MLB Realignment and what it would look like.
Everyone knows that MLB has problems with the schedules, division, playoffs; I could go on and on, but I won’t. I have a plan that would fix all MLB has done that is wrong. My plan would hopefully fix all that. Here is my plan:
There will be six new divisions to make traveling easier, and two leagues: East and West. Each league will have three divisions. The East divisions will be North East, (consisting of the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, and Tigers), Mid-East, (Phillies, Reds, Indians, Brewers, and Pirates), and South East (Rays, Marlins, Braves, Orioles, and Nationals). The West divisions will be Mid-West (Cardinals, Royals, Cubs, White Sox, and Twins), South West (Rangers, Astros, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Rockies), and West (Mariners, Athletics, Giants, Angels, and Dodgers). The only major rivalry that will be broken up with my plan will be the Phillies-Mets rivalry, but many new rivalries will be born.
The two division winners with the best records will make the playoffs; the third will not be guaranteed a spot. Instead, the best two remaining teams (one could be the third division winner) will advance to the postseason. This will allow for three teams, each deserving, to make the playoffs. In the current AL East, for instance, the Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees each deserve a playoff berth. Of course, in the current situation, one misses the cut each year. Home-field advantage for the World Series will be decided by the records of teams in the World Series against teams who had winning records. The playoff structure otherwise will be the same as last year.
The regular-season schedule format has been proposed before but mine has a slight variation: eighteen games within the team’s division, six games (a series at home and away) against everyone else in your league, and six games against each team in one division (rotating every year) in the other league. For all the DHs, so they can stay on rosters, there will now be thirty-man rosters and they will expand to 50 starting August 20th. This will allow for teams to get better and have longer looks at prospects. The year will end a week into October and start early-to-mid April. Playoffs will start two days after the regular season ends, and the World Series will end (assuming it goes to game seven) on November 4th.
Other miscellaneous things that will be fixed include a world-wide draft instead of a U.S.A. only draft, a limit of four pitching changes per game, and an extra change for every two innings in extra innings. That will speed the game up. There will be one challenge per game that will allow the manager to have instant replay to check an umpire’s call, but if the manager is wrong he loses a pitching change. There will also be no DH, to please all the baseball purists. You will now be allowed to trade draft picks to make trades more interesting.
