MLB Realignment: The Fairest Way to Do it

The title of this blog is “Let’s Be Logical.” I think if more people used basic logic (or common sense) a lot of our world’s problems—economically, socially, etc.—would disappear or at least become much more manageable. Alas, usage of sound logic among the populace seems to get lower and lower by the day.

I’m not here to solve the world’s problems. Yet. What I do want do is occasionally take an issue and present possible solutions in a logical way. Sometimes I’ll provide input on what I think is the best course action, and sometimes I won’t. I mainly just want to present the facts.

Not all of my blog posts will be like this, but hey, it is in the title. Logically speaking, the title of the blog should match at least some of its contents.

The first issue I’m going to write about is Major League Baseball (as you might have guessed from the post’s title—see, we’re already being logical). Baseball is a passion of mine, and Major League Baseball is my favorite professional league to follow. By the way, college football is second. I know, it’s not professional (at least it’s not supposed to be). 

Specifically, I am going to discuss the realignment issue that is the hot topic in MLB circles right now. For those who may be unaware, realignment basically deals with changing the way the 30 teams in MLB are organized. One of the root issues of realignment is fairness. As such, I want to present the fairest realignment option possible. By fair, I mean that no team has a scheduling advantage over any other team when it comes to making the playoffs.

Assumptions

  

No teams will be added or taken away from the current 30 that comprise MLB. As far as I or anyone else seems to know, that is not even remotely an option of the realignment discussion. Personally, I think there’s barely enough talent to field 30 competitive teams, much less 32.

If you are unaware of the current set-up of MLB, look here. It will show you how the leagues and divisions currently work. Look here for information about the playoffs.

The Concept: No Leagues or Divisions; Schedule is completely balanced

This option does away with all divisions and both leagues. Now, every team is in one, giant pool. Every team would play every other team 6 times (3 at home, 3 on the road). That equals a 174 game season. If MLB wanted to keep the playoffs at 8 teams (which is unlikely), then the top 8 teams would make the playoffs. If the playoffs are expanded, the top 10 or 12 or how many ever teams would make it.

Fairness Level: 10/10

This is the fairest option possible. Every team plays every other team 6 times. In other words, the schedule is perfectly balanced; every team has the same schedule. Teams can’t complain about another team having an easier schedule.

Other Pros of this Option

Since every team plays all the other teams, rivalries (like the Red Sox/Yankees) would remain intact. Also, every team would get to host every other team for 3 games, which means fans would have the chance to see any team or player play in their local team’s stadium. 

Likelihood: 0%

A lot of people are griping at the possibility of losing the divisions. Imagine if they took away leagues, too. It won’t happen, and it probably shouldn’t. Some traditions after all, are a good thing (I’m NOT looking at you, DH) Also, the importance of the regular season could dwindle immensely (especially if the playoffs are expanded). We don’t want MLB to become the NBA.

Another potential negative is that the same teams might make the playoffs every year, further decreasing interest in the sport. Take a look below at the top teams in MLB for the past 5 seasons in regards to regular season standings. Obviously, we can’t assume these seasons would have ended the same way under the proposed format, but it’s the best data we have to go on. I’ll include the top 10 teams each year because as stated earlier the playoffs are probably going to be expanded.

2010

Phillies

Rays

Yankees

Twins

Giants

Reds

Braves

Rangers

Padres

Red Sox

2009

Yankees

Angels

Dodgers

Red Sox

Phillies

Rockies

Cardinals

Giants

Marlins

Rangers

2008

Angels

Cubs

Rays

Red Sox

Phillies

Brewers

Mets

Yankees

White Sox

Twins

2007

Indians

Red Sox

Angels

Yankees

Diamondbacks

Rockies

Phillies

Padres

Tigers

Mariners

2006

Yankees

Mets

Twins

Tigers

Athletics

White Sox

Angels

Padres

Dodgers

Blue Jays

(This list was compiled from baseball-reference.com)

By my count, 26 different teams filled what would have been 50 possible playoff spots under the proposed system. That’s 26 out of 30 total teams. Only the Pirates, Royals, Nationals, and Orioles failed to crack the 10 in final regular season standings over the past 5 seasons (again, by my count). I’d say that’s pretty balanced. So, the argument that the same 10 teams would make the playoffs every year may not be valid.

Still, taking away the leagues and divisions is probably a bit much, especially for all those baseball purists. Furthermore, no one, and I mean no one, wants to lengthen the season by 12 games.

A possible alternative that would allow the leagues to remain would be for each team to play the other teams from its league 6 times each and teams from the other league 5 times (An NL team would have to be switched to the AL). The top 4 or 5 teams from each league would make the playoffs. That would make the season 159 games. This is still mostly fair because teams in the same league would have the same schedule. Scheduling such a format would probably be a major headache, if not virtually impossible, though.

That’s it. The fairest realignment option possible. Will it ever happen? No. Should it? Not if it means 174 games. If we're talking about the 159 game plan, the biggest issue I can think of at the moment is that it could vastly decrease interest in the regular season. Other than that, it seems like an interesting idea to me (of course, I did think of it). Admittedly, it’s a bit outrageous and would require a major overhaul of how MLB currently operates (major change isn’t always a bad thing). Sometimes, though, it takes considering the most outrageous ideas to come up with the best idea.

_____________________________-

My current favorite realistic ideas for realignment can be found here and here. They both keep the divisions and leagues intact and balance out the schedule pretty well.