Posted on 06/11/2011 1:57:58 PM PDT by rawhide
As Major League Baseball continues to discuss possible realignment, one idea that has come up is going to a league with 15 teams per league, reports ESPN's Buster Olney.
Currently, the National League has 16 teams and the AL 14 for scheduling purposes. Should baseball go to two 15-team leagues, that would likely require interleague play every day of the season. Given baseball likes to treat interleague play as an event, that could dilute the appeal of interleague play to the point it would no longer be a moneymaker. However, there is still real resistance to the idea which has not been presented to owners yet, although the player's union is reportedly open to it.
"I'd still say the odds of it happening are less than 50-50," the source said.
CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler says that players are open to it because they are not happy about AL West teams having a 25 percent chance of making the playoffs, the NL Central just 18 percent and the rest all at 20 percent.
To switch to a 15-team alignment, one team from the NL would have to move to the AL. According to Olney, two highly-ranked executives think the Astros could receive the call in order to tap into a rivalry with the Texas Rangers. Picking the Astros would also allow baseball to remove one team from the NL Central and slot Houston into the AL West, which would address the issue of playoff percentages.
MLB lying to themselves again. The gimmick is over.
I would love to see a MLB team here in Sacramento, but both the A's and the Giants are less than 100 miles and the cable system here covers them both.
And, with decades and a few generations of fan affinity toward both of those teams I do not see how a 3rd could gain traction.
However, any Sacramento ball park would be one very good hitters ball park. Summer evenings of 85-90 deg (perhaps cooling to 78 by 10:00pm) with little wind and 10% humidity would make for some nice fireworks. However, it would be rough for those Sunday day games which start at 1:30pm and finish when it's 105 deg.
I could say I say there once, at least in the Nickerson Field incarnation. In ‘79 my high school, Lynn Classical, played in and won the division High School Super Bowl and it was there.
I agree, I hate interleague play!
Hate it from beginning to end but I would accept it only if a new Calgary team could be called the Tar Sands to make liberals’ heads explode.
Too far away, too many security issues (kidnapping, etc,) too much air pollution at high altitude.
...and I have a friend whose father was and is a Braves fan, in Salem MA. I visited my friend one day and his dad was watching Atl. Braves on TBS. He said he remained a Braves fan even after the 2 moves.
(country song lyric, “My Kind of Girl”)
“And when we started talking, I could not believe my ears/
You said you were still a Braves fan, even in the rotten years”
Mexico City could support two ball clubs except player salaries make it necessary to take in $2mil per game, minimum, on ticket sales alone. Well, if you want to make any money.
Of course the Mexican TV market could possibly make up the difference?
Well, what about the Miami-Seattle/West Coast flights? Besides, the teams would fly on to San Juan during their east coast road trips, and vice-versa. Not much of an add-on to fly there.
I remember the Pittsburgh-Baltimore series in 1971. I was in Catholic school in the third grade and the nuns turned on the TVs for the day games (and this was in Boston. Nuns loved baseball.)
That's a scandal, the situation at Dodger Stadium. I've been there five or six times, last time in 1999. Always a great experience then.
Thanks for clarifying that. I always assume that some of those mid-sized California cities are part of the state’s larger metro areas.
Games should be 3-2 and 1-0 games would be even better.
Moreover, MLB requires rarest talent in sports.
More teams dilute the talent.
Diluted talent dilutes the game and dilutes the records.
Edmonton is actually the better city for baseball, since the summers are warm at its lower elevation.
To be honest with you, I don't see either of these cities offering much for Major League Baseball. Remember, the NHL teams in those two cities have had some financial difficulties over the years. What makes anyone think baseball is going to succeed there?
Needham High, '81.
There’s no way MLB would put a franchise in Mexico anytime soon. The country is poor, and paying players salaries in U.S. dollars while collecting revenue in Mexican pesos is going to drive a team out of business in less than five years.
AL EAST – NYY, Bosox, Toronto, Baltimore
AL NORTH – Chisox, Minn, Detroit, Cleveland
AL SOUTH – Texas, KC, OKC (expansion), Houston
AL WEST – Oakland, LAA, Seattle, Colorado
NL EAST – NYM, Philly, Pitt, WashDC
NL NORTH – ChiCubs, Milw, St. Louis, Cincy
NL SOUTH – ATL, Florida, Carolina (move from Tampa), Nashville (expansion)
NL WEST – LAD, SanFran, SanDiego, AZ
San Juan has the same problem Mexico City has: It’s a poor area relative to the major U.S. markets, and wouldn’t be able to generate enough revenue to support the salaries needed to field a competitive major league roster.
They can’t fill the stadia now. Why would they add teams?
That NL North of yours would in some years be the most fun in the sport, in others they might all finish below .500.
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