We are in the dead of the MLB winter, which means storylines are few and far between. Once spring training decides to pick up, we’ll hear about who is in what shape, what training regimens have changes and things of this nature, the daily minutiae that we miss from the summer. So, let’s talk about where baseball is headed in the future.
Expansion is on the horizon with the A’s and Rays situation (somewhat) resolved for the long term, which means we can move on to the thing people like talking about most: realignment. It’s a hot topic all the time. MLB realignment is something that can get people talking about the game since it involves us giving wacky ideas about how the game should look. They’re going to add at least two new teams when they eventually do get around to it, which would make 32 teams in all. It would unbalance the current divisions, which means Rob Manfred and his minions will have to cook up a scenario that involves all things perfectly in balanced.
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We’ve seen a lot of proposals about this in the past few months. Some are bordering on insanity, some are actually not half bad once it sets in that this is going to happen, whether you like it or not (thanks I hate it). Let’s have a little fun and rank them!
Fox Sports – Rivalries? What rivalries?!?!
Alright, this one is a bit batsh*t crazy.
You can already hear the clickbait headlines of “Baseball purists absolutely HATE this idea” and guess what: that’s exactly right. This is possibly the worst idea for realignment that there is. Why would baseball rip apart the time honored rivalries that they have tried so hard to market these past 20+ years? How often do you see an advertisement for the Yankees and Red Sox playing each other, followed by some kind of article that highlights the “top ten moments” that have happened in the history? MLB isn’t going to simply do away with that kind of promotion nine times a season, even for the sake of money.
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Right?
The Athletic – I think we actually have a leader in the clubhouse
<slowly nodding> Yes, yes, I think this might actually work.
This is probably the best plan that I have seen in public from someone who has knowledge of the game. It preserves rivalries, recreates old ones (hello, Pirates/Phillies), gives teams that don’t really have a chance in their current divisions a new division in which they should fare much better and keeps much of the traditional part of the game alive.
Moving Colorado and Tampa Bay? Eh, who really cares. Had they had some kind of enormous history to consider, maybe moving them would be a bit more delicate, but that was thrown out the window when the Astros were chosen to move leagues over putting Milwaukee back in the American League. This is a proposal that should have some legs to it.
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There isn’t a fun little graphic to accompany this one, but there are some interesting ideas that go along with it. Mostly the idea that when realignment does happen, it still has to keep certain teams and rivalries alive and well. Even if Manfred wants to cast them aside in the hopes that TV contracts will somehow make realignment better, fans still want to see their teams in their leagues.
Realignment is coming. When and how it happens is still a matter of debate. We can talk about it not happening all we want, but when Manfred publicly states that he’s going to do something, usually it gets done. What we can debate is which one is the best? So….which is the best?