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True, it'll never happen, but that's the one place I would think the A's should be moved to.

That said, what do you think about the alignment? Especially the radical one.

 

First regarding the struggling teams. The Nats in DC, and the Pirates in Pittsburgh both have recently new ballparks bulit in last 10 years. If those 2 teams in questions leave, Bud Selig and his boys at MLB would have to either give them hundred of millions to break the contract or a new expansion team. The Pirates and Nats IMO suck because of bad ownership and new good owners would make all the difference in the world for them.

 

Plus the Marlins are moving from the NFL Dolphins stadium to their new ballpark in Downtown Miami in 2012. Not to mention the A's who 'this close' to moving to San Jose, Ca. but their ballpark deal went dead mainly due to the recession are now on verge of staying in the Ca. Bay Area with a new ballpark in Downtown Oakland. Other than expansion, i dont see any MLB clubs moving/relocating in near future.

 

Personally i think MLB should be different and go to a Soccer type league such as the English Primere League. Have a 32-team league and every season the 4 worst teams record wise are *demoted* to a triple A league. This can get mid size US cities like San Antanio, Charlotte, and New Orleans into mix for major league teams.

 

That my take.

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guess I'm late to the party....

 

Some small changes:

 

* Godzilla is a Los Angeles Angel;

* Chiien Mien-Wang is a Washington Senator;

* Johnny D is a Detroit Tiger;

* Melky is an Atlanta Brave;

* Super Mo is forty, but still looks good.

 

* Andy is back and has a chance to contribute and add to his 229 career wins.

* Nick Johnson and Javier Vasquez are back;

* Curtis Granderson is a new Yankee.

 

We should enjoy the core four (Andy, The Captain, Super Mo and Jorge) while we can.

 

Wednesday March 3d Yankees vs. the Pirates

 

- You see what happened to Abreu once he left the Yankees & went to the Angels (less productive)... Matsui will suffer the same fate.... he should've retired instead....

- Yankees made the right move in getting rid of Wang... he'll be a good pitcher for the Nationals (which isn't saying much), but, that's about it... his days of relevancy are over...

- Damon I think will offer some production offensively for the tigers... tigers are still fools for giving up Granderson, though...

- Melky will be the same old Melky... his batting average may even go up, now that he's in the NL...

 

 

- Nick Johnson is a mirror image of the OLD Nick Swisher (when he was on the A's).... if the yankee hitting coach can do for Nick (Johnson) what he did for Nick (Swisher), watch out.... I would have never thought you could put "Swisher" and "patient hitter" in the same sentence....

- Vasquez back in NY... no comment, other than... I'd rather have a live body than a sitting duck (Wang in '09) as part of my pitching staff....

 

 

The Yanks just signed veteran Chan Ho Park to minor league contract and chance to make club as their 'long man/emergency starter' as well.

Chan Ho Park is a BUM... he's gonna come here and eff' things up if he ends up on their main roster (whatever the term for it is)... I doubt he'll be on the team long anyway....

 

 

That said, what do you think about the alignment? Especially the radical one.

The "Modest" realignment... yeah right... what they state in their "advantages" list is Fools Gold regarding the yanks & the red sox.... and they know it too....

 

- The Yankees will make the playoffs EVERY SINGLE YEAR in that "AL east"

- The Red Sox will make the playoffs EVERY SINGLE YEAR in that "AL central"

- (competitiveness in the) "AL west" wont change... except you wont have 2 teams beating each other up... you'll have three.... and what I mean by beating each other up, is that... teams in that division will end up around .500-.600 b/c that division would be so... balanced.

 

 

I actually favor the radical realignment more.... it allows for more "rivalry" games... which could result in an increase in revenue for each team, and the MLB, overall... sure as hell will result in an increase in TV ratings/viewership... you wont see a station like FOX d***ride the same teams over & over & over again......

 

 

The revenue realignment is the worst one IMO... to give an analogy:

It'd be like the gov't separating people by income, and AUTOMATICALLY throwing the poor, lower class, & the middle class folk all in the worst neighborhood in the city/state/etc, and throwing the upper class folk all in the best neighborhoods out... there would be no middle ground.... a middle class person couldn't not affiliate with, let alone marry, someone from the upper class...

 

On one end, you'll watch the best of the best duke it out... and OTOH, flat out ignore all the other divisions (unless you were lifelong fans of those other teams before the divisions were broken up like this).... even then, you'd become bored with the lack of meaningful games throughout the season....

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I actually favor the radical realignment more.... it allows for more "rivalry" games... which could result in an increase in revenue for each team, and the MLB, overall... sure as hell will result in an increase in TV ratings/viewership... you wont see a station like FOX d***ride the same teams over & over & over again......

 

But if the Yankees and Red Sox are rivals, wouldn't you think that FOX and ESPN would be showing them again and again? Besides, there are a few good rivalries besides that one. You have the Mets v. Phils, Mets v. Yanks, Yanks v. Angels, Cubs v. Cardinals...and you see them on T.V. everytime.

Then again, MLB would be getting a lot of revenue...

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Yankees-Red Sox in the WS would be a ratings giant. Mets-Phillies right now is more one sided for the Phillies. Angels-Yankees while great baseball wise, doesn't exactly mean it'll be a ratings draw even though they are in two of the biggest markets. Dodgers-Yankees would get a better draw.

 

To B35:

Agreed, I favor the radical realignment the most. The inter city rivalry is the best part of Interleague. And I don't mind if they have more of those games if it means limiting Interleage for the left over 15th team in each league. Technically they don't really need to move the Astros to the AL West, but I can live with two Interleague series every week than all at once in a one month period. It might balance the schedule somewhat.

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Actually Jeff Wilpon the owner's son and heir replacement to the Sr Wilpon is really the team's GM. While the Wilpons seem to be very nice people, the Mets have never been the same since Fred Wilpon became solo owner around 2005. The 2x the amazings made the world series, Nelson Doubleday was the main owner. Wilpons are cheap.

 

Until the Wilpons leave i dont know if the Mets will ever win the WS. With Dodgers soon to be on sale again, Fred Wilpon should trade to buy them since he always acts if the Mets are the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He actually has owned the Mets since 2002. Luckily he was not owner when they tried to get Mike Piazza in 98' because he was opposed to getting him. In spite of all the shit we Mets fans have been through, we will go to Citi this year to see the team play and win and hopefully get a 3rd WS Championship.
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Here is my realignment Idea that would keep the AL and NL the way it is and will make baseball a more competitive sport.

 

Through my plan, the divisions are eliminated. It will just be an American League and National League. I would make baseball into a 32 team sport by adding two new American league Franchises that would give both leagues 32 teams. Interleague Play would be maintained and the season will still be 162 games long. The playoff system would be modeled after the NBA where the top 8 teams in both leagues would go to the playoffs in a three round ALCS/NLCS. Each Round would take a week to play and will all consist of 5 games (who ever wins three games first wins). The World Series would still be 7 games long. I feel this would make baseball more interesting to watch as more teams have a chance to make it to the playoffs under my system.

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He actually has owned the Mets since 2002. Luckily he was not owner when they tried to get Mike Piazza in 98' because he was opposed to getting him. In spite of all the shit we Mets fans have been through, we will go to Citi this year to see the team play and win and hopefully get a 3rd WS Championship.

 

 

Thanks R68 for correction. Prior to 2002, Wilpon was club president/part owner while Nelson Doubleday(heir from the book publishing/media and investment company family fame of same name "Doubleday)was the main owner. Doubleday was a good owner including winning the '86 world series and could never understand why he sold his majority shares to the Wilpons?:confused:

 

I still stand by my comment the Wilpons should ask and would get the ok from Bud Selig to sell the Mets and buy his lifelong dream, the Dodgers.

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Here is my realignment Idea that would keep the AL and NL the way it is and will make baseball a more competitive sport.

 

Through my plan, the divisions are eliminated. It will just be an American League and National League. I would make baseball into a 32 team sport by adding two new American league Franchises that would give both leagues 32 teams. Interleague Play would be maintained and the season will still be 162 games long. The playoff system would be modeled after the NBA where the top 8 teams in both leagues would go to the playoffs in a three round ALCS/NLCS. Each Round would take a week to play and will all consist of 5 games (who ever wins three games first wins). The World Series would still be 7 games long. I feel this would make baseball more interesting to watch as more teams have a chance to make it to the playoffs under my system.

 

 

Kid not a bad idea. However the big problem is that the world series would end by November 15 under this plan. I still think MLB regular season is too long and should end at 154 games. The only way R68 your plan mentions above works is 1)cut season a week or so to 154 games 2)all of the cold weather teams have roofs. That why in worst case scnerio the WS should have game 7 ends at the lastest around October 30.

 

Sadly the WS clinching games from #4-7, ending around October 30-November 2 is now probably permement. I know Fox wants the last couple of games of the WS to end around November 1-2 due to the ratings period of November. Still unless cold weather outdoor parks like the Twins, Rockies and the Midwest/Northeast based clubs bulid removeable roofs, one of these years, the WS will be delayed by a snowstorm.

Damn why does MLB 'pimp itself' for monies it's not NFL Football that could be played even in cold weather.:mad:

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Here is my realignment Idea that would keep the AL and NL the way it is and will make baseball a more competitive sport.

 

Through my plan, the divisions are eliminated. It will just be an American League and National League. I would make baseball into a 32 team sport by adding two new American league Franchises that would give both leagues 32 teams. Interleague Play would be maintained and the season will still be 162 games long. The playoff system would be modeled after the NBA where the top 8 teams in both leagues would go to the playoffs in a three round ALCS/NLCS. Each Round would take a week to play and will all consist of 5 games (who ever wins three games first wins). The World Series would still be 7 games long. I feel this would make baseball more interesting to watch as more teams have a chance to make it to the playoffs under my system.

 

Totally disagree. NBA and NHL can have multi-playoff rounds because they play half as many games as the MLB does. By the time the MLB has its playoffs, the players are nearly worn out. The only way to have such an expansive playoff system is if the total of 162 games is knocked down to like 150-157 games, which I doubt will happen.

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I would think Mets fans would be happy the Wilpons sells the Mets. But if that happens and the Wilpons buys the Dodgers and moves them to Queens - that could mean the Mets moving to LA to fill the void.

 

 

GC no. It would be like trading a player with the Wilpons buying the Dodgers immedately and the Mets get new owners. It happened in sports before where owners 'trade ownership and switch teams." It happened in the NFL maybe Nel can confirm the teams. I think owners of the Rams and Colts in i think in the 1970's, traded their stocks/ownership but the clubs players remained the same.

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But doesn't it work like once the owners sells a team [they terminate all holdings on the players as well], that is it and they can go out and buy another?

 

correct. again not sure the legal details in MLB and if its allowed , but it has happened in pro sports before in the NFL with the Rams and Colts owners in the '70's trading their shares but the players/office staff stayed the same.

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Here is my realignment Idea that would keep the AL and NL the way it is and will make baseball a more competitive sport.

 

Through my plan, the divisions are eliminated. It will just be an American League and National League. I would make baseball into a 32 team sport by adding two new American league Franchises that would give both leagues 32 teams. Interleague Play would be maintained and the season will still be 162 games long. The playoff system would be modeled after the NBA where the top 8 teams in both leagues would go to the playoffs in a three round ALCS/NLCS. Each Round would take a week to play and will all consist of 5 games (who ever wins three games first wins). The World Series would still be 7 games long. I feel this would make baseball more interesting to watch as more teams have a chance to make it to the playoffs under my system.

 

Somethin would have to give; the MLB season (+ the playoffs) is long enough as it is.... If you want to lose viewers, then this would be the way to go... lol....

 

To hell w/ Mr November... you may have a chance for a Mr. December.... seriously though, you'd have to trim the # of regular season games down to like 130 some'n for this to even have a chance....

 

Would it be worth losing that many games in the regular season for 4 extra teams (2 NL, 2 AL) to make the playoffs? I don't think any franchise in their right mind would agree w/ that plan.... especially the 16 teams that wouldn't make the playoffs...

 

Why do I say that? Think about the ticket prices per game - multiply that by the average attendances of each of the 16 teams that wouldn't make the playoffs.... that's lost revenue at the bare minimum.... not even considering the money that comes from memorabilia purchases, food, drink, per person, per game, per team.....

 

...also not considering the potential revenue off the 30 something games the teams that MAKE the playoffs would lose out on, as well....

 

Not all the possible perceived fan interest in the world would be worth that for ANY franchise IMHO......

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I disagree. Too few good teams enter the playoffs. Furthermore, there are some divisions that are weaker than others. A team that wins 90 games in the AL Central can win the division. A team that wins 90 games in the AL East will be watching the playoffs on Fox.

 

In the NBA too many teams are in the playoffs. There have been teams that won 35 games that got in. In MLB too few teams get in. The only league that has it right is the NFL. There are four rounds of the playoffs-wild card, division, Conference game, and of course the Super Bowl.

 

If I was Bud Selig I'd shorten the season to 150 games (it's a nice round number). I would shorten interleague and limit cross-country trips (the Yankees visiting Oakland, the Dodgers visiting Philly). I'd add a second wild card team.The 1st round of the playoffs would be a best of 5 wild card round. The two wild card teams would play each other while the other 3 teams have a bye. In the next round (Division) the team with the best record would play the winner of the wild card round while the other two teams would face off. The respective winners would head to the LCS and then the World Series.

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But the union will never accept less than 162 regular season games and I don't think adding more rounds will be such a good idea. This is not like the NFL where they only play one game and that's it, on to the next round.

And the top seeds like say the Yankees and Angels would never approve of sitting out [which would cause players to get rusty] and of course loss of revenue from the playoff games.

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Many players have complained about the 162 game schedule (look at what happened to Hanley Ramirez). Shortening it to 150 games will be beneficial. However, I did not take into consideration rust (in regards to the bye). That will inadvertently give the advantage to the hot wild card team. A week off in football isn't the same as a week off in baseball.

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Not only that, look at how a long rest became detrimental to the 2007 Rockies. They had no punch left against Boston. If they had a long 7-game series, they probably would've been 'fresh' than rusty.

That said, the top teams like say the Yankees and Angels would not go for it - meaning they'd lose revenue from the fewer games just so other teams can duke it out for the WC spots/series.

 

I favor the radical change where Boston would be in the NL so the other WC contending teams in the AL won't have to worry about them.

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And speaking of Commissioner Bud Selig, the American League and the National League haven't had a President since 1999 when the offices were discontinued. Mr. Gene Budig and Mr. Leonard S. Coleman were the final league Presidents.

 

Last season when the Yankees won the World Series, Mrs. Jackie Autrey was the "honorary American League President" who presented the trophy to them.

 

No league Presidents, interleague play, wildcards, Major League Baseball might be moving toward a baseball model of the N.F.L. setup.

 

P.S. The National League has not hosted the World Series since 2001 and the All-Star Game doesn't rotate fairly (the Mets are still waiting for their next one since 1964 - forty-six seasons ago.)

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Look at the proposals in the link. The Mets, Yankees, Nats, O's and Blue Jays would all be in the AL East and the NL east would have Boston, Phillies, Braves, Rays and Marlins. This way Yankees would face the Mets more often and Boston would face the Phillies. The whole point was to split the powerhouses of both the Yankees and Red Sox to ensure they can get to the WS and give the WS monster ratings.

 

I like tradition, but MLB is also about making money now and if it means a better chance for Boston and the Yankees to get far in their respective divisions, then all the better. The 'traditions' really died with the Central division being formed plus the WC. MLB can use a shake up. Plus I don't like Interleague anymore, but don't mind if it involves only the left over [15th] team of each league playing each other.

 

I think the Mets should be getting the All Star game soon, but you have a point about it not being a fair rotation.

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Look at the proposals in the link. The Mets, Yankees, Nats, O's and Blue Jays would all be in the AL East and the NL east would have Boston, Phillies, Braves, Rays and Marlins. This way Yankees would face the Mets more often and Boston would face the Phillies. The whole point was to split the powerhouses of both the Yankees and Red Sox to ensure they can get to the WS and give the WS monster ratings.

 

I like tradition, but MLB is also about making money now and if it means a better chance for Boston and the Yankees to get far in their respective divisions, then all the better. The 'traditions' really died with the Central division being formed plus the WC. MLB can use a shake up. Plus I don't like Interleague anymore, but don't mind if it involves only the left over [15th] team of each league playing each other.

 

I think the Mets should be getting the All Star game soon, but you have a point about it not being a fair rotation.

 

EE Local has a great point. The Angels in last 45 years have hosted the MLB all star game 3x Times. Yet the Rays, D-Backs and Marlins who been in the league going on 2 decades each, have yet to host any all star game.

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