[italyprof]

Originally Posted by Cobby

That's an interesting idea to keep both the modern teams and the historical teams from which some them originated. It makes me tempted to propose keeping the modern teams in the same divisions as their derivatives. But. Otherwise, here's my shot at it - keeping all the teams in their original leagues:

OK, for the AL, the problems are figuring which team to add to the AL west since there are only four west coast teams; secondly, what to do with Tamp Bay that is all by itself in the southeast and how to get the Yankees and Red Sox back together. My solution is to add Minnesota to the AL west (it doesn't really want to be there, but it's just about as close to Seattle as Dallas is to Los Angeles). Then we can put Tampa Bay in the central - it's geographically closer to those cities (Dallas, Kansas City and St. Louis) that anywhere else. Also Dallas is basically a plains city and fits just fine with Kansas City. Then we can get New York and Boston back together and have a nice cohesive great lakes division.

AL East
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
Baltimore Orioles
Washington Senators

AL Lakes
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Milwaukee Brewers

AL Central (or Plains)
St. Louis Browns
Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Athletics
Texas Rangers
Tampa Bay Rays

AL West
Seattle Mariners
Seattle Pilots
Oakland A's
Los Angeles Angels
Minnesota Twins

For the NL, the issues are once again getting New York and Boston in the same division; what to do about Montreal: it goes into the east to make a nice compact NE division, then Philadelphia has to leave. And getting Colorado into the west and Houston out - much closer geographically.

Always trade-offs, but here's what I would do:

NL East (or NE)
Montreal Expos
Boston Braves
New York Mets
New York Giants
Brooklyn Dodgers

NL Central
Chicago Cubs
St. Louis Cardinals
Milwaukee Braves
Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates

NL South (or SE)
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
Houston Astros
Washington Nationals
Philadelphia Phillies

NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies

Great work. I like that AL essentially has North division (Lakes) and the NL has a South division. It gives both leagues some character and personality.