A Letter to Bud Selig

Dear Mr. Selig,

I am aware that the state of Major League Baseball dictates a change of the current divisional layout.  The divisions have been unbalanced for years and need reshaping in order to increase the fairness in a way that maintains the integrity of the game.  While in certain occasions I consider myself a baseball purist, I have learned that change can be good for the game.  Balancing divisions and adding another team to the playoffs would increase fan interest, and give more teams a shot at postseason play.  However, there have been rumors that a solution to the unbalanced divisions would be to move the Houston Astros from the National League Central to the American League West, giving both divisions five teams a piece.  While I see that this is an easy and quick change that can be made, I feel that it would unfairly affect fans of the game whose loyalty could rest with multiple teams.

New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles all have two teams in each city (as I’m guessing you know) one American League and one National League.  This allows fans to effectively root for both of their home teams over 95% of the time (allowing for 6 interleague games a year against each other).  Everyone will have their one favorite team; for example: Cubs fans live and die on the north side, but will root for the White Sox as well, and Yankees fans will pick the Yankees over the Mets any day but still can go to Mets games and root for them.  They are what I like to call dual citizenship fans.  They belong to both the Cubs Nation and the White Sox Nation.  This is why putting teams like this in the same division would be a terrible idea, alienating fans who have cheered for both squads for years. 

Texas is a special place.  It is the biggest and best place in the world, and although the Rangers and Astros don’t play in the same city, because they are both in Texas they are loved by fans all across the second largest state in the country.  They might as well be in the same city.  Putting them in the same division would be disastrous to the Astros and Rangers dual citizenship fans.  Fans like me who lived in Houston until I graduated High School and currently live in Fort Worth.  I am a Rangers fan for all but six days a year when they are playing the Astros.  If the two were moved into the same division it would cause the Rangers to lose a great fan, rather than gain the interest of others.  I know I am only one man, but I know that there are many more like me who would be so hurt by the two Texas teams having to compete for the same division.  That is why I have devised a couple of alternate options for realignment. 

First of all I must preface the fact that both of these options assume that we will be moving to two 15 team leagues; thus giving everyone a rolling interleague schedule rather than the set aside weeks that are currently in place.   

Option 1   

Move the Milwaukee Brewers back to the American League, where they were prior to 1994.  The Brewers were moved to even out the leagues giving each league an even number allowing for a better interleague schedule.  I wouldn’t call the Brewers initial move an unsuccessful experiment, thoughts have changed over the past 15+ years and we have found that the idea of two 15 team leagues is not as bad an idea as initially thought.  The Brewers have been in the National League for the shortest amount of time (other than the expansion Diamondbacks of course) and would easily move back to the American League.  I would then place the Brewers in the American League Central where they would geographically fit in with the White Sox, Twins, Tigers, and Indians.  I would then move the Royals to the American League West giving the Rangers a division rival that is closer than Anaheim.  This would even out both leagues and I believe improve both divisions.  It would be a simple quick move that would cause a minimal amount of confusion for everyday fans. 

Option 2       

Move the Arizona Diamondbacks to the American League West and move the Astros to the National League West.  Doing so would still give the Rangers a closer division rival than the Angels, as well as even up the leagues and divisions.  Although the Astros aren’t the best geographic fit for the West division, the travel plans haven’t affected the Rangers too much since they were put in the American League West years ago.  It would have to be the Astros that moved from the Central because the Cubs and Cardinals have to stay in the same division in order to maintain the rivalry they have developed over the years.  Also, the Pirates, Brewers, and Reds could not travel that kind of distance for every division game.  Arizona has not developed any major rivalry inside their division, and this would give Texas fans the ability to still root for both their teams. 

These two options would even up the leagues, what you do with both leagues after that is another story.  Mike Greenberg of Mike and Mike In the Morning (which I know you watch) has been trying to sell his plan of two 15 team leagues, allowing the top six teams into the playoffs.  Every team would play a balanced schedule, playing each team in the opposite league three times a piece, giving them roughly 8 games apiece against the teams in their own league.  I love the idea of evening up the schedules, giving teams like Baltimore and Toronto more of a chance, and I think overall this plan is a very good one.  The only flaw I see in the plan (and as Bob Costas said on Mike and Mike In the Morning, every plan will inevitably have flaws) is that there is a possibility of good teams playing meaningless games in September.  The one thing I hate about the NBA is the fact that teams like the Lakers, the Heat, and the Celtics, who are going to make the playoffs regardless, play games that mean nothing toward the end of the season.  In February the Lakers can lose three or four in a row with little to no consequences because they have clinched a playoff spot weeks before the playoffs begin.  I fear that this will happen to the top tier teams every year, clinching playoff spots with three or more weeks to play in the regular season.  I personally like the current division rivalries, but agree that something has to change for teams like the Orioles who have to play the Yankees and Red Sox 18 or 19 times a year and are vying for the same Wild Card spot as any other team not in the American League East that only has to play those two teams a handful of times.  What would be wrong with keeping the divisions, but lowering the number of games played within the divisions?  If we kept Greeny’s idea of playing each team in the other league three times a piece, then each team played the teams in their division 12 times; it would leave 69 games to be divided up amongst the other 10 teams in their respective league.  I think this would help give more teams a chance while maintaining division rivalries. 

I know that you have a very difficult job, and in the end will do whatever is best for Major League Baseball, I just hope that my ideas could give you a different perspective on things.  Losing one of my teams would be devastating, especially since for me the team that I would lose would be from the area I currently live in.  Change is needed, but I think that there are avenues of change that can affect a smaller number of people and still bring fans to this great game.  

Sincerely,

John Briese.      

http://notyourusualsportsguy.blogspot.com           

Posted in: Bud Selig,Houston Astros,MLB realignment,Texas Rangers