Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

Plus, who wants to see a pitcher (who's hitting .113 for his career, btw) hack a fastball and whif, or even more exciting; sacrifice bunt.

A lot of people....seriously.

You see it as that, but it also takes out a lot of the beauty that is baseball. Coaches actually having to manage a huge part of the game and make important decision in tight games of whether to go to the pen or leave his pitcher in to hit to stretch him another inning or two.

I agree the DH extends hitters careers...and all those guys have jobs...if it is not going to be dropped in both leagues, I see no reason that it needs to be adopted in both leagues either...it's not like there are super star DH's out there looking for work. They guys who are good at it are doing it now for AL teams. The Thome's and Ortiz's are few and far between...everyone else is capable of playing a position.

A lot of people prefer national league baseball to american league baseball. The DH makes a huge difference. The common fans may love the long ball, but I think most baseball fan's love the 2-1 game with manufactured runs just as much, if not more.

[CMH]

The only issue with the above is that common fans out number baseball fans. And it's always about the money.

But I agree with you on everything.


Sent from my mobile device.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

A lot of people....seriously.

You see it as that, but it also takes out a lot of the beauty that is baseball. Coaches actually having to manage a huge part of the game and make important decision in tight games of whether to go to the pen or leave his pitcher in to hit to stretch him another inning or two.

I agree the DH extends hitters careers...and all those guys have jobs...if it is not going to be dropped in both leagues, I see no reason that it needs to be adopted in both leagues either...it's not like there are super star DH's out there looking for work. They guys who are good at it are doing it now for AL teams. The Thome's and Ortiz's are few and far between...everyone else is capable of playing a position.

A lot of people prefer national league baseball to american league baseball. The DH makes a huge difference. The common fans may love the long ball, but I think most baseball fan's love the 2-1 game with manufactured runs just as much, if not more.

A lot of "purists" and "traditionalists" like NL rules better. The casual fan likes more offense, and the DH provides that. I'd like to see you poll 10 random people and ask them if they'd rather see a game with 5 hr or a 2-1 pitchers' duel. I'd be absolutely shocked if more than 3 said pitchers' duel. Like I said, I (and many others) appreciate the strategy. The casual fan doesn't. And, seriously, who wants to see the pitcher hit? I'm not talking about the strategy of it, etc. I'm talking about watching a guy who is no better of a hitter than your average high school player, being up there and running the bases in a jacket.

And yes, the Thome's and Ortiz's are few and far between, for now. But there are plenty of NL players that would likely be DH's. But that isn't the point. We're not looking for super-star DH's. One of the biggest benefits of the DH rule is that, say the Phillies are coming to town, and Ryan Howard has played 7 days in a row and is due for a day off. The fans that came to see him are going to be disappointed. But if there's a DH, maybe he just plays DH for the day, fans still get to see him hit, and people get to go home happy. It's about the fans being happy.

I think whatever they decide, with year-long interleague play, both teams have to have the same set of rules. As it is, the AL already has too much of an advantage in interleague play. They have real DH's. An NL team is throwing a .250 hitting 4th OF'er out there. Either way, with constant interleague play, there has to be one set of rules. And since high school, college, and most of the minor leagues already use the DH, I think that should be the rule they use. It bucked "tradition" to add the Wild Card, and that has been one of the best additions to the game, ever. The game evolves. I think the DH is part of that evolution.

While we're at it, if they're going to realign, why keep the AL/NL. Why not have a Western League and an Eastern League?

West:
Mariners
Giants
Dodgers
A's
Padres
Angels
Diamondbacks
Rockies
Rangers
Astros
Brewers
Twins
Royals
Cubs
White Sox

East:
Yankees
Red Sox
Phillies
Pirates
Blue Jays
Tigers
Braves
Rays
Marlins
Nationals
Orioles
Mets
Cardinals
Reds
Indians

[shadowpuppet]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

That creates even less parity, I think, and that's the reason they want to realign. They've got to keep the leagues and the DH in the AL.

I really think the best way to do it is to align it completely geographically, such as having a "South" division with the Braves, Marlins, Rays, Rangers
and Astros (again, putting the Astros and Rangers together MUST happen)

[fugazi]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

The only issue with the above is that common fans out number baseball fans. And it's always about the money.

But I agree with you on everything.


Sent from my mobile device.

I dont think DHs really contribute enough "long balls" to matter, in this regard...

I think whatever they decide, with year-long interleague play, both teams have to have the same set of rules. As it is, the AL already has too much of an advantage in interleague play. They have real DH's. An NL team is throwing a .250 hitting 4th OF'er out there.

i dont really think this is sound, either... It isn't like the AL's average 3OFers+DH is really any different than the NL's 3OFers+whomever is the DH....

Are there really 16 other DHs worth having that would make that significant a difference? no...not really. There aren't enough quality DHs for the AL...much less 16 more for the NL.

[DrJones]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

I don't expect anything too radical. Bud wants to keep divisions and unbalanced schedules, so here's my prediction:

- Arizona moves from NL West to AL West
- Houston moves from NL Central to NL West

Schedule as follows:

- 12 games per division opponent (48 games)
- 6-7 games per non-division league opponent (69 games)
- 3 games per interleague opponent (45 games)

Certainly more fair than the current format. They can rig the schedule so that teams not expected to be in the playoff hunt are playing interleague games in September.

[Dirty Turtles]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

My thoughts exactly Dr Jones, just rotate the inter-league series every year home and home. Set it up as much as possible so that any trip from one coast to the other you swing in and play your games against the other league as well. The Yankees travel to play the Angels and stay in town to face the Dodgers before heading to San Diego to round out the road trip. Any time a team heads into New York/LA/Chicago or the Baltimore/DC metro areas you can just send them across town to play the other league team in the area if they're schedule to visit. You could cut down on travel fees by chartering flights together for teams as well. Dodgers just finished playing the Mets and are heading back to LA? Send the Mets with them to face the Angels.

[madcap08]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

(again, putting the Astros and Rangers together MUST happen)

Is there an actual rivalry there, though? Don't the Rangers have a legit rivalry with the Angels?

[Bahnzo]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

Is there an actual rivalry there, though? Don't the Rangers have a legit rivalry with the Angels?

Kinda hard to have one when they are in different leagues. But putting them together in the same division just makes sense. Houston is kinda the bastard child of the NL Central all the way down there, and the Rangers are so far removed geographically from the teams in the AL West. I don't see how it wouldn't be good for everyone involved....not to mention a right handed DH in that park in Houston???

[rsox]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

not to mention a right handed DH in that park in Houston???

Carlos Lee would certainely agree with you there.

[fugazi]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

Schedule as follows:

- 12 games per division opponent (48 games)
- 6-7 games per non-division league opponent (69 games)
- 3 games per interleague opponent (45 games)

Certainly more fair than the current format. They can rig the schedule so that teams not expected to be in the playoff hunt are playing interleague games in September.

I dont like the unbalanced schedule...

I don't mind teams playing more division that out-of-division games...the real problem comes in with Interleague games...there are WAY TOO MANY interleague games, and teams are not measured against the same competition.

Get rid of Interleague, and let the teams battle it out against the same competition. In the example above, there are almost as many Interleague games as division games. That is not cool.

[DonkeyJote]

How do you figure? Most teams play almost 80 divisional games and 18 divisional games. It's no more unfair than a team from a strong division competing with a team from a weak division for a wild card spot.

There's no getting rid of interleague play. It routinely does great attendance. And frankly, being a fan of a national league team, and living 1000 miles from the nearest national league city, I like that I have the opportunity (albeit only once every eight years or so) to see my favorite team, and I'd be sad to see it go.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

[jconpoet]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

Interleague Play is here to stay... because I need to make it back home to New York to Citi Field and Yankee Stadium to see the Subway Series in person... besides currently the only way I can legit see my Mets play is by going to NY, Philly, DC, ATL or MIA... I can survive a road trip to NY, Philly or DC but would need a plane for ATL or MIA and thats going to take planning and money just to get to the location... taking the car north will be money too but not as much

[adice15]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

2 expansion ideas:

AL East:
Boston
New York
Toronto
Baltimore

AL South:
Tampa Bay
Charlotte/San Antonio
Texas
Kansas City

AL Central:
Detroit
Cleveland
Chicago
Minnesota

AL West:
Los Angeles
Seattle
Oakland
Arizona

NL East:
Philadelphia
New York
Washington
Pittsburgh

NL South:
Atlanta
Florida
Houston
New Orleans

NL Central:
Chicago
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
St. Louis

NL West:
Colorado
Los Angeles
San Diego
San Francisco

I added expansion teams in Orlando, New Orleans, or Charlotte. I also added a south division in each league.

AL East:
Boston
New York
Toronto
Baltimore

AL South:
Charlotte
Tampa Bay
Texas
Kansas City

AL Central:
Minnesota
Chicago
Detroit
Cleveland

AL West:
Seattle
Portland
Los Angeles
Oakland

NL East:
Philadelphia
Washington
New York
Pittsburgh

NL South:
St Louis
Atlanta
Florida
Houston

NL Central:
Chicago
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Colorado

NL West:
Los Angeles
San Diego
Arizona
San Francisco

Each division winner would make the playoffs, plus one wild card. These were the best things I could come up with in a couple of minutes .

[wazzucoug]

Re: Realignment ideas from Rosenthal

From the mouth of South Park: dumb dumb dumb dumb dumbbbbbb