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Future expansion/realignment


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https://theathletic.com/4216205/2023/02/16/mlb-commissioner-manfred-rsns-blackouts-expansion/?source=twitterhq&access_token=9657465
 

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“Realistically for there to be serious talk about realignment, it would be done in the context of expansion,” Manfred said. “You almost have to talk about some realignment in the context of expansion. Because … with 32, you go to eight (groups of) fours in terms of the divisions. And I think in the context of doing it, there is an opportunity to address another fan issue that is of some significance.

“In our postseason, we often get, you know, Boston-Anaheim the first round, where we have four windows. If you think about it, you got four windows, you got Boston and Anaheim — we’re almost, by definition, you have to do wrong by one fan base, right? It’s either too early one place or too late the other. Particularly if you get to East-West matchups. If you went to 32, you’d at least have to talk about getting geographic so that you played up through the playoffs from the east side, and from the west side.”

 

So, how would it work? Here's what I think would happen:

I give the nod to Montreal and Charlotte for expansion. This is based on the A's most likely moving to Las Vegas.

Eight divisions of 4 teams

A1: Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Rays

A2: Mets, Montreal, Phillies, Nationals

B1: Tigers, Guardians, Blue Jays, Pirates

B2: Braves, Marlins, Reds, Charlotte

C1: White Sox, Royals, Twins, Rangers

C2: Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers, Astros

D1: Mariners, A's, Angels, Rockies

D2: Giants, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres

Rationale:

1) Time zones: four divisions entirely in Eastern, two entirely in Central, and two spanning Mountain and Pacific

2) Six largest market teams (NY, LA, Chi) all in different divisions to "spread the wealth" of TV ratings

3) Keep AL and NL teams grouped together as much as possible given 1) and 2) above

The season would involve 14 games against each division opponent (42), 7 games against each "companion division" opponent (28), and 3 or 4 games against each of the other 24 opponents (92).

Top two teams from each division make playoffs. First round is best of 3 with division winner hosting all 3 games: A1 #1 vs B1 #2, C1 #1 vs D2 #2, B1 #1 vs A2 #2, D1 #1 vs C2 #2. Second round is best of 5, third round best of 7, and World Series best of 7.

Edited by CentralChamps21
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I get pissed when people suggest 4-team divisions in baseball. Ex- 1994 Texas Rangers. Manfred is a moron. 

If (when) they go to 32, 4 divisions of 8 teams makes way more sense. I really don’t know how many divisions games you would need to play in a 4-team division to avoid under .500 teams winning weak divisions. 

It should be 4 division winners and the rest are wildcards. 

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1 hour ago, flavum said:

I get pissed when people suggest 4-team divisions in baseball. Ex- 1994 Texas Rangers. Manfred is a moron. 

If (when) they go to 32, 4 divisions of 8 teams makes way more sense. I really don’t know how many divisions games you would need to play in a 4-team division to avoid under .500 teams winning weak divisions. 

It should be 4 division winners and the rest are wildcards. 

That would be my preference too, but Manfred made it pretty clear in that article that they would go with 8 divisions of 4 so that's what I based my plan on.

 

1 hour ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:
AL east NL East AL South AL central NL Central AL SW NL west AL West
               
NYY Wash Atl CWS Minn Tex LAD Sea
NYM Balt Mia CHC Det Hou SF LV
Bos Philly TB Mil Clev KC SD Colo
Tor Pitt Char St Louis Cincy Nash/Austin LAA Ariz

That alignment would leave 5 divisions getting essentially no national TV/media coverage and I think the teams in those divisions would veto that.

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NL West would be suicide…compared to AL West.

Would be a gauntlet with rebuilt Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers.

Notice Harold provided Kelenic with a glide path to the postseason.   Just like Royals, Twins and Rangers compared to Cubs, Cards, Brewers, Astros (one of the other suggestions).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thirty-two teams. Everyone makes the playoffs. October Madness. Four regions each headed by a team with the best record. First round is a three game series, then two five game series, and two seven game series. 

 

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7 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Thirty-two teams. Everyone makes the playoffs. October Madness. Four regions each headed by a team with the best record. First round is a three game series, then two five game series, and two seven game series. 

 

Going to anything close to the NBA post-season where you have like 18-20 teams just waters down the meaningful nature of a 162 game season. 

Them they'd have to go back to 154,  150 games...maybe down into the 140s even which would save the White Sox potential days on the IL I guess. 

Ownersight prefer if extended postseason gives them 15-20% more tv revenue compared to the loss of 4-11 home games in September when attendance is dead except postseason penant races. 

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2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Going to anything close to the NBA post-season where you have like 18-20 teams just waters down the meaningful nature of a 162 game season. 

Them they'd have to go back to 154,  150 games...maybe down into the 140s even which would save the White Sox potential days on the IL I guess. 

Ownersight prefer if extended postseason gives them 15-20% more tv revenue compared to the loss of 4-11 home games in September when attendance is dead except postseason penant races. 

Not meaningless. Better records get easier seeds. Top 16 teams host all first round three game series at home. It's adding two three game rounds so back to tradition and a 154 game regular season instead of the watered down 162 game season. 

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On 3/6/2023 at 11:23 AM, Harold's Leg Lift said:
AL east NL East AL South AL central NL Central AL SW NL west AL West
               
NYY Wash Atl CWS Minn Tex LAD Sea
NYM Balt Mia CHC Det Hou SF LV
Bos Philly TB Mil Clev KC SD Colo
Tor Pitt Char St Louis Cincy Nash/Austin LAA Ariz

5 AL divisions and 3 NL divisions? 

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On 3/6/2023 at 11:23 AM, Harold's Leg Lift said:
AL east NL East AL South AL central NL Central AL SW NL west AL West
               
NYY Wash Atl CWS Minn Tex LAD Sea
NYM Balt Mia CHC Det Hou SF LV
Bos Philly TB Mil Clev KC SD Colo
Tor Pitt Char St Louis Cincy Nash/Austin LAA Ariz

Would the White Sox ever make it out of that AL Central?

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22 hours ago, Texsox said:

Thirty-two teams. Everyone makes the playoffs. October Madness. Four regions each headed by a team with the best record. First round is a three game series, then two five game series, and two seven game series. 

 

Let's have a 1st 4 like in March Madness with the worst 8 records......and no matter what the Twinkies have to play the Yankees in their 1st (and only) playoff series.  Plus we can put the 1st baseball 4 on Tru TV as well so I can b**** some more.

Edited by wegner
I hate those friggin ImPractical Jokers
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6 hours ago, wegner said:

Let's have a 1st 4 like in March Madness with the worst 8 records......and no matter what the Twinkies have to play the Yankees in their 1st (and only) playoff series.  Plus we can put the 1st baseball 4 on Tru TV as well so I can b**** some more.

FS1/FS2/HUBI are the channels I DON'T get in Chinese subscription package...

Watched WBC from Korean and Japanese channels so far.

 

Weirdly, the four Japanese sports channels weren't showing Japan live last night but rerunning Cuba/Australia instead.

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23 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

FS1/FS2/HUBI are the channels I DON'T get in Chinese subscription package...

Watched WBC from Korean and Japanese channels so far.

 

Weirdly, the four Japanese sports channels weren't showing Japan live last night but rerunning Cuba/Australia instead.

Is there a premium Japanese baseball package out there they are trying to sucker you in to?

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1 hour ago, wegner said:

Is there a premium Japanese baseball package out there they are trying to sucker you in to?

No, just what I'm sure is a China-pirated collection of wordwide networks/feeds that I only pay $10-15 USD per month or so for... in addition to the MLBTV.com package. 

For example, I have CBS TNT TBS but no Tru for NCAA Tourney games.  All the big four (NFL NBA MLB NHL) sports channels.  ESPN1/2.  All the premium movie channels, etc. 

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On 3/16/2023 at 4:37 PM, wegner said:

Let's have a 1st 4 like in March Madness with the worst 8 records......and no matter what the Twinkies have to play the Yankees in their 1st (and only) playoff series.  Plus we can put the 1st baseball 4 on Tru TV as well so I can b**** some more.

With thirty teams the team in each league with the best record receivers a bye in the first round. All higher seeds would play a three game series at home. 

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