There once was (almost) a Continental League. Or as Baseball Digest called it a "con league."

Hmm, that's not what I expected. From the title, I thought the author would propose splitting the 30 MLB teams into 3 leagues, each with two 5-team divisions. That's actually a way to balance the number of teams per division without adding teams.

There would be a Continental League championship and that would give fans in cities like Kansas City and Pittsburgh some hope for their baseball teams.

AAA teams have the PCL and Governors Cup championships, and fans pretty clearly don't care about those.

Hmm, that's not what I expected. From the title, I thought the author would propose splitting the 30 MLB teams into 3 leagues, each with two 5-team divisions. That's actually a way to balance the number of teams per division without adding teams.

Interesting.

You could go 15 games against your division opponents (60), 8 against the other division in your league(40), and have 60 against the other 20, one series a year. And a bonus 2 game series vs. the natural "rival".

The real question is how to do the playoffs. The two division winners obviously face off to crown the three League Champions, 5-game series. Then you'd need a wildcard division, say next best 4 records play 2 3-game series to advance to play the 4 league Champs.

Not bad.

Weiner's heart is in the right place, but it seems that every one of these proposed risky realignment schemes is screwier than the one before it. If you accept his premise that fans in the 14 Continental League cities would be content with what amounts to minor league status, then his idea isn't too bad. But there's absolutely nothing in history or in human nature to suggest such acquiescence. Look at the pre-expansion attendance figures for any current Major League city that formerly was in the minors and you'll get the idea. While Weiner obviously doesn't intend it to be this way, what he's outlined is little more than contraction with a fig leaf.

The underlying problem with all these realignment ideas is that they all seem to be in reaction to a "problem" that isn't there: Yankees / Red Sox "domination." But the only real way to address that "problem" is by radical revenue sharing, NFL style, or by a hard salary cap. Neither of which are going to happen.

IMO baseball needs contraction. Drop back to 24 teams, 2 leagues of 2 divisions of six teams each. Drop the six weakest of the small market teams. You'd get better baseball (less dilution of player talent), get rid of the permanent losers, make things more equitable, and have better and easier schedules.

only American and National league teams can play in the World Series.

There would be a Continental League championship and that would give fans in cities like Kansas City and Pittsburgh some hope for their baseball teams.

Can we name it the NIT? Please? Pretty please?

AO

If you accept his premise that fans in the 14 Continental League cities would be content with what amounts to minor league status...

To say nothing of the players who would be relegated to what amounts to minor league status.

IMO baseball needs contraction. Drop back to 24 teams, 2 leagues of 2 divisions of six teams each. Drop the six weakest of the small market teams. You'd get better baseball (less dilution of player talent), get rid of the permanent losers, make things more equitable, and have better and easier schedules.

This makes no sense to me. Who are the permanent losers? KC, PIT and ????

Several of the small market teams that would be natural candidates have been playoff regulars (MIN, OAK) or have won World Series (FLA) very recently.

A few things I think you could to do if you want to increase parity even more.

1) Teams must spend all their central fund (nat'l TV, MLBAM) and revenue sharing/luxury tax money on player salaries/bonuse and development. make it a rolling 4-year average, to allow a team to go cheap at the bottom of a rebuilding cycle.

2) Global draft with hard slotting of bonuses, or a hard cap for bonuses. Again the cap could be a multi-year cap, to allow for a Strasburg signing once a decade.

3) Add a second wild-card to each league with a play-in game, or 3-game series between the 2 wild cards. This alleviates the situation of teams trapped below the Yankees and Red Sox, and puts significant value on winning your division.

Hmm, that's not what I expected. From the title, I thought the author would propose splitting the 30 MLB teams into 3 leagues, each with two 5-team divisions. That's actually a way to balance the number of teams per division without adding teams.

Shameless plug of my rarely-viewed and haphazardly-updated blog ...

I started writing about something similar two weeks ago here: http://productiveouts.blogspot.com/2010/03/realignment-part-1.html

The BTF purists may begin hurling insults at me for promoting my own stuff in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

The BTF purists may begin hurling insults at me for promoting my own stuff in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

Hey, man, you know that's wrong. You must be one of those anarchists or looney liberals.

Weiner's heart is in the right place, but it seems that every one of these proposed risky realignment schemes is screwier than the one before it. If you accept his premise that fans in the 14 Continental League cities would be content with what amounts to minor league status, then his idea isn't too bad. But there's absolutely nothing in history or in human nature to suggest such acquiescence. Look at the pre-expansion attendance figures for any current Major League city that formerly was in the minors and you'll get the idea. While Weiner obviously doesn't intend it to be this way, what he's outlined is little more than contraction with a fig leaf.

I didn't RTWFA, but if you're going to adopt Weiner's principles, there's no need for "permanent" members or the like. The Continental League should simply be the lowest of the three divisions, with pure relegation and promotion every year. Letting the Con League champ into the playoffs is worthwhile, and a nice way, generally speaking, to Americanize the relegation/promotion system. You could even have a playoff for the last promotion slot, as does the English Premier League.

Relegation and promotion would actually be a better boost to September attendance than the phony "races" drummed up by the current wild card.

The BTF purists may begin hurling insults at me

Sir, you used two hyphenated modifying phrases where one would have been plenty. The approved acronym is "BBTF," and your URL is ridiculously long. Plus, I can infer from what you say that you believe in the physical existence of Zip codes.

IMO baseball needs contraction. Drop back to 24 teams, 2 leagues of 2 divisions of six teams each. Drop the six weakest of the small market teams. You'd get better baseball (less dilution of player talent), get rid of the permanent losers, make things more equitable, and have better and easier schedules.

Wouldn't this create a new class of permanent losers?

Wouldn't this create a new class of permanent losers?

Indeed – permanent losers were part of the baseball scene back when there were two single-division leagues and 16 teams.

The age that seemed (and in part was) designed to eliminate permanent losers was the era from 1965 to about 1990, when the draft gave equal access to young talent and top free agents were still affordable by all. But one only has to look at the record that the Cleveland Indians established over that span to realize that you can put together a permanent loser if you really set your mind to it.

Relegation and promotion would actually be a better boost to September attendance than the phony "races" drummed up by the current wild card.

Perhaps, but why would an owner want a one month bump in attendance in exchange for the possibility of having years/decades of reduced attendance? It doesn't seem like a smart move for MLB to reduce their fanbase by almost half unless they think there would be a corresponding increase in interest from fans of the 16 remaining teams. Even then the concept is dubious in terms of building future interest. Sure, a team would get promoted now and then but with years of reduced (probably massively so) attendance and media cash behind them, they wouldn't have the resources to stay in the top league for very long. Also, all the sponsors and tv/radio stations affiliated with a given team would probably pull their sponsorships or at least drastically reduce the amount they are paying the team. Also, owners would see the value of their investments drop precipitously. The teams in the lower division would probably sell for little more than a AAA team (currently around $25 million from what I can tell).

Milwaukee just went over 3 million in attendance for the first 2 seasons in their history. If they were booted to a lower league, I think they would be lucky to get a tenth of that, even if they drastically cut their ticket prices. It wouldn't be so much the minor league aspect that people would view as distasteful (minor league sports tend to draw well in Milwaukee) but the fact that they were being told they weren't good enough to compete with the big boys. That would go over poorly and probably kill interest in baseball in Wisconsin for good. I imagine the same would happen in certain other markets as well. A lot of smaller cities already have a kind of inferiority complex about being looked down on by the larger cities. This proposal would be far too graphic a confirmation of everybody's worst fears of being marginalized or irrelevant.

Perhaps, but why would an owner want a one month bump in attendance in exchange for the possibility of having years/decades of reduced attendance?

Presumably because he'd get promoted back up out of the Con League after a year and, if he won it, he'd get a chance to play the other leagues' winners in the playoffs. There's no way Milwaukee would draw only 300K at the head of this hypothetical Con League.

I'm not so sure the Con League would be deemed "minor league." To the extent it is, residence in it isn't permanent, so the "minor league" label isn't permanent.

The NL would have the New York Mets, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and the Chicago Cubs as permanent members...St. Louis...San Francisco...Washington and perhaps Denver....The National Conference of the Continental League could include Arizona, Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Washington.

Houston and Atlanta would apparently be contracted.

Jack/10: Speaking as a 'purist' - listing it in a comment is fine/good, posting it as an article is not. (Let someone else post it as an article, if it merits discussion).

You know, the Nazis had a Continental League where they made the Jews play while wearing their pieces of flair.

You'd get better baseball (less dilution of player talent),

There is no such thing as dilution of player talent.

Sir, you used two hyphenated modifying phrases where one would have been plenty. The approved acronym is "BBTF," and your URL is ridiculously long. Plus, I can infer from what you say that you believe in the physical existence of Zip codes.

Worthy of repeat mention.

Entertaining but if you want everyone to have a 'playoff shot' then we'd need to jump to a NBA/NHL system - 16 teams in the playoffs, 3 division winners plus 5 wildcards per league. If MLB was following that system then the Expos would probably still be in Montreal (2 games out in 2003 - their second last season, 7th seed in 2002, 1 game out in 1997, 5th seed in 1996 - that covers the post-1994 seasons with 2 playoffs and 2 near misses over 10 seasons not to mention how often they'd have made it pre-1994).

Another good method is lifetime drafts - you get drafted that is it, you are stuck with that team and your service clocks (40 man roster and ML service time) don't start until you sign on the dotted line. I could see the players association signing off on that in exchange for, say, a 26th roster spot during the season (30 more jobs, hopefully for hitters) and an increased minimum wage. Cheap for owners ($400-500k for that extra slot vs millions for 'overdrafts' plus maybe one or two million more for an increased minimum) and helps the union (more members) with only kids who have only the Japanese League as an alternative getting screwed over. Then the team with the #1 pick will take the best player (first draft after this would be really high quality thanks to high schoolers being very useful to draft plus the college kids who hadn't signed in the past). More kids go to college (teams encouraging it to keep service time clocks down), colleges get to promote how they have x number of first rounders playing for them right now. Wins for all but the Boras' of the world and the kids coming into baseball and also for minor league teams (top prospects take longer to get to them, if ever).

Sucks for them, but nice for MLB/MLBPA/minor leaguer players (30 of them get ML jobs, others keep minor league jobs a bit longer with more kids going to college)/Colleges/competitive balance.

There's no way Milwaukee would draw only 300K at the head of this hypothetical Con League.

I'm not so sure the Con League would be deemed "minor league." To the extent it is, residence in it isn't permanent, so the "minor league" label isn't permanent.

I don't follow the European leagues but, for those who do, how does relegation typically effect attendance in the following season?

I'm imagining the scenario in TFA. where the Rangers are relegated and the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, and Mariners stay in the American League. Unless there's interleague play (in which case why split the leagues to start with?) those teams stop coming to Arlington, and we lose two kinds of fans: strong fans of those four clubs; casual fans who want to see Jeter or Ichiro in person. We probably don't lose me, because I like minor-league and amateur baseball anyway, and a chance to see AAAA baseball (for, hopefully, lower ticket and parking prices) is cool. But as several posters have noted, as a national marketing strategy for MLB, this is a losing proposition.

Milwaukee just went over 3 million in attendance for the first 2 seasons in their history. If they were booted to a lower league, I think they would be lucky to get a tenth of that, even if they drastically cut their ticket prices. It wouldn't be so much the minor league aspect that people would view as distasteful (minor league sports tend to draw well in Milwaukee) but the fact that they were being told they weren't good enough to compete with the big boys. That would go over poorly and probably kill interest in baseball in Wisconsin for good. I imagine the same would happen in certain other markets as well. A lot of smaller cities already have a kind of inferiority complex about being looked down on by the larger cities. This proposal would be far too graphic a confirmation of everybody's worst fears of being marginalized or irrelevant.

This is so screamingly true that it should end the discussion right there. Certain Primates have often jokingly referred to the current NL as a "AAAA league" and it invariably draws blood from NL fans. Just imagine the reaction from fans of teams like the Astros or the Marlins if that "AAAA" crack represented something real, and not just a passing attempt at humor.

File this plan under "Cure Far Worse Than Disease."

File this article under "needs an editor:"

The 1986 federal tax reform had a loophole that put a ceiling on how much revenue generated inside a municipally funded stadium or arena _________ at eight percent, which meant owners could negotiate sweetheart contracts and pay players.

I put that blank inside Mr. Weiner's quote. Am I wrong to think he left part of this sentence out, the part in the blank? Otherwise, that sentence makes no sense. Can someone explain it?

Once a player got to his sixth year, he could leave.

Seventh year, bro.

Continental would (like in basketball) get a connotation of "not quite first class". And after figuring the schedule that produces the least pain, team quality realignments would then make that change the next year. And what happens when San Diego keeps Adrian Gonzalez all year to win the Continental Series, gets promoted, then loses him as a FA?

IMO baseball needs contraction. Drop back to 24 teams, 2 leagues of 2 divisions of six teams each. Drop the six weakest of the small market teams. You'd get better baseball (less dilution of player talent), get rid of the permanent losers, make things more equitable, and have better and easier schedules.

worst. idea. ever. there's more than enough talent around to expand. MLB should add two teams and then realign into 8 4-team divisions. that's my mantra and i'm sticking to it.

MLB should add two teams and then realign into 8 4-team divisions. that's my mantra and i'm sticking to it.

4 8-team divisions, 2 WC's per league. 8 divisions will just mean we get the joy of seeing 80 win teams in the playoffs while 95 win teams sit at home.

My crazy realignment:

AL East
Baltimore
Boston
New Jersey
NY Yanks
Tampa Bay
Toronto

AL Central
Charlotte
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland
Detroit
Kansas City
Minnesota

AL West
Anaheim
Las Vegas
Oakland
Portland
Seattle
Texas

NL East
Atlanta
Florida
Montreal
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington

NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Cincy
Houston
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
St. Louis

NL West
Arizona
Colorado
Los Angeles
Mexico City/San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco

18 times vs. teams within your division: 90 games
6 times vs. other teams in league: 72 games
No interleague

Six division winners. Top two other teams have one-game playoff (at the team w/ the better record) to determine the Wild Card. This game is the night before game one of the Divisional Series.

A man can dream, can’t they?

Great, I'll get to watch the Rangers lose to Portland and Las Vegas, too.

Weiner: A three-league solution for the MLB

Weiner: A third leg situation for the AVP

radical realignment:

bos
tor
brooklyn
nymets

nyy
pitt
phil
d.c.

det
cleve
cin
chicubs

balt
atl
fla
tb

min
mil
chisox
stl

laa
ariz
mexico city
sd

col
kc
tex
hous

sea
sf
oak
lad

the split is east and west of the mississippi. teams in divisions on same side of the miss. play each other 6 times each.

across the mississippi 4 times each.

season is 154 games.

shorter season allows for extra tier of 7 game playoffs because of the extra divisions that have to be eliminated.

the only oddity i don't like is that chicago is actually going to have one team classified as west of the mississippi and one team east of the mississippi, but maybe i can swap somebody out.

NL East
Atlanta
Florida
Montreal
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington
_________________________

Goodbye, Mets (unless they are the "New Jersey" AL team referred to).

Expanding to 32, I can see. 36? That's the baseball equivalent of too much ice cream.

NL East
Atlanta
Florida
Montreal
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington
_________________________

Goodbye, Mets (unless they are the "New Jersey" AL team referred to).

Expanding to 32, I can see. 36? That's the baseball equivalent of too much ice cream.

Oops, my bad. "Pittsburgh" should be "New York Mets", although it would be hysterical if Pittsburgh had two teams.

Regarding the 36, yeah I had to stretch on a couple of cities, but I think the 6X6 format is pleasing, both schedule-wise and "Fairness of getting to the playoffs"-wise.

That's the baseball equivalent of too much ice cream.

This is a good analogy, in that it is not possible.

Pittsburgh can have two teams in the year 2100, when climate change has made the Great Lakes area one of the few livable parts of the US.

Pittsburgh can have two teams in the year 2100, when climate change has made the Great Lakes area one of the few livable parts of the US.

In my view, it already is.

As long as everyone is putting forward radical ideas, here is mine, described with just two words: Floating divisions.

4 8-team divisions, 2 WC's per league. 8 divisions will just mean we get the joy of seeing 80 win teams in the playoffs while 95 win teams sit at home.

Actually, he said 4 8-team divisions, not 8 divisions, and if the 2 WC's can both come from the same division, an 80 win team getting in the playoffs will a 95 win teams sits at home is impossible.

you believe in the physical existence of Zip codes.

I always thought it would be cool if I was driving down a road and suddenly saw a big sign: Now Entering 10924. (Same thing for area codes...)

I always thought it would be cool if the two best non-division winners in each league played play-in games, but instead of having the two AL teams play and the two NL teams play have the NL teams play the AL teams. That would give the Rays or Jays or whomever a chance out of the AL East, and also increase the odds of having the 8 best teams in the playoffs, as it would be possible or even probable the AL teams would win both. The only problem there is how do you format the playoffs to accomodate 5 AL teams and 3 NL teams. I figure you make the weakest record play inthe other leagues playoffs, it would be kind of funny to see the Tampa Bay Rays win the NL pennant.

One 4-team division is one too many. Having 8 of them erases the Wild Card's one benefit (the 2nd best team never misses the playoffs) and makes it much more likely that an 81-win team wins a weak division.

I'm not convinced that the current system needs to be changed. If I had to change something, I propose a new AL West team in Portland and a new AL East team somewhere in the Tri-State area. (I've always disliked unequal league sizes.) As I said, a 4-team division is a joke. And anything that could take a share of the market from the Yankees and Sox is a good thing.