Best alignment for my league: A's to Nashville, Montreal and Charlotte get expansion teams
 

I'm thinking about doing a MLB league with these following scenarios:
1. The Oakland Athletics, tired of failing to get help on their ballpark situation, decide to move to Nashville, TN (where the AAA Sounds will be the A's affiliate in 2015) and become either the Nashville Athletics or the Tennessee Athletics. You can help me on this name.

2. MLB expands to 32 teams with the addition of Charlotte, NC to the American League and Montreal, Quebec, Canada to the National League. Nickname for Montreal team will be Expos, no brainer. Any ideas of what to call the Charlotte team (using either Charlotte or Carolina for the team city name) and the nickname (I'm thinking either Bats, Knights [which the current AAA team uses], or Pilots [I know this was the nickname of the 1-year fiasco Seattle MLB team in 1969 before they went bankrupt and moved to Milwaukee to become the Brewers, but it would fit Carolina for North Carolina was the state where the Wright Brothers made the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk and the maritime/boating industry of the Atlantic Coast and the rivers of the Carolinas).

3. My league would have 2 sub-leagues, AL and NL, with 4 divisions with 4 teams in each division. My divisions would either be East, Central, South, and West, or North, South, East, West. However, if you do suggest, how about 8 teams in each division with East and West Divisions.

The teams in each sub-league would be as follows:
AMERICAN LEAGUE:

Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
Charlotte TBA (Expansion Team)
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Los Angeles Angels for short)
Minnesota Twins
Nashville Athletics or Tennessee Athletics (relocated Oakland Athletics)
New York Yankees
Seattle Mariners
Tampa Bay Rays
Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays


NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Arizona DiamondBacks
Atlanta Braves
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
Miami Marlins
Milwaukee Brewers
Montreal Expos (Expansion Team)
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Washington Nationals

Playoffs: either 4 division winners or 4 division winners plus 2 wild cards with best record regardless of division. However, if I go to a two division format, it would be the East and West Division champions of each league getting a bye and the 4 wild card teams, regardless of division, would play in an opening round series, winners facing the division champs. In either format, first round (Divisional Playoffs) would be best of five, with League Championships and World Series best of 7.

If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Any comments, thoughts, or suggestions are welcome.

When playing historical, I go with Charlotte Smokies, Charlotte Knights, or Carolina Cougars. For Montreal, I go with Alouettes, since Expos is ancient history, or Canadiens.

With 32 teams, I play with 3 divisions of 6, 5, and 5 teams and add 1 wild card for the playoffs.

The choice for the Charlotte Nickname is OK, but for Montreal, the Alouettes (CFL) and the Canadiens (NHL) are already taken. I still like Expos, but another good name would be Harfangs (French word for Snow Owl, the provincial bird of Quebec).

Here's my MLB setup. Division winners get a 1st rd bye. 4 wildcard teams play a 1 game series.

Because no teams ever have shared a name with a team from another sport.

Teams sharing names with other teams in the same city was a point of pride back in the day and it can still be seen in many cities around the world. I believe the reason it isn't as popular as it once was is that teams want their own "brand" now and don't want to share it.

Also nobody said you had to use those names and if you already have a name you like why are you asking for more?

D'OH, to quote Homer Simpson, I forgot that the Oakland A's have signed a 10-year lease with the City of Oakland, and that discussions will include a plans for a new ballpark. Starting in 2015, the A's will have to stay two years in Oakland before they can think of moving, and if the lease is broken early, then the A's will have to pay $1.6 million per year left on the lease.

However, I chose Nashville over Memphis because Memphis' AAA team and park are owned by the St. Louis Cardinals, and unless the A's move there and build a new ballpark, to purchase AutoZone Park and for territorial rights, they would have to pay out the wazoo.

I like your divisional alignment idea better. It would be easier to do 4 8-team divisions than 8 4-team ones because if you did a 4-team division, you have the possibility of having a team with a below .500 record in the playoffs.

Also, where did you get the Indy Arrows and Las Vegas Aces logos? Also, can you show me the team unis for those teams and the ballpark information. Thank you.

I like to go with Charlotte Aviators, just sounds a little better to me than Pilots. The Nickname project has nice uni and logo as well

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...rs#post3697179

Charlotte is quite far from Kitty Hawk or the coast (easily 6 hours). It is basically in the foothills of the Appalchian Mtns. I don't think I would use the above logic to name a Charlotte team. It would be like calling an Atlanta team the Crabs because Georgia has a coastal region.

The region seems to identify with stock car racing or has a history with the tobacco, textile, and furniture industries. That would be a start. Just don't call them the Intimidators, please....that name drives me nuts.

:rimshot:

I don't think Baseball would ever go to eight team divisions for a simple marketing reason: it is easier to sell late season tickets for a third place team with a 65-85 record than to sell tickets for a seventh place team with a 65-85 record.

Here are some nicknames that would go well with a Charlotte team:
1. Bats-in fact there is a twitter site for a group that wants to put a MLB team in Charlotte which would be named the Bats
2. Wheels-auto racing
3. Racers-auto racing
4. Crusaders-Charlotte is known as the "City of Churches" and is the home city of Rev. Billy Graham
5. Cougars-nice name, but there is a team in the Carolinas with the Cougars nickname-The College of Charleston.

Racers seems like a decent major league nickname imo.

Wrong forum.

Just curious, were you a patrol boy in elementary school?

OOPS! Put some of my posts in the wrong forums!

I think I would use this as your alignment:

BOS DET NYY TOR
CWS CLE MIN KCR
BAL CHA TBR TEN
HOU LAA SEA TEX

MON NYM PHI PIT
CHC COL MIL STL
ATL CIN MIA WAS
ARI LAD SFG SDP

I think you're mistaken on where the city of Charlotte is located(which surprises me since your username is "TribeFanInNC"). The City of Charlotte is not easily 6 hours away from the coast, nor is it basically in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. Charlotte is probably 3-4 hours away from the coast depending on which route you take to get there. Furthermore, the whole state is recognized for what the Wright Brothers did at Kitty Hawk(The license plates say "First in Flight" for crying out loud.) so geological location wouldn't make naming a Charlotte baseball team "The Pilots" any less relevant.

I may think of changing my mind and keeping the A's in Oakland instead of moving them to Nashville. How would you then set up the American League (your National League is just fine, thank you).

Just curious - Pittsburgh in the AL East and Toronto in the NL East...What was the reasoning behind that?