Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2011 season and the layout of the playoffs will be among the topics discussed.
Baseball should also take a page from the NBA and the NHL and reorganize the American and National leagues into a Western and Eastern Conference.
This was something that bothered me for a while, but after mulling it over, makes sense for the sport.
Think about it.
This would involve the entire nation in the baseball playoffs rather than one region or another.
This plan would consist of 16 Western Conference teams, 14 Eastern Conference teams and three divisions per conference.
Ideally, there would be an even amount of teams in each league, but you can’t have an uneven number in both leagues due to scheduling concerns.
We would use the current playoff system with the three division winners plus one wild card team.
Quick item: no more DH. The pitchers need to hit.
The western teams would be:
Pacific: San Francisco, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland, Seattle
Southwest: Arizona, San Diego, Texas, Houston, Colorado
Midwest: St. Louis, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Minnesota
The east would break down like this:
Northeast: New York Yankees, New York Mets, Philadelphia, Boston
Central: Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Toronto
Atlantic: Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Washington
This plan keeps the traditional rivalries in tact and builds up some natural local rivalries (I.e.: Angels and Dodgers).
It would also get more than one region of the country involved in the World Series.
For the MLB executives, think about the possibility of Los Angeles and New York World Series.
Chicago and Boston. Okay, White Sox and Boston. Not like the Cubs will win anytime soon.
The competitive balance of the divisions and leagues will take care of itself. The NFL’s divisional model is a great example of teams raising their game due to the competition.
Yes, a hard salary cap helps, but that’s a different topic for a different time.
Another part of this plan is to do away with interleague play.
It has lost its special quality after 14 years and creates too many imbalanced schedules. This, in turn, will make the All-Star Game and World Series more special.
Gimmicks are fun in the short term but need to go after a while.
Baseball needs a makeover and this might be one way to so it.
Follow Zack Farmer on Twitter: @FarmboySports
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