There has been a lot of talk this year about Major League Baseball realigning the divisions and maybe even the leagues. The most popular notion has them moving the Houston Astros to the American League to balance leagues the two leagues out. It is an idea that seem non-invasive that somehow ends up creating several potential major problems that cannot be easily resolved, which is probably why the league is holding off on making the move until 2013 at the earliest so that they can fine-tune the plan so that it doesn’t create so many waves.
Where’s the fun in that? If the league wants to shake things up in the name of competitive balance, why not really swing for the fences? I say, forget about realignment and start thinking about… relegation.
If you are a big fan of European soccer leagues like the English Premier League, you already know all about relegation. Since soccer sucks, I’m going to assume that nobody reading this is familiar with the concept. The basic breakdown is that there is one top-level league that plays for the championship, or at least the best teams do, we all know about that fun part. The not so fun part, depending on who you root for, is that the worst teams in the top-level league get kicked out at the end of the season and replaced by the best (term “best” used loosely) from the league the next level down. Basically, if you win, you get rewarded; if you don’t you get punished. The Euros may have thought of it, but it sure does sound like the American way!
So how would it actually work for Major League Baseball? It could be constructed in a few ways, but the goal with this relegation alignment is to make it so BOTH leagues are as competitive as possible and fans have a deep rooting interest all season long. So, here is what I imagine the system being like:
- There is still an American League and a National League, except the National League, due to seniority, gets to be the “A” league that plays for the World Series while the American League gets stuck as the “B” league. There are 15 teams in each league, just the way Bud the Use Car Salesman wants it. Oh, and no divisions in either league, which makes sense because of the constantly shifting membership.
- Both leagues use the DH, sorry. It is the only way to be fair to everyone since we can’t have teams switching leagues and gaining or losing a DH in the process.
- In the “A” league, Bud gets his way and the top ten teams go to the playoffs. That seems like a lot, but what it does is give every team a legit shot at tasting post-season action. With two-thirds of the league going to the playoffs, you’d have to be pretty bad not to at least be within striking distance of that final playoff spot until before August rolls around. It also resolves the major problem MLB has where teams feel like they can’t ever get a legit shot at the post-season because they are stuck in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox. The big market teams still have an advantage, but with so many playoff spots for so few teams, they can’t just bully the poorer teams into giving up.
- At the end of the season, the worst two teams in the “A” league get shown the door and forced into the “B” league with the best two teams in the “B” league taking their spots. So, even if your “A” league team stinks, they still have incentive to play hard all the way to the end so that they don’t get unceremoniously demoted to a lesser league. And if your favorite team is already in the “B” league, then you get to root for them to play well enough to get back to top league. The rest of us get to enjoy more competitive baseball all year long since no teams are just going to roll over and play dead the final two months (or more) of the season. To up the ante, you could even add a wrinkle where the second-worst “A” league team plays the second-best “B” league team to decide if they will actually switch leagues.
- It is important to note that the “B” league is NOT another level of the minor leagues. All the franchises would maintain the normal farm systems regardless of which league they belong to.
- Finally, teams in the “B” league do not see ONE CENT of revenue sharing money. If the lack of respect associated with being in the “B” league wasn’t incentive enough, this gives teams a financial incentive to do everything within their power to get back to the “A” league. This is really the biggest part of the relegation package that will make baseball better for everyone involved. This system should see to it that franchises like the Marlins can’t sit back and field not-so-competitive teams on a low payroll while cashing big fat revenue-sharing checks. If they try that in the “B” league, the team will still stink, but the owner won’t be making much of a profit, if any. In good time, that should weed out most of the owners who legitimately don’t care about winning.
Describing the logistics of the relegation system only tells half the story though. The real juicy part for the fans is the annual drama the system creates. Had the system been applied to this season, the Rays, a pretty good team stuck in an impossibly tough division, would still be playing for a playoff spot. The White Sox probably would have never made the Edwin Jackson trade since they too would be in much better shape for a post-season spot.
And then comes the real excitement from the relegation itself. Even the most well-run team is subject to a terrible season every once in a great while, so nobody will ever be free from relegation danger. Can you imagine the potential chaos that would ensue if the Yankees got relegated? It isn’t an impossible idea either. Remember, “A” league teams are playing what should be the top 15 best teams in baseball all season long, meaning nobody gets a bloated record because they’ve been beating up on cupcakes all season long since the cupcakes get weeded out at the end of every year.
Conversely, some teams seem to be without hope for years and years and years. The Pirates have gotten loads of attention this season because they looked like they might win the division up until the start of August. But now that they are falling off, they are nothing more than a disappointing tease. However, in the relegation system, the Pirates probably would’ve been card-carrying “B” league members for at least a decade, so this upstart of a season they are having actually could have a legit payoff in the form of Pittsburgh finishing atop the “B” league can getting promoted to the “A” league which should at least be a moral victory for their long-suffering fans.
The relegation system may not be perfect since nobody is going to be happy about being in the “B” league, but if Major League Baseball really wants to get to a point of having real parity, this is the best option they have since it is the only option that actually provides both incentive to compete and disincentive for not competing.
