My plan for major league baseball……..
13) Total geographic realignement; no more American/National Leagues.
Northeast- Mets, Bronx, Phillies, Montreal, Red Sox, Orioles, Nationals, Toronto
South- Braves, Marlins, Rays, Cardinals. Nashville, Astros, Rangers, Royals,
Midwest- Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Tigers, Pirates, Indians, Reds
West- Giants, Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Mariners, Rockies, Arizona, Portland.
12) You may have noticed four 8-team divisions, which is 32 teams, not 30. We think that the scheduling would be 1,000 times easier with 32 teams. Plus, we like 27-man rosters year-round, so that would be 84 new major league jobs, which the players’ union will like.
A’s would move to Portland, which is building a 35,000-seat stadium, Montreal, Nashville get expansion teams.
11) Realignment reduces travel costs, invigorates regional rivalries, which gets more people talking about baseball, which is what the sport needs.
10) My playoffs would look like this:
— Four division winners get first-round byes.
— Wild Card round would be best-of-3 series, all at site of team with better record.
— Semifinal round is best-of-5, World Series is best-of-7.
9) Scheduling:
— Play other seven teams in your division 12 times each (84 games).
— Play teams in other division in your conference six times each (48 games).
— Play teams in one of other divisions three times each (24 games). Alternate those divisions every year.
That is a 156-game schedule; shorter regular season is followed by longer playoffs.
8) Get rid of situational lefties; the 3-batter minimum for relievers is a good rule.
7) Every team should play four Sunday doubleheaders; twinbills are great fun, and we’re trying to grow the game with younger fans. Players would go for this, because every doubleheader means an additional day off.
6) No coaches/managers are allowed on the field during the game, except to see to an injured player. No mound visits, just slows down the game.
5) Get rid of TV blackouts; baseball needs more exposure, not less. People need to see what an excellent game it, they need to learn about it. Blacking out replays of games out is antiquated stuff; young people need to see the game, so they can learn to love it like I do.
4) I’ve been to AAA games with the 30-second clock in between pitches; it isn’t intrusive on the game. Put it in.
3) DH would be the rule for everyone. Watching pitchers hit is useless.
2) If you insist on making the All-Star Game more competitive, make it US vs the World, then you’ll quickly realize that format would be TOO competitive, then go back to East vs West.
1) More teams in playoffs would be fine, but 156 games is fine; that is what baseball is, 156 games in 182 days, a test of stamina and execution and depth. Some people are never going to embrace baseball; MLB needs to make sure they don’t tick off people who already love it.
