Looking for MLB Expansion Advice

Silent_Thunder · 10-10-2016, 09:05 PM

So, like many others, I'm looking to do an expansion league game because I'm a hipster and can't deal with just playing a normal game. I also have a fictional league game from 1900 onwards (first 5 years ghost simmed and then history cleared, no idea if that's still nessecary to shake out the kinks but I'm superstitious about these things), but that's neither here nor there.

The plan is eventually to have a 40 team league many many seasons down the road, and as such a 4 division per league structure is nessecary to set up. I wanted to do it with minimal disruptions to the current structure, except for consolidating some geographical cross league issues.

The teams I'm adding are Montreal because they deserve a team back, and Mexico City, for various reasons, including giving me an excuse to load up the Mexican leagues in addition to my usual of MLB+Japan+Korea+US&Japan Indies.

As such, these are the divisions I've come up with, and I'm looking for critique on them, in addition to suggestions for the new team for each division further down the line to reach 40 teams.

American League

AL North

Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins

AL West

Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners

AL South

Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Mexico City TBAs
Texas Rangers

National League

NL East

Montreal TBAs
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals

NL Central

Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants

NL South

Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds
Miami Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays

As you can see I've tried to keep things fairly consistent to the current alignments, but also moved the Rays and Rockies to opposite leagues to help with geography although I'm not sure if it can be rejiggered to fix that. The big thing I've done is put the Montreal team in the same division as the Nationals, as that seems to be the natural rivalry to set up (the other being Toronto). But I'm still not entirely satisfied, especially with the number of rivalries I've had to break up to fill out the new divisions.

So, any thoughts? I'm especially wondering if swapping Houston and Tampa is a good idea so that the end result is still only 1 team(Colorado) that's changed leagues in recent memory.

That said it's probably not something I'll start till OOTP18, as I'm content at the moment with my fictional save and the historical minors save I just started, never liked starting a modern save at the tail end of a season.

BigRed75 · 10-11-2016, 12:59 AM

I actually did the exact same setup, 32 teams, 4-team divisions. The only difference is that I moved Arizona to the AL instead of Colorado, and St. Louis to the South instead of Cincinnati. (Yes, I know it breaks up the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry, but I hate them both so I don't care. That allowed me to have natural interleague rivalries of Reds/Indians, Cubs/White Sox, Brewers/Twins and Pirates/Tigers (the Hank Greenberg rivalry) plus Cards/Royals in the South.

Plus, I'm a traditionalist, so I used the Montreal Expos and Mexico City Red Devils as the team names.

'94 EXPOS · 10-11-2016, 12:03 PM

Are you okay with sub .500 teams making the playoffs?

It will happen quite often if you go with 8x4 divisions

I could not stand it....so I moved to 4 divisions with 8 teams with the top two in each making the cut...it provides much more palatable results (for me)

Le Grande Orange · 10-11-2016, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by '94 EXPOS

Are you okay with sub .500 teams making the playoffs?

It will happen quite often if you go with 8x4 divisions

It can happen with three divisions. See, for example, the AL West in the abbreviated 1994 season, or the 2016 International League season where the South Division winner had a .455 winning percentage (in a division-weighted schedule).

ShaneCarson · 10-11-2016, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

It can happen with three divisions. See, for example, the AL West in the abbreviated 1994 season, or the 2016 International League season where the South Division winner had a .455 winning percentage (in a division-weighted schedule).

Yes but it happens far more often in OOTP when you do 8x4 divisions. A year every decade, you could probably live with(even though you've compared two separate leagues). It happening every year to every other year as it seems to in OOTP with this format is a little unnerving.

PSUColonel · 10-11-2016, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent_Thunder

So, like many others, I'm looking to do an expansion league game because I'm a hipster and can't deal with just playing a normal game. I also have a fictional league game from 1900 onwards (first 5 years ghost simmed and then history cleared, no idea if that's still nessecary to shake out the kinks but I'm superstitious about these things), but that's neither here nor there.

The plan is eventually to have a 40 team league many many seasons down the road, and as such a 4 division per league structure is nessecary to set up. I wanted to do it with minimal disruptions to the current structure, except for consolidating some geographical cross league issues.

The teams I'm adding are Montreal because they deserve a team back, and Mexico City, for various reasons, including giving me an excuse to load up the Mexican leagues in addition to my usual of MLB+Japan+Korea+US&Japan Indies.

As such, these are the divisions I've come up with, and I'm looking for critique on them, in addition to suggestions for the new team for each division further down the line to reach 40 teams.

American League

AL North

Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins

AL West

Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners

AL South

Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Mexico City TBAs
Texas Rangers

National League

NL East

Montreal TBAs
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals

NL Central

Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants

NL South

Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds
Miami Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays

As you can see I've tried to keep things fairly consistent to the current alignments, but also moved the Rays and Rockies to opposite leagues to help with geography although I'm not sure if it can be rejiggered to fix that. The big thing I've done is put the Montreal team in the same division as the Nationals, as that seems to be the natural rivalry to set up (the other being Toronto). But I'm still not entirely satisfied, especially with the number of rivalries I've had to break up to fill out the new divisions.

So, any thoughts? I'm especially wondering if swapping Houston and Tampa is a good idea so that the end result is still only 1 team(Colorado) that's changed leagues in recent memory.

That said it's probably not something I'll start till OOTP18, as I'm content at the moment with my fictional save and the historical minors save I just started, never liked starting a modern save at the tail end of a season.

I don't like where the Reds are here.

Le Grande Orange · 10-11-2016, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaneCarson

Yes but it happens far more often in OOTP when you do 8x4 divisions.

Could be because, unless you use a custom schedule, an OOTP-generated one will be used, and that'll most likely be a balanced one.

TheMaus2 · 10-11-2016, 10:17 PM

I use a 14 team playoff with four nine-team divisions.

bwburke94 · 10-12-2016, 11:00 AM

Colorado in the AL means Coors Field gets a DH.

TheMaus2 · 10-12-2016, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwburke94

Colorado in the AL means Coors Field gets a DH.

This spells doom

ArcAngel · 10-12-2016, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent_Thunder

American League

AL North

Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins

AL West

Colorado Rockies
Anaheim Angels My personal preference
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners

AL South

Kansas City Royals
Mexico City Diablos
Tampa Bay Rays
Texas Rangers

National League

NL East

Montreal Expos
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals

NL Central

Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants

NL South

Atlanta Braves
Houston Astros
Miami Marlins
St. Louis Cardinals

My changes in RED

David Watts · 10-12-2016, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArcAngel

My changes in RED

Yes, the Astros in the National League.

BigRed75 · 10-12-2016, 06:27 PM

ArcAngel's is a winner.

Although if it were me, they'd be the Los Angeles Angels.

thorpegiovanni · 10-12-2016, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent_Thunder

So, like many others, I'm looking to do an expansion league game because I'm a hipster and can't deal with just playing a normal game. I also have a fictional league game from 1900 onwards (first 5 years ghost simmed and then history cleared, no idea if that's still nessecary to shake out the kinks but I'm superstitious about these things), but that's neither here nor there.

The plan is eventually to have a 40 team league many many seasons down the road, and as such a 4 division per league structure is nessecary to set up. I wanted to do it with minimal disruptions to the current structure, except for consolidating some geographical cross league issues.

The teams I'm adding are Montreal because they deserve a team back, and Mexico City, for various reasons, including giving me an excuse to load up the Mexican leagues in addition to my usual of MLB+Japan+Korea+US&Japan Indies.

As such, these are the divisions I've come up with, and I'm looking for critique on them, in addition to suggestions for the new team for each division further down the line to reach 40 teams.

American League

AL North

Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins

AL West

Arizona D-Backs - Colorado are slightly older than Arizona, so I believe they should to stay in the NL. Especially w/ Coors Field, although Chase Field is a huge hitter's park as well.
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners

AL South

Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Mexico City Aztecs
Texas Rangers

National League

NL East

Montreal Monarchs
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals

NL Central

Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cincinnati Reds - As one of baseball's oldest clubs, they deserve to stay in their division.

NL West

Colorado Rockies - Coors Field w/ a DH is lethal.
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants

NL South

Atlanta Braves
St. Louis Cardinals - Geographically more south
Miami Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays

As you can see I've tried to keep things fairly consistent to the current alignments, but also moved the Rays and Rockies to opposite leagues to help with geography although I'm not sure if it can be rejiggered to fix that. The big thing I've done is put the Montreal team in the same division as the Nationals, as that seems to be the natural rivalry to set up (the other being Toronto). But I'm still not entirely satisfied, especially with the number of rivalries I've had to break up to fill out the new divisions.

So, any thoughts? I'm especially wondering if swapping Houston and Tampa is a good idea so that the end result is still only 1 team(Colorado) that's changed leagues in recent memory.

That said it's probably not something I'll start till OOTP18, as I'm content at the moment with my fictional save and the historical minors save I just started, never liked starting a modern save at the tail end of a season.

My edits are bolded.

10-10-2016, 09:05 PM	#1
Silent_Thunder Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 235	Looking for MLB Expansion Advice So, like many others, I'm looking to do an expansion league game because I'm a hipster and can't deal with just playing a normal game. I also have a fictional league game from 1900 onwards (first 5 years ghost simmed and then history cleared, no idea if that's still nessecary to shake out the kinks but I'm superstitious about these things), but that's neither here nor there. The plan is eventually to have a 40 team league many many seasons down the road, and as such a 4 division per league structure is nessecary to set up. I wanted to do it with minimal disruptions to the current structure, except for consolidating some geographical cross league issues. The teams I'm adding are Montreal because they deserve a team back, and Mexico City, for various reasons, including giving me an excuse to load up the Mexican leagues in addition to my usual of MLB+Japan+Korea+US&Japan Indies. As such, these are the divisions I've come up with, and I'm looking for critique on them, in addition to suggestions for the new team for each division further down the line to reach 40 teams. American League AL North Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox New York Yankees Toronto Blue Jays AL Central Chicago White Sox Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers Minnesota Twins AL West Colorado Rockies Los Angeles Angels Oakland Athletics Seattle Mariners AL South Houston Astros Kansas City Royals Mexico City TBAs Texas Rangers National League NL East Montreal TBAs New York Mets Philadelphia Phillies Washington Nationals NL Central Chicago Cubs Milwaukee Brewers Pittsburgh Pirates St. Louis Cardinals NL West Arizona Diamondbacks Los Angeles Dodgers San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants NL South Atlanta Braves Cincinnati Reds Miami Marlins Tampa Bay Rays As you can see I've tried to keep things fairly consistent to the current alignments, but also moved the Rays and Rockies to opposite leagues to help with geography although I'm not sure if it can be rejiggered to fix that. The big thing I've done is put the Montreal team in the same division as the Nationals, as that seems to be the natural rivalry to set up (the other being Toronto). But I'm still not entirely satisfied, especially with the number of rivalries I've had to break up to fill out the new divisions. So, any thoughts? I'm especially wondering if swapping Houston and Tampa is a good idea so that the end result is still only 1 team(Colorado) that's changed leagues in recent memory. That said it's probably not something I'll start till OOTP18, as I'm content at the moment with my fictional save and the historical minors save I just started, never liked starting a modern save at the tail end of a season. Last edited by Silent_Thunder; 10-10-2016 at 11:17 PM.

10-11-2016, 12:59 AM	#2
BigRed75 Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2,430	I actually did the exact same setup, 32 teams, 4-team divisions. The only difference is that I moved Arizona to the AL instead of Colorado, and St. Louis to the South instead of Cincinnati. (Yes, I know it breaks up the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry, but I hate them both so I don't care. That allowed me to have natural interleague rivalries of Reds/Indians, Cubs/White Sox, Brewers/Twins and Pirates/Tigers (the Hank Greenberg rivalry) plus Cards/Royals in the South. Plus, I'm a traditionalist, so I used the Montreal Expos and Mexico City Red Devils as the team names. __________________ Mainline team SPTT team Was not a Snag fan...until I saw the fallout once he was gone and realized what a good job he was actually doing. - Ty Cobb

10-11-2016, 10:17 PM	#8
TheMaus2 All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: The OOTP Forums. Always. Posts: 1,952	I use a 14 team playoff with four nine-team divisions. __________________ I write a monthly newsletter on the Food Baseball Association. I also listen to music no one's ever heard of in hopes of looking cool and alternative.

10-12-2016, 06:27 PM	#13
BigRed75 Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2,430	ArcAngel's is a winner. Although if it were me, they'd be the Los Angeles Angels. __________________ Mainline team SPTT team Was not a Snag fan...until I saw the fallout once he was gone and realized what a good job he was actually doing. - Ty Cobb

10-11-2016, 12:03 PM	#3
'94 EXPOS Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 317	Are you okay with sub .500 teams making the playoffs? It will happen quite often if you go with 8x4 divisions I could not stand it....so I moved to 4 divisions with 8 teams with the top two in each making the cut...it provides much more palatable results (for me)

10-12-2016, 11:00 AM	#9
bwburke94 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Belchertown, MA, USA Posts: 4,504	Colorado in the AL means Coors Field gets a DH.