There’s no question that parity has become a major issue affecting Major League Baseball these days.
With no salary cap currently in place, the league has basically divided itself over the past decade-and-a-half into two parts – the “Have’s” and the “Have Not’s”. This trend is most pronounced in the American League East. For fans of powerhouse teams like the Red Sox and Yankees, life is good. Spending huge dollars to sign top free agents and re-sign their big stars gives their respective cities a top-caliber winning product year after year, complete with exciting pennant races in September and postseason bliss come October. Their Eastern Division rivals – the Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays – all struggle to keep pace, often finding themselves with losing records and nothing left to play for come August.
The Rest of the AL East Are Tired of Being Bullied By The Likes Of Boston & New York
In the 15 years since the wildcard was introduced, the Red Sox and Yankees have accounted for nearly 40 percent of all postseason berths in the American League. As for the rest of the AL East’s, only once has a team been able to claim postseason entry during that time – the 2008 Rays – and it basically took them 10 years of basement dwelling and subsequent #1 draft picks before they could ever stake that claim.
So, four months ago, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig took it upon himself to assemble a 14-person “special committee for on-field matters” to help address the various problems plaguing the game today, including parity. Fast forward to this week, where it was finally revealed what the committee came up with to help solve competitive balance issues in baseball. The suggested proposal is absolutely nuts.
To help share the burden currently being placed on the Jays, Rays and O’s, the committee has proposed a “floating” realignment plan, where these teams would have the opportunity to move out of the AL East and into another, more competitive division. According to an article by SI.com’s Tom Verducci, sources have told him that teams would be able to move to a division up to two time zones away or even change leagues, under the proposed new plan. So much for rivalries and 7:00pm starting times.
But more concerning is the committee’s logic behind which team(s) would move into the AL East. It was suggested in Verducci’s column that a rebuilding project, like the one current one in Cleveland, would offer a prime candidate for relocation. There you have a team with no immediate chance of winning, who would relish the opportunity to guarantee 18 sellouts over the course of a season vs. the Yankees and Red Sox, according to sources. Talk about selling your soul to the devil. Not to mention, this type of realignment would basically concede the AL East/Wildcard to New York and Boston every season, ruining whatever shred of competitive balance the league still has left (It must be noted that the proposed plan is hardly imminent and still very much in its infancy).
For TSJ, the solution is obvious. Expand baseball’s playoff format right now from 8 to 16 teams.
MLB's Competitive Inbalance Is A Disgrace
The ripple effect would be profound. Every team in the AL East with a .500 record of better – and in all divisions for that matter – would have the chance to at least compete for a playoff spot. Pennant races would be spectacular. Once proud fans who now traditionally feel hopeless entering a season (like those in KC, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh) would have renewed optimism toward the game. Plus, it would offer the excitement of seeing new teams face off against the usual suspects who we predictably see compete every year in the LCS and World Series.
Format-wise, have the top two teams in each division automatically qualify, along with two additional wildcard entries from each league. To accommodate the extra games, go back to a Best-of-Five playoff format, with the exception of the World Series. Marginally shorten Spring Training or even the 162-game schedule if you have to.
Just make it happen. Be it for parity purposes, or perhaps more importantly Bud, for the love of the game.
How to Destroy Baseball in One Easy Step (Deadspin)
Selig, Committee Considering Radical Realignment Plan (SI)
You hit the nail on the head TSJ. For us fans of non Yankees or Bosox teams the end of the season each year is getting pretty old and pretty predictable. I have the most interest at the beginning of the season then gradually as the big horses pull away and the playoffs become an impossibility I tend to watch less.
Hey Dan, I always like a good Bud Selig-bashing but that “the committee” is thinking about the parity issue does count for something since they have overlooked this willfully for more than a decade. I also look at your suggestions for improvement and think they need to be fine-tuned. You can’t shorten spring training because lots of teams struggle to host games in April; can you imagine Cleveland in March? Shortening the season won’t fly because it hits at the pocketbooks of the owners. You also don’t need 8 teams to make it interesting; baseball does not need to emulate the yaaaawwwwnnn early rounds of hockey and basketball. The format should move to 6 teams per league. The top two get byes. The next two host the bottom two in 5-game series; even 3-game series if it’s all the schedule would allow. With some tighter playoff scheduling this could be accomplished and would provide hope to the AL Leasters. Striking a balance between giving hope to the middling franchises while preserving the relative high-ground that is entry into the baseball playoffs is the key.
Good points being made all around – but I think you could probably shave a week off of spring training and load the home schedules in those first few weeks towards the more temperate climates. I agree that shortening the season won’t fly at all with the greed in the game today. If u went with the 6-team playoff structure, including byes, the opening round would have to be a best-of-3, as too much time off in baseball isn’t necessarily an advantage but actually can be a disadvantage (get out of the flow, etc). 8 teams per league would still only amount to just over 50% of teams making it to the playoffs… personally, I’d rather see more weak sisters at least have a chance to go than less. 6 teams likely still wouldn’t allow for teams like KC, Oakland and Toronto to ever have a shot at making it.
i agree with 8 playoff teams in each league…send your idea to Bud light
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