Realignment

[Fman99]

I realigned my testicles. I've now got a front and a back instead of a left and a right.

[Willets Point]

The AL and NL really don't exist anymore as practical entities. I still maintain that any realignment should be done regionally as I outlined earlier in the thread.

[ashie62]

Willets Point wrote: The AL and NL really don't exist anymore as practical entities. I still maintain that any realignment should be done regionally as I outlined earlier in the thread.

Agreed...Personally I like the DH.

[Edgy MD]

The DH rule is a monstrosity that has thrown the universe out of balance.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Ashie62 wrote: Agreed...Personally I like the DH.

[Frayed Knot]

Does anyone realize the irony in that most of these proposed alignment/scheduling/post-season "fixes" are designed as attempts to fix the things that were thrown out of whack from the last time they tried to fix things?

[Edgy MD]

Well, I agree, but I would imagine the league countering that such readjustment is called "refinement," and that the products of previous "fixes" --- wild card races, designated inter-league rivals, 75% of the schedule played in the time zone of the home fan --- are wild successes, and teasing out the accidental byproducts is all just a natural part of the process.

(As Frankensteinian as the process may look to you and me.)

[Frayed Knot]

Except that what you're referring to as "accidental byproducts" were totally foreseeable consequences yet were just as totally ignored by those who thought the upside of the changes rendered all other problems non-existent.
Scheduling messes, the inequities caused by uneven divisions and inter-league play, the sport's premier games taking place in late-October/November, the virtual non-existence of the gap between WC and division winner, etc., didn't just happen when the leagues were rearranged they happened as a direct result of them.

[Edgy MD]

I agree they were totally foreseeable, but just undervalued as a consequence.

[Frayed Knot]

It just all leads me to wonder how many things will be screwed up (and warnings ignored) the next time things are fixed in the name of being able to use smaller circles when outlining divisions on a map.

[ashie62]

Four divisions of six please...

[Willets Point]

Ashie62 wrote: Four divisions of six please...

Do the other six teams get relegated?

[Valadius]

Dear Bud,

Please send the Marlins to the American League and rename them the Gators. Then we can wait with breathless anticipation for the inevitable World Series showdown in 2015 with the Chicago Cubs.

Kindest Regards,
People who love Back to the Future

[metirish]

Willets Point wrote: Ashie62 wrote: Four divisions of six please... Do the other six teams get relegated?

I think he meant six divisions of four

[Edgy MD]

We're here talking with DC-based Cranepooler Valadius. Val, that was only your second post since July. It was the bicycle thread that brought you out of hiding. Is there something about cycling that caused you to surface, so to speak?

[Valadius]

Cycling makes my knees lock up, unfortunately.

In general, I've been very busy at work, taking on added responsibilities, such as our website and Facebook page.

[Willets Point]

metirish wrote: Willets Point wrote: Ashie62 wrote: Four divisions of six please... Do the other six teams get relegated? I think he meant six divisions of four

That would still only be 24 teams.

[metirish]

I know that!.....having some fun.....reminds me of former ROI soccer international Jason McAteer ordering a pizza and when asked if he wanted it cut into eight slices he said "no, four please,I'm not that hungry".

[Edgy MD]

Peter Gammons tweets that November will see Houston change divisions, leagues, and ownership.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: Peter Gammons tweets that November will see Houston change divisions, leagues, and ownership.

I doubt this is a 'done deal'. Don't they have to vote/agree on it first, via new CBA, and release a new schedule and setup the whole interleague everyday thing?

[Edgy MD]

Peter Gammons assures me that the Astros would rather be in downtown Beirut than the National League Central.

Seriously, I'm certain that (1) Gammons has solid inside information, but (2) that's just information, and it's not a done deal until it's a done deal.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I would think so.

Maybe he's "predicting" and not "reporting". (And if so, he really should make that clear.)

[Benjamin Grimm]

This is from, believe it or not, The Sporting News:

The Sporting News wrote: Astros' potential owner disputes reports of move to AL Not only are the Houston Astros for sale, they could be relocating to the American League. Current Astros owner Drayton McLane has accepted a bid from Houston businessman Jim Crane to sell the team for $680 million. However, that deal will require the approval of Major League Baseball. That process has stalled, fueling speculation that the holdup is the Astros' unwillingness to move from the six-team NL Central to the four-team AL West. In the realignment plan being considered by MLB, there would be two 15-team leagues and an extra wild card added in each league, perhaps as soon as the 2012 season. However, both McLane and Crane have voiced their opposition to such a move. On Wednesday, MLB.com columnist Peter Gammons tweeted that the sale would be approved in November and that the franchise would indeed move to the AL. A spokesman for Crane, however, told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday that there have been no discussions with MLB about that move. Speaking about the possibility of the Astros and Texas Rangers developing an intradivional rivalry, Rangers president and CEO Nolan Ryan admitted the idea excited him. "It'd be good for baseball in Texas to have two teams in the same state vying for the division lead," Ryan told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

[Frayed Knot]

I know that Crane was meeting with Selig in the last few days.
Sounds like changing leagues was on the agenda or that MLB wants to leak that it was on the agenda, maybe as a way of gauging public reaction to such a move.

[metirish]

$680 million for the Astros?, nice to be rich.

[seawolf17]

Let's not get too crazy about believing what comes out of Gammons' twitter account, as hilarious as it is.

[Gwreck]

"It'd be good for baseball in Texas to have two teams in the same state vying for the division lead," Ryan told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Gee, the worst team in MLB moving to your division is a good thing? You don't say.

[ashie62]

Gwreck wrote: "It'd be good for baseball in Texas to have two teams in the same state vying for the division lead," Ryan told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Gee, the worst team in MLB moving to your division is a good thing? You don't say.

They will be good again...right?

[Frayed Knot]

"It'd be good for baseball in Texas to have two teams in the same state vying for the division lead," Ryan told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Would that be the same for teams in the state of Pennsylvania Nolan or does that only apply to your state?

[TransMonk]

Ashie62 wrote: They will be good again...right?

They will be good again.

They were the worst MLB team in 2011 and have been less than average in the past few seasons, but from 1994-2006, they finished either first or second in the NL Central in every season but one. Over that span, the Rangers only finished with more wins than the Astros in one season.

Houston (as the Colt .45s and then the Astros) has a better W-L record than their 1962 expansion-mate Mets by 133 games. Two more playoff appearances, too.