unbalance of power in the american league

[rivers12]

Only in baseball is it possible that a team could possess the 3rd best record in the entire league and still manage to get snubbed from the playoffs. Due to only 1 wild card team being allowed in, it is actually possible that 3 teams in one division can have the 3 best records in the league, but because in baseball the two other division winners must gain entry, a team with a better record misses out. Looking at the American League East right now, they have the top 3 best records in the entirle AL (red sox and twins are tied). Assuming the Yanks and Rays finish 1 and 2 in that division, the Red Sox could finish just below them with the 3rd best record and not get in.

Is it time for a change in baseball and more teams get in? Personally, I always thought in all sports it makes more sense if instead of having divisions you just take the two leagues and make them each a single big division (example American League is a division and National League is the other Division), then take the 4 teams with the best records in each division and send them to the playoffs. That is really the only fair way that the best teams move on.

 

[FeatherMAN28]

I really don't follow baseball that much, but I have to admit, I Like this idea of yours.

 

[Backstep]

The playoffs for any sport should be a reward for performing well in the regular season. The longer the season for good teams to prove themselves out, the shorter the playoffs should be. I'm fine with baseball expanding the playoffs if they also shrink the regular season.

As for playoff realignment, I think it's silly that the Red Sox could very well miss the playoffs this year. But I also think that there needs to be some delineation to avoid having above-average teams throw in the towel by mid-July because the Yankees/Red Sox/Twins are on their way again no matter what. As it is, I feel even worse for the Blue Jays, who'd still now have a chance in every other division except for the AL East.

Baseball's regular season is already pushing it in terms of length and the playoffs are such a crapshoot once a team gets in. I'd expand the playoffs to 6 teams per league and shorten the season by 20 games, but that's just me.

 

[Goodieluver]

Only in baseball is it possible that a team could possess the 3rd best record in the entire league and still manage to get snubbed from the playoffs. Due to only 1 wild card team being allowed in, it is actually possible that 3 teams in one division can have the 3 best records in the league, but because in baseball the two other division winners must gain entry, a team with a better record misses out. Looking at the American League East right now, they have the top 3 best records in the entirle AL (red sox and twins are tied). Assuming the Yanks and Rays finish 1 and 2 in that division, the Red Sox could finish just below them with the 3rd best record and not get in.

Is it time for a change in baseball and more teams get in? Personally, I always thought in all sports it makes more sense if instead of having divisions you just take the two leagues and make them each a single big division (example American League is a division and National League is the other Division), then take the 4 teams with the best records in each division and send them to the playoffs. That is really the only fair way that the best teams move on.

They did this before, thats why they split the divisons and added the wildcard since you had 90+ win teams not making the playoffs. It still happens today but not so much

 

[rivers12]

They did this before, thats why they split the divisons and added the wildcard since you had 90+ win teams not making the playoffs. It still happens today but not so much

No, I don't mean like two divisions in each league. I mean like the American League is just one division, and the National League is just one division. The four best records out of each league go on to the playoffs. That is really the only true way the four best records from each league are guaranteed to get in. No wild card, no ALCS, ect. Just be like numbers 1,2,3,4 in accordance to record in each league. 1 plays 4, 2 plays 3 and the winners move on the the next round.

 

[rivers12]

The playoffs for any sport should be a reward for performing well in the regular season. The longer the season for good teams to prove themselves out, the shorter the playoffs should be. I'm fine with baseball expanding the playoffs if they also shrink the regular season.

As for playoff realignment, I think it's silly that the Red Sox could very well miss the playoffs this year. But I also think that there needs to be some delineation to avoid having above-average teams throw in the towel by mid-July because the Yankees/Red Sox/Twins are on their way again no matter what. As it is, I feel even worse for the Blue Jays, who'd still now have a chance in every other division except for the AL East.

Baseball's regular season is already pushing it in terms of length and the playoffs are such a crapshoot once a team gets in. I'd expand the playoffs to 6 teams per league and shorten the season by 20 games, but that's just me.

You can't have 6 teams unless 2 get a pass on the first round. In baseball that week off could be bad for a team. Four is the best number really, but I just think that it should go by the 4 best records. For Christ sakes, the Cardinals won the world Series one year when they had only 84 regular season wins!!!!! A team should not be rewarded for winning an awful division while another team gets punished for having one of the best 4 records and not make it in because they played in a power house division like the AL east is right now.

 

[rivers12]

My proposal would be basically this:


American League (example of how it would look. No AL East, west, central)
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Rays
4. Orioles
x White Sox
x Blue Jays
x Twins
x Royals
x A's
x Angels
x Mariners
x Indians
x Rangers
x Tigers


National League
1. Braves
2. Phillies
3. Pirates
4. Giants
x ect.....


Four best records in the American League division go onto the playoffs where 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 (same format for National League), and then after the two rounds the winner of the American League Plays the winner of the National League in the World Series.

This guarantees the top 4 teams in each league go onto the playoffs. To be honest I don't understand why all sports don't just do this in the first place. Nothing would even change except stupid divisions would not exist. The interleague play can still exist, the World Series and League playoffs still exist. Schedules don't have to be dramatically altered. Teams can all travel in the same accordance as they would if east coast teams are heading to the west coast...ect. Only difference is that there are no divisions and the true best teams move on.

 

[Backstep]

I don't know, couldn't you just have a short 3- game series for the lower seeds? That would at least trim the time off for the top teams. Or expand to 5 teams and have the 4 and 5 seeds in a 1-game playoff.

 

[rivers12]

I don't know, couldn't you just have a short 3- game series for the lower seeds? That would at least trim the time off for the top teams. Or expand to 5 teams and have the 4 and 5 seeds in a 1-game playoff.

I've always sort of been against lots of teams in the playoffs. I think 4 is a solid number. I hate it in all sports. I think 4 from each league in Basketball, baseball, football, hockey, ect, is the max. Why have like 8 teams per league make it. That means more teams are in the playoffs in basketball, than teams not making it. It's like a reward for a metiocre season.


The entire purpose of expanding playoff teams is because it keeps more fans watching when their barely above .500 team has a shot to get into the post-season. To me it's blasphemy because sports are basing their regulations on ratings rather than the legitimacy and integrity of the playoff systems. Why do we continue to give teams who finish the season barely at .500 an opportunity to win the championship?

 

[Backstep]

I agree that 8 teams per conference in hockey and basketball is too many. Why bother having an 82-game season? Either expand the number of teams in the league, shrink your regular season or shrink the number of teams in the playoffs.

At least the NHL has the excuse of keeping things as is, trying to build their fan base back up to where they can be the true #4 sport in the US again (I get the feeling they're almost there, BTW). I don't know what the NBA's excuse is.

At first I was resistant to your suggestion, rivers12, but the more I ponder, I more I think I agree that it has merit. The regular season of baseball lasts 6 months. And the playoffs are really a crapshoot. It'd be better to know that your top teams are in. And if the same teams from the old AL East keep getting in, it'll only put that much more pressure on a model that allows for more equality and might shove parasites like Pittsburgh out the door or into better markets.

In such a system, though, I still think a 4 vs. 5 one-game playoff to allow for a greater diversity of of teams to make a run could work. Though we can negotiate that point.

Want to work on the NFL next? 😉

 

[Goodieluver]

So u talk about an imbalance currently yet your solution would pretty much result in what we see currently as the central divisions and some others being worthless cuz teams like detroit, KC, Cubs, pitt would never make it in

It doesn't solve the disparity that some teams will always make it vs some teams that rarely do

 

[rivers12]

So u talk about an imbalance currently yet your solution would pretty much result in what we see currently as the central divisions and some others being worthless cuz teams like detroit, KC, Cubs, pitt would never make it in

It doesn't solve the disparity that some teams will always make it vs some teams that rarely do

My purpose here isn't to strike down the powerhouse teams. My purpose of this entire post is that I believe only the best records get in ...period. If it happens to be 4 teams from the AL east then so be it because if they got the best records they deserve it. That is why I think divisions are stupid and the American League and National league should do away with divisions and just rank teams by records in each league. 4 best in each league get to move on. My point of "unbalanced" power was that it makes no sense how a less powerhouse team like the Twins would deserve to get in just cuz they won a weak divisions when a team like say the Orioles may have had the fourth or 3rd best record in baseball but got snubbed because they cam in 3rd in their own powerhouse division.

Also, it weren't too long ago, maybe 4 years, that Detroit had one of the best 4 records in the league so I don't get why you put them on there.



Oh yea, and KC, Pirates, Cubs, ect...... aren't making it in regardless because they can't even find their way to the top of their own weak divisions. I don't know if KC has been in the post season since I've been alive, and the Pirates haven't been in since like 1992. The Cubs are gradually falling to the bottom as well so the whole idea that they have a better shot of getting in because of divisions don't hold much more validity than there chances of getting in if only the 4 best make it.

 

[Backstep]

The Cubs are a bad example, actually, since they were pretty good for a number of years; they just couldn't do anything in '03, '07 or '08 when they got into the playoffs.

And baseball payrolls are more complex than you might think. Here's an article about the Pirates: http://www.slate.com/id/2265068/


(I actually wrote 'artickle' when I first wrote it above... Freud would be proud! 😉)

 

[rivers12]

The Cubs are a bad example, actually, since they were pretty good for a number of years; they just couldn't do anything in '03, '07 or '08 when they got into the playoffs.

And baseball payrolls are more complex than you might think. Here's an article about the Pirates: http://www.slate.com/id/2265068/


(I actually wrote 'artickle' when I first wrote it above... Freud would be proud! 😉)

The Cubs are an example of why divisons aren't needed for a team to get to the playoffs. The whole idea of divisions is to give more average teams a chance to make it to the playoffs by winning their divisions despite not necessarily having a better record than a wild card team or even another team that don't make it in at all. With my proposal of eliminating dvisions Good teams will still make it and bad teams still won't make it. It just eliminates those occassions where a team makes it in that doesn't have one of the 4 best records. The Rays didn't have a high payroll in 08, nor do they really have a high payroll now. The Rangers are finally getting stronger after years of not being a factor in the regular season. Bottom line is, it just makes more sense that the 4 best records go on and not some team with 79 wins because they won a terrible division.

 

[obama666]

Ever since the American League and National League had regular season inter league play the current system is inadequate. They also have to have a bottom to the salary cap . Teams like the Pirates, Marlins and the Royals make profits and don't put enough money back in their teams, it's bullshit!...Keep the 30 teams, team with with best record gets a first round bye, Combine both leagues.

 

[rivers12]

Ever since the American League and National League had regular season inter league play the current system is inadequate. They also have to have a bottom to the salary cap . Teams like the Pirates, Marlins and the Royals make profits and don't put enough money back in their teams, it's bullshit!...Keep the 30 teams, team with with best record gets a first round bye, Combine both leagues.

I like the idea except for the byes. Any lengthy time off in a noncontact sport like baseball destroys a team's rhythm. I think just eliminating divisions and having the 4 best out of the American League and Four best out of the National League would be the best way to do it. Major Salary caps will never happen because of the MLB Player's Union, which will refuse to risk any chance of voting the approval of something that will reduce the chances of the best players making as much money as they possibly can.

 

[obama666]

I don't have a big problem with the top salary cap. The problem with MLB unlike football, Basketball and Hockey, they don't have a bottom line. The Pirates annually make about 24 million a year and hardly put anything back into their team. Marlins and Royals are two other teams that make a lot more then they put back in.

 

[rivers12]

I don't have a big problem with the top salary cap. The problem with MLB unlike football, Basketball and Hockey, they don't have a bottom line. The Pirates annually make about 24 million a year and hardly put anything back into their team. Marlins and Royals are two other teams that make a lot more then they put back in.

Unfortunately, it seems like every sport now has the same outcome. Teams that spend the most will make the playoffs. What sucks is that teams that draft a good player that they want to build their franchise around will wind up losing him when he is up for a new contract. Lebron James, need I say more. Look at even A-Rod. Mariners can't afford to keep him so he splits. Teams that don't have the same money as the Red Sox or Yankees can't really afford to spend 80 million on one player and be able to keep the other players around him. Even if they could, once other players are up for a new contract they are asking for higher salaries now that they see another star got his, and then it leads to more problems. I've noticed even the Red Sox haven't been spend happy over the past year or so. It doesn't pay off always to keep buying high priced players because sooner or later you wind up with too many players wiht Huge contracts, which of course lowers profits for the owners.

 

[meangry]

No.

Baseball's current alignment is perfectly fine.

 

[ticklingfeet4fu]

My proposal would be basically this:


American League (example of how it would look. No AL East, west, central)
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Rays
4. Orioles
x White Sox
x Blue Jays
x Twins
x Royals
x A's
x Angels
x Mariners
x Indians
x Rangers
x Tigers


National League
1. Braves
2. Phillies
3. Pirates
4. Giants
x ect.....


Four best records in the American League division go onto the playoffs where 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 (same format for National League), and then after the two rounds the winner of the American League Plays the winner of the National League in the World Series.

This guarantees the top 4 teams in each league go onto the playoffs. To be honest I don't understand why all sports don't just do this in the first place. Nothing would even change except stupid divisions would not exist. The interleague play can still exist, the World Series and League playoffs still exist. Schedules don't have to be dramatically altered. Teams can all travel in the same accordance as they would if east coast teams are heading to the west coast...ect. Only difference is that there are no divisions and the true best teams move on.

Your solution is not much of a solution. You say schedules don't have to be altered, but yes they do. You base the schedules right now on divisional rivalries. You can't have no divisions and have the Yankees play Boston 18 times and Kansas City 6 times when there is no divisions. So now you must balance the schedules. You say you can keep interleague play but it is interleague play that has screwed up baseball and it's scheduling. You have this whole thing ALL screwed up. Are you Bud Selig's twin brother?

You must be a Red Sox fan tryin to get the third wheel in the playoffs. Baseball is screwed up enough without someone screwing it up some more.

 

[meangry]

You must be a Red Sox fan tryin to get the third wheel in the playoffs.

It's pretty obvious that is the case, down to dude saying Boston hasn't opened up their wallets like they used to in the past year or so to get things done. 9 million for a third baseman is really penny pinching.

 

[rivers12]

Meangry, how do you figure they are spending just as much as they used to? What big pickups did they make at the trade deadline? Furthermore, that 9 million dollar contract for one year is nothing compared to the what they would've had to spend on Bay to stay in Boston. If they were spending like they used to they would've spent a ton of money on Gonzalez from San Diego to come over, would've put a whole hearted attempt into picking up a Cliff Lee, or gone harder at trying to convince Damon to come back.

 

[ticklingfeet4fu]

Meangry, how do you figure they are spending just as much as they used to? What big pickups did they make at the trade deadline? Furthermore, that 9 million dollar contract for one year is nothing compared to the what they would've had to spend on Bay to stay in Boston. If they were spending like they used to they would've spent a ton of money on Gonzalez from San Diego to come over, would've put a whole hearted attempt into picking up a Cliff Lee, or gone harder at trying to convince Damon to come back.

You would not have created this thread if your team was in first. Because NOBODY said a thing when the Yankees had the third best record in the AL in 2008 ( and this comes from a Mets fan ). Also nobody bitched or complained when the Padres in 2007 had the 3rd best record in the National League in 2007. But because you are a Red Sox fan, you are whining. Your team has spent $162 million this season if they can't make the playoffs under the current playoff conditions...too bad. Tampa Bay has spent half that much and are just doing better. Get over it!


You want your team to make the playoffs, play better against the Yankees and Tampa Bay in September. Quit complaining!

 

[meangry]

Meangry, how do you figure they are spending just as much as they used to? What big pickups did they make at the trade deadline? Furthermore, that 9 million dollar contract for one year is nothing compared to the what they would've had to spend on Bay to stay in Boston. If they were spending like they used to they would've spent a ton of money on Gonzalez from San Diego to come over, would've put a whole hearted attempt into picking up a Cliff Lee, or gone harder at trying to convince Damon to come back.

First of all, Beltre and Bay play different positions. Beltre was brought in for nine million because their twelve million dollar third basemen Mike Lowell hasn't played anywhere near his salary since their last World Series victory. They signed Beckett to a 68 million dollar extension. John Lackey makes over 18 million a year. They also brought in Mike Cameron.

Why didn't they sign Jason Bay? I dunno, maybe it's the fact that Papelbon is coming up for arbitration. Or the fact that Victor Martinez is going to be a free agent. John Lester and Clay Bucholz are both arbitration eligible.

The reason the Red Sox didn't swing the deal for Adrian Gonzalez is because they weren't willing to include Ellsbury or Westmoreland or Casey Kelly in a package with Buchholz. They'll most assuredly try to get him in the offseason. That had nothing to do with penny pinching. That's more than likely why they let Bay go; get a younger All Star from a cash strapped team who won't contend for pennies on the dollar. Well, the Padres are contending in the NL, so tough shit.

Why would they have gone after Cliff Lee, save the fact that Cliff Lee is a better pitcher than John Lackey? They spent 18 million dollars on one pitcher, they just reupped another who is dodgy at best, they have two young arms ready to declare for arbitration, they have a closer who is about to get a major salary raise, and they have to lug around Daisuke Matsuzaka's bloated contract. You don't spend 18 million dollars and get to say "we aren't spending like we used to".

And as for Johnny Damon? Did you see the market for him? He gets paid 250 grand more than Mike Cameron. He also nixed a trade to the Red Sox recently. It's not like they were blowing up his phone before spring training, or that they'd of had to pay him 12 million to get him either.

Look at the numbers, dude; the Boston Red Sox payroll this year jumped from $121,745,999 last season to $162,447,333 this season. Need proof? http://content.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/totalpayroll.aspx?year=2010

Want in the playoffs? Beat New York and Tampa Bay. Realigning divisions just so they can get in is a joke.

 

[obama666]

USA TODAY... Largest Payrolls 2010...Yankees $206,333,389...Red Sox $162,447,333... Cubs $149,609,000... Phillies $141,928,379...Mets $134,422,942