MLB Expansion Plan

[cheo25]

Originally Posted by Klew1986

Would you guys change anything about this? I would love to have Toronto and Montreal in same division, but I can't see Baltimore switching to NL.

I'd put Washington in the AL and Montreal in the NL.

[Klew1986]

Originally Posted by cheo25

I'd put Washington in the AL and Montreal in the NL.

That would be fun to see NYY, BOS, WAS duke it out for AL East

[Padreman]

Originally Posted by Klew1986

That would be fun to see NYY, BOS, WAS duke it out for AL East

Why? Who are you?

[Klew1986]

Originally Posted by Padreman

Why? Who are you?

What would you change about this, if anything?

AL East: Baltimore, Boston, New York, (Montreal)
AL Central: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Texas
AL North: Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, Toronto
AL West: Los Angeles (A), Oakland, Seattle, San Diego

NL East: New York (N), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
NL Central: Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis
NL South: Houston, Miami, Tampa Bay, (Mexico City)
NL West: Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles (N), San Francisco

[BIG17EASY]

Originally Posted by Klew1986

What would you change about this, if anything?

AL East: Baltimore, Boston, New York, (Montreal)
AL Central: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Texas
AL North: Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, Toronto
AL West: Los Angeles (A), Oakland, Seattle, San Diego

NL East: New York (N), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
NL Central: Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis
NL South: Houston, Miami, Tampa Bay, (Mexico City)
NL West: Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles (N), San Francisco

I might flip-flop Milwaukee and Cleveland for geographic reasons, with a big emphasis on might.

[Coltrane]

Originally Posted by kq76

I figure this is the easiest way to do it keeping the existing alignments intact as much as possible with going back to 8 team divisions:











This is what I'd prefer:

Perfect

[Coltrane]

I would still be ok with just having two leagues though, no divisions. Top three teams in each league make playoffs. Simple and sweet.

[Hammercraft]

It got me thinking about what I would do if I were going to realign baseball. I made a few decisions that seemed logical, and came up with a package that probably has something in it for everyone to gripe about. Here was my criteria:

1. No city, however grand, gets two teams.

2. There should be 32 teams, because wild cards encourage bad roster construction, and eliminating them makes division rivalries stronger.

3. The largest cities in the US deserve the teams, and many of the largest cities that do not have a team are also the fastest growing cities.

4. The closer your neighbor is, the better the rivalry will be.

So I took the top 32 populous cities in the US and made them the destinations for all the MLB teams. If they already had a team, they kept it. Then I grouped the closest cities to make a division, and set it in either the NL or AL roughly based on the membership.

I both like and dislike the DH. I can see the benefit of extending the careers of some popular players who can't run or field as well in their old age. I also enjoy the added difficulty of managing the pitcher's spot in the batting order. So the AL keeps the DH and the NL keeps it out.

National
West Division
San Francisco Giants
San Jose Athletics
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres

Central Division
Colorado Rockies (Denver)
Albequerque Mets
El Paso Chihuahuas
Oklahoma City Twisters

North Division
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Detroit Tigers
Indianapolis Racers

East Division
Columbus Clippers
Louisville Cardinals
Nashville Royals
Washington Nationals

American
Mountain Division
Seattle Mariners
Portland Pirates
Las Vegas Gamblers
Arizona Diamondbacks (Phoenix)

Texas Division
Fort Worth Cats
Texas Rangers (Dallas)
Austin Angels
San Antonio Missions

South Division
Houston Astros
Memphis Reds
Charlotte Webs
Jacksonville Rays

East Division
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Phillies
Baltimore Orioles

[BigRed75]

A major problem - you used the 32 most populous cities. That doesn't give a true reflection of population, just urban centers. You don't count people in the suburban areas, who go to a lot of sporting events.

Using the 32 most populous metro areas would have been a better choice.

1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Baltimore/Washington
5. SF Bay Area
6. Boston
7. Philadelphia
8. Dallas/Ft. Worth
9. Miami
10. Houston
11. Atlanta
12. Detroit
13. Seattle
14. Phoenix
15. Minneapolis/St. Paul
16. Cleveland
17. Denver
18. San Diego
19. Portland
20. Orlando
21. St. Louis
22. Tampa/St. Pete
23. Pittsburgh
24. Sacramento
25. Charlotte
26. Kansas City
27. Salt Lake City
28. Columbus
29. Indianapolis
30. Las Vegas
31. San Antonio
32. Cincinnati

[Hammercraft]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

A major problem - you used the 32 most populous cities. That doesn't give a true reflection of population, just urban centers. You don't count people in the suburban areas, who go to a lot of sporting events.

Using the 32 most populous metro areas would have been a better choice.

I am aware of what I did, I made a distinct choice. Cities have identities, outlet malls and urban sprawl does not.

[Matt Arnold]

And, you know, missing Canada. Toronto would be top-10, Montreal top-20. In terms of size Vancouver would be top-30 as well, although it doesn't have the history, so I can understand it being left out.

[Bub13]

For those who have expanded (their leagues, not literally), if you bring a team into a city that has a minor-league franchise, do you move that team out?

[Padreman]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

A major problem - you used the 32 most populous cities. That doesn't give a true reflection of population, just urban centers. You don't count people in the suburban areas, who go to a lot of sporting events.

Using the 32 most populous metro areas would have been a better choice.

1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Baltimore/Washington
5. SF Bay Area
6. Boston
7. Philadelphia
8. Dallas/Ft. Worth
9. Miami
10. Houston
11. Atlanta
12. Detroit
13. Seattle
14. Phoenix
15. Minneapolis/St. Paul
16. Cleveland
17. Denver
18. San Diego
19. Portland
20. Orlando
21. St. Louis
22. Tampa/St. Pete
23. Pittsburgh
24. Sacramento
25. Charlotte
26. Kansas City
27. Salt Lake City
28. Columbus
29. Indianapolis
30. Las Vegas
31. San Antonio
32. Cincinnati

What are the top 36

[grmagne]

Originally Posted by Bub13

For those who have expanded (their leagues, not literally), if you bring a team into a city that has a minor-league franchise, do you move that team out?

In baseball it's rare for a city to support both a major- and minor-league team, so I do this for realism. However, in the NHL it's not unheard of. The Chicago Wolves (AHL) play in the same city as the Blackhawks. And surprisingly, the Wolves get pretty decent crowds considering they're affiliated with a rival of the Blackhawks

[Bub13]

Yep, I thought of the 'hawks/Wolves situation. (Hockey also has the WPG Jets/Manitoba Moose.)

Just curious if anyone immerses themselves to that level, where they move out the existing MiLB team to accommodate the big guys.

[grmagne]

Originally Posted by Bub13

Yep, I thought of the 'hawks/Wolves situation. (Hockey also has the WPG Jets/Manitoba Moose.)

Just curious if anyone immerses themselves to that level, where they move out the existing MiLB team to accommodate the big guys.

Yes, one time I had a Las Vegas MLB team, so I moved the LV 51s to Lincoln, Nebraska.


But, recently, the Atlanta Braves were relocated by the league's evolution engine to San Antonio and I didn't bother to move the Missions franchise. I guess I wasn't sufficiently motivated.

[Hammercraft]

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

And, you know, missing Canada. Toronto would be top-10, Montreal top-20. In terms of size Vancouver would be top-30 as well, although it doesn't have the history, so I can understand it being left out.

Definitely. I thought about that, and for now I'd leave Canada out because I want to expand to a lot of places internationally. There should be a team in Mexico City, Havana, Tokyo, etc. Until then it feels a little silly to call it a World Series.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by grmagne

In baseball it's rare for a city to support both a major- and minor-league team, so I do this for realism.

Depends on how one defines "city" really. The trend in recent years has been for the higher-level affiliates to be located in either the suburbs of the major league club's city or in a nearby town.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

A major problem - you used the 32 most populous cities. That doesn't give a true reflection of population, just urban centers. You don't count people in the suburban areas, who go to a lot of sporting events.

Using the 32 most populous metro areas would have been a better choice.

Originally Posted by Hammercraft

I am aware of what I did, I made a distinct choice. Cities have identities, outlet malls and urban sprawl does not.

I would point out both of you have left out an arguably very important consideration: per capita income. That matters a great deal since the more disposable income a population has the greater pool of money from which a major league club can draw.

Try this as an experiment: take either the strict city population or the metro area population, multiply that by each's per capita income, then rank the results from largest pool of money to smallest.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Hammercraft

Definitely. I thought about that, and for now I'd leave Canada out because I want to expand to a lot of places internationally. There should be a team in Mexico City, Havana, Tokyo, etc. Until then it feels a little silly to call it a World Series.

Someone posted this a few years back (not sure who, but credit to them) and I wholeheartedly agree:

Why it’s called the World Series

To answer a question that’s been bouncing around for decades:

I don't know why they dubbed it the World Series in 1903, I've heard that it was named for a newspaper called "The World" or possibly they were just thinking big back then.

It deserves to be called the World Series now. This is the major leagues. The best players from all over the world come to compete against the best players from all over the world. The world championship team had players from the United States, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Cuba, Aruba and Venezuela.

They competed against players from Australia, China, Canada, Mexico, Korea, the Antilles, Nicaragua and Panama along with the above named countries.

They didn't come to play in the United States, they came to play in the MAJORS.

A team of the best players in the world beat the other teams of best players in the world.

That's why it's called the World Series.