7.27.2010

Realigning Baseball According to Class

Something that people are always going on about concerning baseball is the perceived competitive imbalance in the two leagues. I say perceived because the last time we had a champion that successfully defended it's title was the Yankees about 10 years ago. Granted, it seems the participants in the post-season is a fairly static group and the same could be said about the teams who are clearly non-contenders in a given season.

Steve Phillips, former Mets executive has proposed a unique solution that deserves some discussion. His idea is to realign the baseball divisions by payrolls. To do that a number of traditions and assumptions go by the wayside, but I think it might be OK, and this is coming from a traditionalist.

Usually when you trade your problems away you wind up getting a new set of problems in return. I think that's what would happen here. Although there would be some fresh blood being able to compete, I think some teams, like the Tigers and the White Sox, accustomed to winning would find themselves trailing the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Still, it's an interesting idea that deserves some consideration in my view.

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