Los Angeles/Anaheim
Oakland
Seattle
Texas
NL CENTRAL
Chicago
Cincinnati
Houston
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
This imbalance means that teams in the AL West only have to beat out three rivals to make the postseason, while teams in the NL Central have to outlast five. It also means that an AL West team plays around 60 divisional games per season, while an NL Central team plays closer to 100. This discrepancy works out to around 20 more mixed-schedule games for the AL West than all other AL clubs, and 20 more divisional games for teams in the NL Central than all other teams in the NL (and around 40 more divisional games than teams in the AL West).
In a sport already marked by financial disparity, the nuts-and-bolts setup of the league shouldn't be a hindrance to giving all teams an equal shot at winning their division.
The solution? Shift the Astros from the NL Central to the AL West.
In this scenario, all 6 divisions have 5 teams, and the AL and NL each have 15.
The result (in addition to a massive rager at the schedule maker's pad) would be a revenue boost and competitive jolt for an Astros team that clearly needs both. With the move, they'll have one less divisional rival to contend with every season and will get to play their in-state rival Rangers in 18 extremely meaningful sellout games each year, instead of six.
More importantly, not just the Astros but all 30 MLB teams will now have the same amount of divisional rivals to contend with all season, and will play nearly the same amount of mixed-schedule and interleague games.
As for tertiary effects, the A's, Mariners and Rangers won't object to adding Houston to their division or schedule, and the NL Central will be glad to get down to the normal five teams. It's geographically correct too; Houston is the westernmost city in the NL Central.
Financial parity in the league may never be attainable, but scheduling/divisional equality is a dream that's within our grasp, and should be handled just this simply this offseason.
So what do you say, MLB? Will you ask Houston to move into the AL West and restore balance to baseball's divisions? And Houston, will you answer the call?
Interesting argument, Dan. Whenever I've mulled realignment (and it needs to happen, sooner rather than later, along with elimination of interleague play) my thoughts have always involved bouncing the Brewers back to the AL, because they've never belonged in the National League, and they still don't. But your idea is certainly more practical.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alyson! I agree, bouncing Milwaukee back to the AL would be LIFO-suction, it's just a question of where they would land.
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