Expansion and realignment

[DJ]

The Royals by one.

I could understand if you were suggesting to relocate them because of the reasons you listed, but you're talking about contracting them, and from my perspective, the Rays, measured by performance, are a better franchise than the Royals.

This.

 

[msgkings322]

I wasn't trying to make a joke, I was being serious. Hidden in Cal's snarky post was the notion of "slippery slope." If we DH for the pitcher today, is the catcher next? It's something I've considered while weighing the DH/No DH debate.

Slippery slope arguments are usually pretty weak. If everything is a first step to something else nothing can ever be changed. In this case there's a clear delineation, the pitcher is a significantly different player than a position player.

I'm one of the few people who likes it the way it is, with different rules in each league. It goes with another thing I like about baseball, different dimensions for each playing field. No other sport does that either. One of the reasons I really like baseball is the quirkiness, and I like having some DH and some non DH.

 

[JohnU]

Bull-fucking-shit.

You've never been to a Dodgers-Giants or Yankees-Red Sox game......have you?

In all cases it's about hardcore fans who wish it to be more than it is. The networks would like everything to be like it is in college football, where a grunt mentality of frat boys makes it a bigger deal.
But if you are wrapped up in a rivalry, that's your choice. Most of what I hear on pro sports rivalries is a bunch of wackoffs going around trash-talking each other.

 

[Mike A. S.]

Solid, but how would the playoffs work? Don't think for a second they would reduce the number of playoff teams.

You're right, they would not. But there's plenty of options. I'd say all division winners make it and also the best wild card...the worst division winner would play the wild card team. As a cool bonus you could even say the Wild Card team had to win 2 games to advance, where as the worst division winner only needed to win 1...if the wild card team won the first game they'd play a winner-take-all game as part of a double header. But you could also do 2 "wild card" games if they wanted to expand the playoffs. All division winners would be seeded 1-4, wild card teams would be 5-6. #3 would play #6, #4 would play #5 in one-game playoffs.

 

[wazzu31]

Montreal and Vegas, not Portland. And keep the DH in the AL and pitchers hit in the NL. Maybe switch it up during IL where pitchers hit in AL parks and vice versa. Manfred needs to keep something traditional with baseball.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

This is not correct. But there may only be 3 relevant intraleague ones: Cubs Cards, Yankees Red Sox, Dodgers Giants

At least the ones that matter on a national level, anyways.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Montreal and Vegas, not Portland. And keep the DH in the AL and pitchers hit in the NL. Maybe switch it up during IL where pitchers hit in AL parks and vice versa. Manfred needs to keep something traditional with baseball.

At this point, I'd almost rather each team "elect" which rule they'd prefer for the upcoming season by the Winter Meetings. Resolves at least some of the hurt feelings about the DH/Pitcher pissing contest we have as evidenced by this thread. Repeat it each season. Maybe some teams with lighter budgets or lineups drop the DH for the year, or the inverse is true. Would make things interesting. Would be more "strategy" in that than the mindless double switches I keep being told about.

 

[calsnowskier]

At this point, I'd almost rather each team "elect" which rule they'd prefer for the upcoming season by the Winter Meetings. Resolves at least some of the hurt feelings about the DH/Pitcher pissing contest we have as evidenced by this thread. Repeat it each season. Maybe some teams with lighter budgets or lineups drop the DH for the year, or the inverse is true. Would make things interesting. Would be more "strategy" in that than the mindless double switches I keep being told about.

Interesting idea...