With the World Series wrapping up a few months ago, there is a proposed idea in the MLB to expand the league to 32 teams. One city that is the front-runner for a new team is Montreal. They already have a website, www.montrealbaseballproject.com, detailing the new ideas. Other cities that have strong cases for a new team are Portland, Austin, San Antonio, and Las Vegas. In my opinion, I think Portland would be a more logical place for a new baseball team. Once the two teams are created, there comes the problem of re-aligning the divisions. There are a few ideas that can make it work. One way is emulating the new NHL alignment, with two divisions in each conference. The other concept is how the NFL works with four divisions of four teams in each conference.
First Proposal: the NHL concept.
In the American League East, there would be 8 teams. Those teams are the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox.
In the American League West, there would be 8 teams. Those teams are The Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, and for the sake of this article, let's say Portland gets a new team. They would be in this division as well.
In the National League East, there would be 8 teams. Those teams are the New York Mets, Miami Marlins, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and let's just say the Montreal Expos come back. They would be in this division.
In the National League West, there would be 8 teams. Those teams are the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Second Proposal:
There would be four divisions of four teams in each league, just like the NFL.
In the American League East, there would be the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Baltimore Orioles.
In the American League North, there would be the Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox.
In the American League South, there would be the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, and Kansas City Royals.
In the American League West, there would be the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, and the team from Portland.
In the National League East, there would be the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Philadelphia Phillies, and Pittsburgh Pirates.
In the National League North, there would be the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Cubs.
In the National League South, there would be the Miami Marlins, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Nationals.
In the National League West, there would be the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Arizona Diamondbacks.
I personally like the second concept with the four divisions in each league. It is much easier to keep track of. However, there is one thing that definitely needs to be amended. I hate this five-team playoff system. The fact that the two wild-card teams have to play one game to see who gets to move on is absurd. There are 162 games in an MLB season. How is one game a decision? What I hope happens is this: we move to the four divisions in each league concept, the NFL playoff system would work perfectly. Each division winner would get home field advantage in the first playoff series, with the two teams with the best records in each league getting a first-round bye. The two wild-card teams would play the 3 and 4 seed, and the winners would move on. Most people get the gist of this so I won't go into much detail.
I do hope that this happens, because it would fix a playoff system that seems a bit unfair to wild-card teams. I also hope this happens because I like change, especially when it comes to sports.
