Expansion and Realignment

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

19 hours ago, floplag said:

I dont like the idea of the 8 team leagues with more wild cards, i would much rather see 8 4 team divisions without ANY wildcards. 
Aside form that the rest was fine for m.

As long as they keep both leagues AL & NL intact.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

19 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Better yet, move the A's to Vegas and Tampa Bay to Charlotte.

The A's have just reach agreement on a new stadium, so there not moving.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

19 hours ago, floplag said:

i personally think Mexico City is far more likely than any domestic location.   Followed possibly by Vegas and or the previously mentioned Carolinas/Tennessee.   I had also previously mentioned a Western Canada location as an option.  

Not sure a lot of players would be OK relocating to Mexico. Besides it's another high elevation city, nearly 2000 feet higher than Denver.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

19 hours ago, Stradling said:

Ok, let’s make this make sense.  In the AL there would be two 8 team divisions or four 4 team divisions.  It’s much more likely to have two teams have winning records than four teams.  Then you take the teams with the remaining best records for wild cards.  

Posted 17 hours ago

All I know is the DH needs to be in both leagues. Watching a pitcher hit is awful. No other sport in the world plays by two separate rules just because a team plays 50 miles north/south of one another. 

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I don't think there will be two leagues anymore if this plan actually happens. If the western division has the Angels, Dodgers, San Diego, Seattle, Oakland, SF, Portland, and Arizona. That would end the two league system. I don't like at all.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

11 hours ago, California Cajun said:

I would like to see 4 8-team divisions, with an intradivision schedule.  The Angels, Dodgers, SD, Arizona, SF, Oakland, Seattle, and Colorado would make the Western Division with the existing teams.

What about Portland?

[California Cajun]

7 minutes ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

What about Portland?

I was just looking at the existing teams for now.  It’s hard for me to see Portland added because their market has to be one of the smaller ones compared to some others.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

2 hours ago, California Cajun said:

I was just looking at the existing teams for now.  It’s hard for me to see Portland added because their market has to be one of the smaller ones compared to some others.

Without two expansion teams that whole plan falls apart. Portland seems to be able to support a basketball franchise.

Portland metropolitan area.
includes Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties, Oregon and Clark and Skamania counties, Washington.
2015 population: 2,389,228.

Las Vegas at 583,756

[The_Outrunner]

On 10/17/2017 at 8:18 PM, Blarg said:

Calzone, the Expos are a dead franchise and it's not the Angels fault. It's because no one in Canada gave a shit about them. Get over it.

Living very close to Toronto, no one gives a shit about the Expos outside of Quebec for the 3 days the Jays are there. Toronto fans are insanely fickle to begin with, but Expos fans are even worse. They get their few games before the season begins, and then boom they're gone. They bitch and complain about how they need a team and how they would have won in 94 blah blah blah.  

[Stradling]

I would assume they would still keep the titles of American League and National League.  Just all of the teams would change.  

[floplag]

3 hours ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

Not sure a lot of players would be OK relocating to Mexico. Besides it's another high elevation city, nearly 2000 feet higher than Denver.

i dont think its up to the players, the league wants the international market and its likely the most viable location. 

[floplag]

3 hours ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

As long as they keep both leagues AL & NL intact.

Yes i agree, though the split rules need to be dropped.  Im a DH guy and prefer the AL rules, its one of the reason i jumped off the Dodger train as a child in a house full of Dodger fans seeing pitchers wasting everyone time trying to hit. 
Although, i wouldnt completely oppose the idea of foregoing that to try to ensure the 2 best teams made the WS each year as opposed to having the best baseball be in the DS as is often the case. 

[well_red]

3 hours ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

The A's have just reach agreement on a new stadium, so there not moving.

They pitched the site as their preferred location, still plenty of opposition and hurdles.  

[zenmaster]

Let's mix it all up. This is getting boring.

[Angel Oracle]

4 hours ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

The A's have just reach agreement on a new stadium, so there not moving.

True, but with the politics up there, I'm still leery until ground is broken and significant construction has taken place.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

6 hours ago, floplag said:

i dont think its up to the players, the league wants the international market and its likely the most viable location. 

Try and get players on a trade with no trade contracts or sign a FA because, yes it is up to them. Besides at 7,382 feet above sea level it wouldn't be baseball as we know it.

The air pollution is worse than the 50s and 60s in SoCal. I remember playing sports in the summer as a teenager and having chest pains and sore eyes from the smog. There hasn't been any smog alerts here since the 70s but they were common earlier.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

6 hours ago, Stradling said:

I would assume they would still keep the titles of American League and National League.  Just all of the teams would change.  

How would there still be 2 leagues if they went with just 4 division with 8 teams each? What north and west in one and south and east in the other? I don't think so. They would just combine the two leagues with is why I think it will never happen.

They may get 2 expansion teams alright, but keep the two leagues with only 4 teams in 4 divisions in each league if they do it at all.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

5 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

True, but with the politics up there, I'm still leery until ground is broken and significant construction has taken place.

Owner seemed pretty set on staying in Oakland and the financing is in place. They have been jumping through hoops for years looking at other cities and haven't found one. No they're staying count on it.

[nate]

They should get rid of the pitcher hitting and just do an east/west configuration like hockey.  Two conferences and two divisions in each conference.

Would mean the Angels play SF, LAD, SD more often as they would be in the same division.

[AngelsLakersFan]

The pitcher vs DH debate is too polarizing. It would be nice if there was a compromise solution....

I'm a big fan of the duel substitution rule, which effectively lets you choose between keeping your pitcher in after pinch hitting for him, or keeping the pinch hitter available to come back into the game later.

[disarcina]

Contraction preferred to expansion.

eliminate the Florida based teams........just can't draw there -  fans must get their fill of better viewing / seats  baseball in Spring Training.

tough to sit in the upper deck of stadium that holds 50,000 fans when you're used to attending games at small capacity/ closer to field seating minor league parks.

If I were MLB, I would choose Las Vegas over Portland

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

1 hour ago, disarcina said:

If I were MLB, I would choose Las Vegas over Portland

Portland has a bigger fan base to draw from than Los Vegas and has the financing available according to the linked article. Las Vegas is already on the hook to build a new football stadium, can they afford both?

[Junkballer]

I've yet to meet a hard core fan of a NL team that is remotely interested in transitioning to a DH.  They pine on about strategy and minimizing the role of the manager.  They would hate it.  Which is why I'd love it!

[red321]

1 hour ago, Junkballer said:

I've yet to meet a hard core fan of a NL team that is remotely interested in transitioning to a DH.  They pine on about strategy and minimizing the role of the manager.  They would hate it.  Which is why I'd love it!

yes, nothing more strategic than watching a manager tell the pitcher to not swing with the bases loaded...or drop down a sacrifice bunt with one out. 

ohhh...big strategy.

They'll get over it.

 

[zenmaster]

13 minutes ago, red321 said:

yes, nothing more strategic than watching a manager tell the pitcher to not swing with the bases loaded...or drop down a sacrifice bunt with one out. 

ohhh...big strategy.

They'll get over it.

 

The double switch! It's so complex and intricate that only the best of the best can pull it off!

[red321]

Just now, zenmaster said:

The double switch! It's so complex and intricate that only the best of the best can pull it off!

yes...who made the last out? ok, bench em and put the pitcher in that spot

 

I didn't even manage in the minors and I figured that shit out

 

In the days where a starter went more than 5-6 innings, sure, maybe there was the occasional do I pull a pitcher who is scheduled to bat in the 6th inning of a 0-0 game with 2 outs and a runner on second. Now we see starters pulled after 80+ pitches in the 6th inning of a playoff game they are dominating and a 3 run lead because they gave up a 2 out flare.