Pitchers and Catchers have reported and spring is in the air; sort of, I mean if all this snow would disappear. Anyway, there has been talk of Bud Selig retiring as Commissioner of MLB. While we wait for the snow to melt and the real games to start let me wax rant style on what I would do as the next commissioner.
1) Contract and Realign
I understand that baseball is the all-American game and that MLB is the one major American sport that has had extreme success in globalization. Since there has been great strides in world popularity (look at Latin America and Japan) I think the sport could overcome the loss of two Major League teams for the sake of balance and improved play. Which teams you ask. I've hinted at one already. Toronto. What value does a Canadian team bring? Since the Expos are now in D.C. that leaves one lone out of nation club. Not being an insider, it seems that Toronto is a viable market and probably financially secure which alone makes good reason not to contract them. But if I'm commissioner, the reason is to keep everything in house. Not PC I know. This decision feels tighter, cleaner, provides better travel schedules and less hassle (dealing with another country), and makes is easier to answer to a mob of angry fans. I can ignore Canada without losing sleep. Which leads me to the other team I would contract. Oakland. The big reason here is to avoid having two teams sharing the Bay market. Oakland is the smaller of the two and struggles to compete. Axing the A's would enhance the Giants. Answering to the fans here would be much more difficult but hey, that's why the Commish gets the big bucks, right?
Now we have 28 teams instead of 30 which by default makes competition that much better. Less teams makes for less players needed to fill those rosters which in turn enables players who are not ready for the big time to stay in the minors for more seasoning (the minor league towns would enjoy and benefit from) and for those who just really are not the best of the best, keeps them out of the league all together. This improves play on the field which is most important for the true fan.
With Toronto and Oakland gone a void has been created in the American League. No worries, let's just realign. Baseball has done this several times. No biggie. Might I suggest moving the hapless Pirates to the A.L. East to replace the Jays and the Rockies to the A.L. West to replace the A's. Now we have 14 teams in each league and balanced divisions all around. Normally, I am not a proponent of trying to create fairness, probably because I don't experience it myself in my own life, but in this case I am looking out for the fans who have the big picture in mind and not just their fav team.
My rational for moving the Pirates and Rockies is simple. The Pirates cannot compete now as it is in the N.L. Central plus this division has 6 teams. Moving the Bucs forces one of two PA teams to the opposing league which allows the fans to enjoy both styles of baseball, one with a DH and another without. I know, the A.L. East is the toughest division in baseball. Does it really matter what division you put them in? The Pirates just suck, that's all there is to it. Logically, Pittsburgh is the eastern most city geographically to fill the void lost by contracting Toronto. As far as the Rockies are concerned, wouldn't you love to see a DH hit in Denver? With the light air, it seems a good fit to entice the club to play an offensive style. The Rockies early history suggests that's the approach they took to construct the roster. They were bad then, but an offensive emphasis in the N.L. isn't the right approach. Putting them in the A.L. combined with their new pitching philosophy makes for an interesting A.L. West division.
That's a busy day. Can't make all the changes at one time. Stay tuned for further action taken from the office of the new Commissioner. Now for a hot dog and suds.
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