Potential MLB realignment

[SoulfishHawk]

Shoot, rotate the alignment every 5 years.

 

[Shane Falco]

Dear MLB:

Portland, Oregon, please.

Mexico City would be weird. Doesn't seem right. We are used to Canadian teams but adding any other country would feel like a major upset to the apple cart to me.

 

[Maulbert]

This would be my take:



Thoughts?

 

[Crizilla]

I wouldn't change much except move Houston back to the NL and move Texas to another division. AL West should be West Coast only like the NFC West is in the NFL

 

[Ruminator]

This would be my take:

View attachment 73577

Thoughts?

• I'm noticing this scenario endeavors to keep the two NY teams, the two LA teams, and the two Chicago teams from sharing a division, which I like.
• Charlotte or Nashville getting a team seems more likely than Salt Lake.
• Reds as part of NL South would be weird, but Cincinnati traveling to Atlanta and the two FL teams is still way closer than Ms traveling to the two TX teams. If Nashville gets a team, they should be in the NL South, and the Reds, Cardinals, and the two Chicago teams would then make up the "NL Midwest" division.
• Not liking Blue Jays in AL East. Much prefer an "AL Great Lakes" division as depicted in some scenarios comprising Twins, Tigers, Brewers, and Blue Jays.
• Prefer Giants in the AL West (with Ms, PDX, and Vegas) instead of the further-south Angels, though the Giants would then have to switch leagues.

 

[NoGain]

Not bad from a geography standpoint. I'd be more interested to know about the regular season scheduling at this point. How would it break down between divisional games, league games, interleague games. Then how the playoffs would be structured. Divisions are, for the most part, pretty meaningless in the NBA and NHL now.

 

[Maulbert]

• I'm noticing this scenario endeavors to keep the two NY teams, the two LA teams, and the two Chicago teams from sharing a division, which I like.
• Charlotte or Nashville getting a team seems more likely than Salt Lake.
• Reds as part of NL South would be weird, but Cincinnati traveling to Atlanta and the two FL teams is still way closer than Ms traveling to the two TX teams. If Nashville gets a team, they should be in the NL South, and the Reds, Cardinals, and the two Chicago teams would then make up the "NL Midwest" division.
• Not liking Blue Jays in AL East. Much prefer an "AL Great Lakes" division as depicted in some scenarios comprising Twins, Tigers, Brewers, and Blue Jays.
• Prefer Giants in the AL West (with Ms, PDX, and Vegas) instead of the further-south Angels, though the Giants would then have to switch leagues.

Point 1: Yep. I hate the idea of two teams in one city sharing a conference/league.
Point 2: I expect you're right, I just want more western teams. It's already massively unbalanced.
Point 3: If Nashville gets a team instead of Salt Lake, I would put them in the NL South, move Cincinnati into the NL North, and Kansas City would stay in the AL and replace Salt Lake in the South. Cincinnati was just the southernmost team that made any kind of sense.
Point 4: I put a premium on trying to avoid shifting too many teams between leagues, but to keep some travel balance some movement was always going to be necessary. But I liked keeping most of the AL East together.
Point 5: Same as above, just trying to preserve some tradition, and swapping the Angels and Giants means the Angels and Dodgers in the same division, which was a no-go.

 

[Ruminator]

My recommendation for realignment would be one that helps increase the chances that Seattle finally makes it to the World Series: Both expansion teams located in Seattle, plus relocate the Yankees and the Dodgers to Seattle, and then spread all five Seattle teams across various divisions.