Heres what I propose even though it would NEVER happen….Expand the MLB to four divions in each league:
AL EAST: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays
AL SOUTH: Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, (Domincan Republic) Santo Domingo Himnos
AL CENTRAL: , Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds
AL WEST: Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Las Vegas Rollers
NL EAST: New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals
NL SOUTH: Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals
NL CENTRAL: Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals
NL WEST: Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks
I figured before Canada or Mexico got a new team, Dominican Republic should get a team cause it is VERY VERY popular there, and one of the most popular sports in that country. Vegas just seems to make the most sense IN the United States cause New Orleans doesnt have a large baseball fan base from what ive read and heard. But that would be the 2nd choice for inside the United States.
THEN the playoffs would be the top two teams from every division seperated by the AL and NL.
I know, itll NEVER happen, but whats your input??
In the D.R. you’d be surprised how many people would show up because of how huge it is in that country.
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The whole idea of an MLB team in Santo Domingo is a joke. The per capita GDP in the DR is just under $5,000. That is 1/10 of the US figure. What good does it do to fill a stadium, if the fans can only afford $2 per ticket? What are they going to do to make up for the lack of local TV revenue? How is that team going to compete in the free agent market?
BTW Portland does not have the population, income or even a stadium for an MLB team. PGE Park is scheduled to be converted to soccer/football only this summer, to accommodate the new MLS team, which will be the second direct rival with Seattle.
Portland would be the best choice for an expansion team in the US. It’s a growing city with only an NBA franchise, so the NFL wouldn’t be stealing fans in the fall. They would most likely be placed in the AL West where they already have a geographical rival, the Seattle Mariners. And since Seattle lost its basketball team, this would be the only sport where the two cities compete professionally.
San Juan, Puerto Rico makes a lot more sense than Santo Domingo. The only problem is that they would have to expand their stadium which presently only holds 20,000.
Of course, we both know that MLB won’t be expanding for at least another decade. Still, it’s fun to talk about.
There needs to be a team in Hawaii and Alaska.
It won’t happen, and a team will not make money in the DR.
I agree DR would be a good idea but not realistic also for travel, the one guy is right they don’t have a lot of income. People also won’t go to the games from other teams either so they won’t get that revenue possible.
I don’t agree with the Reds in the AL, they are already a good game against the Indians and I don’t think they need to be in the same division let alone the same league to make that a great game.
You said yourself. It’ll NEVER happen.
I don’t think realignment is the problem, I think if anything they need LESS teams. If all the baseball owners are complaining about losing money, cut down the number of teams, especially in the markets that aren’t making an aim to win (pittsburgh, washington, Kansas City, milwaukee, san diego, florida, etc.
The teams that constantly don’t make an effort to improve their team and won’t spend money to do so, but sell off star players for more prospects to keep their budget down. The pitching is so watered down, AAA players are playing in the majors (especially the relievers) less teams would provide for better players.
I like the realignment, and where you put the teams; but I don’t like the playoff system you proposed, because there will always be a demand for "wild-card" berths due to the fact that some 2nd place teams from one division will have a better record than some division champs. Some 2nd place teams will have terrible records. You’ve got to make sure the regular season is meaningful.
Therefore, if you’re going to align the league like the NFL, adopt their playoff seeding system. Four division champs and two wilcards (for each league). Top two champs get a bye, the other 4 teams play a best-of-three or five series. Second round, the top division champ gets the lowest remaining seed, and so on…
For expansion, there are still plenty of U.S. cities before you start going overseas. Even Montreal, Quebec couldn’t suppport a team. How about San Antonio? Buffalo? Nashville? Salt Lake City? Portland? Jacksonville? Charlotte?
The problem with having a team in the D.R. is that who will pay the money to go to the games? The people down there don’t have a lot of disposable income. Also, is there a Major League caliber stadium there? I think expansion would instead take place in either Portland, Oklahoma, or North Carolina.
Also, you have too many teams switching leagues and MLB will never break up the Dodger-Giant rivalary. Plus I don’t think the Milwaukee Bucks would fare too well playing baseball.
Here would be my divisions should baseball decide to expand (even though I’d rather see them contract):
AL EAST: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays
AL SOUTH: Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays, Carolina whatever
AL CENTRAL: , Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins
AL WEST: Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Las Vegas Rollers
NL EAST: New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals
NL SOUTH: Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves
NL CENTRAL: Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals
NL WEST: San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks
They’d probably add two more wild card teams per league and have a playoff system similar to the NFL.
Interesting plan… just out of curiosity, why did you switch the Twins and Reds? Also, I think you’re mixing up baseball with basketball – the Milwaukee Brewers play baseball, not the Bucks. Oh, and you switched Texas and KC into the NL, too? Not sure why.
The DR is a possibility, but I think that Mexico City is actually a more viable option. There is a much larger population in Mexico from which to draw a fan base (20 million in Mexico City alone), and the country is much more economically powerful. Many people in the DR are very poor and probably could not afford to support an MLB team. Many areas of Mexico couldn’t either, but Mexico City has millions of wealthy residents.
Vegas makes sense. The only problem there is that sports leagues tend to shy away from the association with gambling. If Vegas does get a team, I’d love to see Pete Rose manage it!
Other options for U.S. based teams: Charlotte, NC, Portland, OR, Memphis, TN, and Oklahoma City, OK. All of those cities support pro teams in other sports, so they should probably work for MLB.
As for the "never gonna happen" aspect, I would disagree. They aren’t going to switch any more teams from the AL into the NL (or vice versa), but adding extra teams and switching to 4 divisions is realistic. I think that if baseball continues to be profitable, we could see an expansion within the next 10 years or so.