Expansion

[Warning Track Power]

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/173656842/commissioner-rob-manfred-on-young-players

 

In the above article, Manfred makes mention of the league expanding from 30 - 32 teams. I think it's becoming relatively apparent as well that one of the teams is likely to be a reincarnation of the Montreal Expos. The other location, one would think would be Portland, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, etc... For the sake of this discussion, I will assume the team would be based in Portland for no other reason than that is where I would like to see a new MLB team. In this scenario, I would imagine Montreal re-joining the NL and the Portland team joining the AL, which would create a natural rivalry with the Seattle Mariners. In this scenario, I would imagine the league would re-align to 8 divisions of four teams, with the division winners all making the playoffs and the elimination of the second Wild Card. With realignment, I imagine we would see the new divisions look something like this:

 

NL WEST

1. Dodgers

2. Padres

3. Giants

4. Diamondbacks

 

NL NORTH

1. Brewers

2. Cubs

3. Cardinals

4. Rockies

 

NL SOUTH

1. Braves

2. Marlins

3. Reds

4. Nationals

 

NL EAST

1. Mets

2. Phillies

3. Pirates

4. Expos

 

AL WEST

1. Angels

2. Mariners

3. A's

4. Portland

 

AL NORTH

1. White Sox

2. Twins

3. Tigers

4. Indians

 

AL SOUTH

1. Royals

2. Astros

3. Rangers

4. Rays

 

AL EAST

1. Yankees

2. Red Sox

3. Orioles

4. Blue Jays

 

There are only a few oddities in this scenario and they are mostly based on geographical location being distant from rivals (Rockies with Brewers, Cubs & Cardinals; Marlins with Braves, Reds & Nationals; Rays with Royals, Rangers & Astros). The Rays could end up moving as well. Regardless, a fun scenario to play with.

[nate82]

I tried to make the divisions geographically close to each other. I really like the AL East and the AL South as I think those two divisions will be the most competitive along with the NL West.

 

AL East:

Yankees

Red Sox

Mets

Expansion Team Brooklyn

 

AL North:

Orioles

Pirates

Nationals

Phillies

 

AL Central:

Cubs

Blue Jays

White Sox

Tigers

 

AL South:

Braves

Rays

Marlins

Expansion team (Charlotte)

 

NL North:

Indians

Reds

Brewers

Twins

 

NL Central:

Royals

Cardinals

Rangers

Astros

 

NL South West:

Rockies

Diamondbacks

Padres

A's

 

NL West:

Dodgers

Angels

Giants

Mariners

[MrTPlush]

Breaking up the Cubs from both the Brewers and Cardinals?

 

Also both Chicago teams in the same division?

 

Three NYC team together?

 

You also stacked a lot of high payroll teams and stacked a bunch of low payroll teams which probably wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. Mariners/Pirates would probably be pretty darn upset.

 

I know you mostly just did it on geographic location, but just pointing out some of the issues with that.

[1992casey]

Combining the article in the lead with the article that prompted last fall's expansion thread, it sure sounds that Manfred is interested in Canada and Mexico if or when the time comes.

 

But he does state that expansion is a longer term thing rather than around the corner. And he says that stadium situations in Tampa Bay and Oakland have to be settled first. I'll take it a step further and submit that any new franchises need to have stadium plans. Two of the last four expansion teams didn't.

 

He also seems to have a preference for new teams to not be too close to existing ones in order to protect television territories.

[clancyphile]

Two 8-team divisions per league:

 

AL East:

Baltimore

New York Yankees

Boston

Cleveland

Tampa Bay

Detroit

Toronto

White Sox

 

AL West:

Los Angeles Angels

Seattle

Kansas City

Texas

Oakland

Minnesota

Houston

Portland, Oregon (exp.)

 

NL East:

Montreal (exp.)

New York Mets

Philadelphia

Miami

Atlanta

Washington

Cincinnati

Pittsburgh

 

NL West:

Milwaukee

Chicago Cubs

St Louis

Colorado

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego

San Francisco

Arizona

[Ennder]

Perfect time to fix the horrible situation that is the pitcher hitting. Make the leagues fair and give them both a DH and stop us from watching the biggest mismatch in all of sports. Though that indeed will make it harder for me to go get a snack since you take out the who cares if you see it TV moments of the game.

[clancyphile]

Perfect time to fix the horrible situation that is the pitcher hitting. Make the leagues fair and give them both a DH and stop us from watching the biggest mismatch in all of sports. Though that indeed will make it harder for me to go get a snack since you take out the who cares if you see it TV moments of the game.

 

There's always the commercial break...

[danzig6767]

Perfect time to fix the horrible situation that is the pitcher hitting. Make the leagues fair and give them both a DH and stop us from watching the biggest mismatch in all of sports. Though that indeed will make it harder for me to go get a snack since you take out the who cares if you see it TV moments of the game.

There's always the commercial break...

With a DVR, a break is at your fingertips at all times. Hard for me to imagine life without a DVR. Besides the convenience they allow for, on the rare instances when i do watch anything live/in the moment and thus have to sit through commercials, it's torture and sometimes i'll pick up the remote to hit fast forward, only to remember that's right, i actually can't zoom right past all of these commercials.

 

So i DVR every Brewers game and watch something else for at least an hour, then don't have to wait through any commercials. This is especially nice during an inning with multiple pitching changes.

[MrTPlush]

Montreal is a no brainier honestly. Mexico is interesting, but that seems a lot more complicated.

 

I think Cuba would be super cool, but for obvious reasons that won't happen.

[trwi7]

I don't see how Montreal is a no brainer. Yeah the stadium sucked but nobody showed up for games. Since players will be paid in U.S. dollars and the Canadian dollar is right around $0.80 to the U.S. dollar, any owner is going to be paying more than an average owner in Cleveland or Denver.

 

Other than nostalgia, what exactly does Montreal have going for it right now?

[1992casey]

I don't see any city as a no brainer. I'm not sure that there are even choices right now that qualify as logical. Denver was the last relatively easy choice.

 

But I do see more and more people making a case for Montreal. Their attendance issues were due to ownership, and in the end, the stadium. Before things messed up in the 1990s, the Expos did well. The city is no slam dunk, but I believe it's worthy of consideration. The situation has to be studied in order to determine if the Expos' last decade and a half was truly out of the fan's control.

 

There'd be more options with greater revenue sharing. I think there are cities that can put 2.5 to 3 million in the stands. But they're still going to struggle with revenue under the current structure.

[JohnBriggs12]

Montreal, Las Vegas, San Antonio/Austin, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Portland in that order with none being a lock. I wouldn't completely rule out Brooklyn either.

[FVBrewerFan]

A couple wild cards not mentioned yet- Salt Lake City or Oklahoma City?

[Mudville9]

If they are going to realign things and expand, they may as well make the DH MLB wide and just organize the (preferrably largeer) divisions by geographical location. That would save money in travel also. Not sure how Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and the Bay area would feel about that though.

 

Might be nice for Chicago teams especially as they would be able to sleep in their own beds when they play across town. Chicago would be close distance to other Chicago (obviously), Milwaukee, Minnesota, Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cincinatti. Good start for a Central Division.

[FVBrewerFan]

No way do you put the NY, Chicago, LA teams together. If they're in the same division, impossible to be a fan of both. But if one is AL, the other is NL you can be a fan of both. Sure, you still have the main team you root for but at least you can go to the other team's games and be a fan too.

 

I know people in NY are like this, with the Jets/Giants too. I just don't think those teams would want to compete against each other in the same division.

 

I won't comment on the DH, I would take us way off topic.

[IndyCrew]

I would suggest the NFL playoff model. Top two teams get a bye, and the two other division winners host two wild card teams in a best of three series.

 

My expansion votes: Portland (AL) and Indianapolis (NL)

[JohnBriggs12]

I would suggest the NFL playoff model. Top two teams get a bye, and the two other division winners host two wild card teams in a best of three series.

 

My expansion votes: Portland (AL) and Indianapolis (NL)

 

Indy's a great sports town, but would the Reds be happy with that? Also, they have a beautiful minor league stadium across the street from Lucas Oil Dome. Is that expandable? Seems a waste for that go unused if they build a new major league venue. Cincy's a relatively small market as it is. Kind of similar to Portland and Seattle.

 

I still think baseball will look at another franchise in NY Metro area. After all, there are 3 NHL teams there. Besides, further dividing the biggest markets does slightly even things out a bit.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I would suggest the NFL playoff model. Top two teams get a bye, and the two other division winners host two wild card teams in a best of three series.

 

My expansion votes: Portland (AL) and Indianapolis (NL)

 

 

I don't think they want a bye, for a few reasons. They'd have to play baseball into the middle of November (which they don't want to do), or they'd have to shorten the season to 154 games (which they absolutely are not going to do, for revenue reasons).

 

Secondly, that puts one team on the shelf for up to a week after the regular season, and I think a lot of players (and especially pitchers would be against that. That's fine for football teams, but baseball players want, and maybe even need to stay in a semi-regular routine.

[MrTPlush]

Montreal is a no brainier if an international team has to be one of the 2 expansion teams...which it sound like it does for the most part...at least a high preference. They would be the easiest to obtain.

[FVBrewerFan]

I don't think any city is a no-brainer. Including Montreal, Portland, or Indy. First, you need ownership with deep pockets from that city, or willing to invest in that city. Next, you have the stadium issue as we all know too well. Then, you have to gauge interest in MLB. A big part of that is the business community, since that's who would be buying the suites, a lot of the season tickets., etc. Then, you have to look at how it affects near-by teams. Probably forgetting a couple other factors.

 

Does Montreal, Portland, Indy, etc. really "want" MLB? Sometimes a smaller city really embraces it, and can be a better choice. Look what happened when MLB pushed for two teams in FL. Neither draw well, and there is really no interest in the Rays at all.

 

Also, very real chance Oakland loses the As. Attendance has been horrible, and they are getting nowhere on a new stadium. But they do have tradition on their side, which Tampa doesn't. In my perfect world, find a way to build the As a new home in Oakland- or even the Silicon Valley. Move the Rays, so then 3 new cities would get a franchise.

[JackNicholson1974]

Any expansion plan that includes 8 divisions is, in my opinion strictly, a bad idea. If and when it happens, whereever it is happens, it should be 4 eight team divisions. It then allows division 1 champ to play division 2 WC and division 2 champ vs. 1 WC and the same in the other league.

[MilwaukeesBest]

Rob Manfred: Making the MLB great again!

[MrTPlush]

I don't think any city is a no-brainer.

 

Well if you want my opinion no team is a no brainer because an expansion isn't a no brainer.

[owbc]

Montreal is the only reasonable option right now. They have huge numbers of baseball fans, far more than any American city without a team. They've proven this by consistently drawing ~50,000 to exhibition games over the past 3 years. The issues with the Expos in the late 90s were unrelated to the level of baseball interest in the city. In fact, the issues with the Marlins are quite similar...Miami is another city with huge baseball interest that can't seem draw at the gates. It's almost like the Expos had the same owner or something.

 

As a Brewers fan, I'm opposed to every other US option. Additional teams will only serve to further dilute the pool of revenue that the Brewers depend on. At least international teams offer the potential to grow the game.

[FVBrewerFan]

Tokyo and Seoul