FanPost

Yet Another Baseball Realignment Proposal

Major League Baseball recently announced that there will be realignment. The Astros are being sent to the American League, and there will be one more wild card. Well, no one asked me what should be done. Based on the Dan Plan, here is an idea that I believe is far superior to what is now planned, which means that it probably won't happen. Read about it after the jump.

The Dan Plan calls for two divisions per league, with two wild cards per division. And the wild card playoffs are one game. I prefer three, but that detail is not that important.

No teams need to be moved or added to make this plan work. The Dan Plan calls for shuffling some teams around, with Arizona to the AL and Tampa Bay to the NL. Instead, I'd simply move Milwaukee back to the AL, which is part of this plan. In the spirit of giving each team a more balanced opportunity, two more franchises are being added. Where is not critical to this idea, but we're going with Charlotte, North Carolina and Montreal, Quebec. The former because of the size and growth rate of that metropolitan area. The latter because I believe that they were screwed by baseball and that they can once again support a team.

The divisions

National League East National League West American League East American League East
Atlanta Braves Arizona Diamondbacks Baltimore Orioles Chicago White Sox
Cincinnati Reds Chicago Cubs Boston Red Sox Kansas City Royals
Miami Marlins Colorado Rockies Charlotte Los Angeles Angels
Montreal Expos Houston Astros Cleveland Indians Milwaukee Brewers
New York Mets Los Angeles Dodgers Detroit Tigers Minnesota Twins
Philadelphia Phillies San Diego Padres New York Yankees Oakland Athletics
Pittsburgh Pirates San Francisco Giants Tampa Bay Rays Seattle Mariners
Washington Nationals St. Louis Cardinals Toronto Blue Jays Texas Rangers

The regular season

If there is interleague play, then each team plays their divisional rivals 12 times per season (84 games,) interdivisional rivals 8 times per season (64 games,) and 12 interleague games for 160 regular season games.

Without interleague play, teams play their divisional rivals 14 times (98 games) and their interdivisional rivals 8 times (64 games) for 162 games.

Who makes the playoffs?

Division
1st place (bye)
2nd place (wild card #1)
3rd place (wild card #2)
4th place (eliminated)
5th place (eliminated)
6th place (eliminated)
7th place (eliminated)
8th place (eliminated)

The playoffs in bracket form: (click to embiggen)6gy51f_medium

The playoffs in calendar form:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 1 Last Day of the Regular Season Tie breakers and makeup games Game 1 Divisional Wild Card Series
Week 2 Game 2 Divisional Wild Card Series Game 3 Divisional Wild Card Series Day Off Game 1 Divisional Championship Series Game 2 Divisional Championship Series Game 3 Divisional Championship Series Game 4 Divisional Championship Series
Week 3 Game 5 Divisional Championship Series Game 6 Divisional Championship Series Game 7 Divisional Championship Series Day Off Game 1 League Championship Series Game 2 League Championship Series Game 3 League Championship Series
Week 4 Game 4 League Championship Series Game 5 League Championship Series Game 6 League Championship Series Game 7 League Championship Series Day Off Game 1 World Series Game 2 World Series
Week 5 Travel Day Game 3 World Series Game 4 World Series Game 5 World Series Travel Day Game 6 World Series Game 7 World Series

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process.