four divisions, seeded 1-4, with the two wild cards seeded 5 and 6, and done the same way the NFL playoffs work (but no reseeding):

WILD CARD SERIES (best of five 2-2-1 home field):
5 seed @ 4 seed
6 seed @ 3 seed

DIVISION SERIES (best of seven; 2-3-2 home field):
5/4 winner @ 1 seed
6/3 winner @ 2 seed

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (best of seven; 2-3-2 home field):
The winners of the division series; higher seed gets home field advantage

And of course, the two league champs to go to the World Series as always. OR, we could just have the four division winners go to the playoffs, with NO wild cards. Go back to pure pennant/divsion races like in the good ol' days of baseball.

I'll let the rest of you figure out the 162 (or perhaps 154 or 150 with the extra round of playoffs?) game schedule. image
WISHLIST
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars

Comments

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    stownstown Posts: 11,321 ✭✭✭


    << <i>NL SOUTH
    Atlanta Braves
    Colorado Rockies
    Florida Marlins
    Houston Astros >>



    Sweet, not one team in our timezone image
    So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts
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    EstilEstil Posts: 6,923 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Pretty soon, they'll be playing baseball on Christmas. >>



    All the more reason I suggested lowering the regular season down to 154 or 150 games.
    WISHLIST
    Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
    Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
    74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
    1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
    1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
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    EstilEstil Posts: 6,923 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>What your proposing would be exciting I'm sure, but it doesn't do much for rewarding wins in the regular season. Even though basketball and football have a lot of playoff teams, the winner is almost ALWAYS a top notch team. In baseball, it would be easy for a weak team to get hot and win it all. This is why traditionalists hate to see expansion of the playoffs because it renders the regular season more and more meaningless. I would have to include myself in that camp. Quite honestly, I don't like anymore than the four that were there before the wild card came. >>



    Nope, in this case, it would be HARDER for a weak team to "get hot and win it all"; here's why:

    ALL division winners are guaranteed home field advantage for their first round of the playoffs; this gives teams that have clinched the wild card reason to go for the division title and at least to some extent have legitmate division races (since I doubt MLB will let go of their new love affair with wild cards).

    And even if you win your division, you can still go for at least a two seed to get the home field advantage AND have home field advantage in the LDS besides.

    And finally, there's reason to go for the top seed as you are guaranteed home field advantage for the LCS should you get that far.

    And wild cards can never have home field advantage in any round of the playoffs except in the VERY improable event that the five and six seeds make it to the LCS at once.
    WISHLIST
    Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
    Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
    74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
    1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
    1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
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    EstilEstil Posts: 6,923 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Home field means squat in baseball. When home field gets you wins in just over 50% of games, who gives a crap about home field. It certainly seems to have value in football and basketball. >>



    Please explain. It seems just as good in baseball as any of the other sports (except in the NFL's single elimination playoffs).
    WISHLIST
    Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
    Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
    74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
    1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
    1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
  • Options
    halosfanhalosfan Posts: 2,614 ✭✭✭✭
    Where the heck are the Angels in all of these threads --- contraction / expansion -- both threads drop the Angels. WTF? Do you all really want the Yankee killers out of the league that much??? image
    Looking for a Glen Rice Inkredible and Alex Rodriguez cards
  • Options
    EstilEstil Posts: 6,923 ✭✭✭✭
    Oops; sorry; I had the Rangers in two divisions at once. *fixed* Portland would be an expansion club; you need two expansion teams to make 32.

    As far as I'm concerned, only the Devil Rays are really worth moving/contracting at the moment (unless they have some pretty damn loyal fans, you're not going to exactly sell out Tropicana Field with less than .500 seasons every year), though the Marlins come close.
    WISHLIST
    Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
    Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
    74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
    1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
    1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
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    colebearcolebear Posts: 886 ✭✭
    What about Vegas, you know the money will draw one.
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    BlackborderBlackborder Posts: 2,797 ✭


    << <i>Pretty soon, they'll be playing baseball on Christmas. >>




    Mr. December?
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    BobaFett72BobaFett72 Posts: 7,304
    Combine the Marlins and Tampa bay... the talent would be staggering. Young, talented hitters and some superb pitchers.

    get rid of the Nationals; God help em.
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    GootGoot Posts: 3,496


    << <i>Combine the Marlins and Tampa bay... the talent would be staggering. Young, talented hitters and some superb pitchers.

    get rid of the Nationals; God help em. >>




    Oh my god, think about it:

    pitching Kazmir, Willis, Johnson, Nolasco, Sanchez
    Jacob Mcgee waiting in the wings

    Infield Jacobs, Hanley Ramirez, BJ Upton, Iwamura
    backups Evan Longoria, Reid Brignac

    Outfield: the same as the Rays right now- Crawford, Baldelli, Young



    Move them to Orlando!
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    ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Please explain. It seems just as good in baseball as any of the other sports (except in the NFL's single elimination playoffs). >>

    The home team wins a considerably higher percentage of games in the NBA than in MLB.
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    ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Combine the Marlins and Tampa bay... the talent would be staggering. Young, talented hitters and some superb pitchers. >>

    Place the combined team in between the two current cities and combine the mascots.

    Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your 2008 Orlando Devlins!
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    GootGoot Posts: 3,496


    << <i>

    << <i>Combine the Marlins and Tampa bay... the talent would be staggering. Young, talented hitters and some superb pitchers. >>

    Place the combined team in between the two current cities and combine the mascots.

    Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your 2008 Orlando Devlins! >>



    Hey I already said that!imageimage
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