Alternative Expansion Plan - Evaluation And Suggestions Requested

Brad K · 01-24-2018, 03:56 PM

For a long time I haven't liked the way MLB expansions were handled 1977 and later and playing a game 1966 to 2000 has intensified that dislike.

I want meaningful division championships. This requires

1. Significantly more games per team with teams in division than out.
2. Equal number of games with each team in division.
3. Equal number of games with each team out of division.
4. No wild card post season qualifiers.
5. Equal number of teams in each division (may be different by league)

Additional features

1. Interleague play is not practical given above and not desired anyway
2. Maximum of 8 teams per division.
3. Minimum of 4 teams per division
4. Leagues with same number of teams not practical
5. Historical rookies.

Initial outline for expansion

61 historical
62 historical
69 historical

After that things start to get difficult.

77 Let it go as historical. AL would be 2 divisions of 7 teams and NL 2 x 6.

93 Let it go as historical. Both leagues would be 2 x 7.

98 This is where MLB really abandoned divisions being meaningful. I see three possibilities here, 1) not expanding, 2) put both teams in the AL making the AL 2 x 8 or 4 x 4 while the NL would be 2 x 7, 3) creating two additional expansion teams making each league 2 x 8 or 4 x 4.

Note the problem for the created teams in that I have historical rookies enabled.

bwburke94 · 01-24-2018, 07:06 PM

It goes without saying that 4x4 without wild cards is a horrendous idea, because of the extreme risk of a losing-record playoff team. So let's take a look at only the two-division structures, assuming a 162-game schedule.

For all these cases, I'm formatting them as in/out, so 18/12 means 18 against division opponents/12 against nondivision opponents.

2x4: 46/6, 42/9, 38/12, 34/15, 30/18, 26/21
2x5: 33/6, 28/10, 23/14 (note: 33/6 would have some issues with early off days)
2x6: 24/7, 18/12
2x7: 20/6, 13/12
2x8: 14/8

Brad K · 01-25-2018, 08:35 PM

Good point on the possibility of the winner of a four team division being under 500 more likely. That would be worse than a wild card team.

I'm not necessarily set on 162 games, just something close to that. So if the regular season is a few games longer, with fewer playoff rounds it may actually be shorter in total for the World Series teams than in a real life setup.

Also am considering expanding both leagues at the same time, a time between the actual expansions.

01-24-2018, 03:56 PM	#1
Brad K Banned Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,693 Infractions: 0/2 (4)	Alternative Expansion Plan - Evaluation And Suggestions Requested For a long time I haven't liked the way MLB expansions were handled 1977 and later and playing a game 1966 to 2000 has intensified that dislike. I want meaningful division championships. This requires 1. Significantly more games per team with teams in division than out. 2. Equal number of games with each team in division. 3. Equal number of games with each team out of division. 4. No wild card post season qualifiers. 5. Equal number of teams in each division (may be different by league) Additional features 1. Interleague play is not practical given above and not desired anyway 2. Maximum of 8 teams per division. 3. Minimum of 4 teams per division 4. Leagues with same number of teams not practical 5. Historical rookies. Initial outline for expansion 61 historical 62 historical 69 historical After that things start to get difficult. 77 Let it go as historical. AL would be 2 divisions of 7 teams and NL 2 x 6. 93 Let it go as historical. Both leagues would be 2 x 7. 98 This is where MLB really abandoned divisions being meaningful. I see three possibilities here, 1) not expanding, 2) put both teams in the AL making the AL 2 x 8 or 4 x 4 while the NL would be 2 x 7, 3) creating two additional expansion teams making each league 2 x 8 or 4 x 4. Note the problem for the created teams in that I have historical rookies enabled.

01-24-2018, 07:06 PM	#2
bwburke94 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Belchertown, MA, USA Posts: 4,507	It goes without saying that 4x4 without wild cards is a horrendous idea, because of the extreme risk of a losing-record playoff team. So let's take a look at only the two-division structures, assuming a 162-game schedule. For all these cases, I'm formatting them as in/out, so 18/12 means 18 against division opponents/12 against nondivision opponents. 2x4: 46/6, 42/9, 38/12, 34/15, 30/18, 26/21 2x5: 33/6, 28/10, 23/14 (note: 33/6 would have some issues with early off days) 2x6: 24/7, 18/12 2x7: 20/6, 13/12 2x8: 14/8

01-25-2018, 08:35 PM	#3
Brad K Banned Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,693 Infractions: 0/2 (4)	Good point on the possibility of the winner of a four team division being under 500 more likely. That would be worse than a wild card team. I'm not necessarily set on 162 games, just something close to that. So if the regular season is a few games longer, with fewer playoff rounds it may actually be shorter in total for the World Series teams than in a real life setup. Also am considering expanding both leagues at the same time, a time between the actual expansions.