Baseball Update: Realigning Baseball

Buck Showalter brought up an interesting fact on Baseball Tonight, that has driven me nuts the past couple of years. The fact that the baseball schedule is un-balanced, meaning that division teams play each other up to 18 games a year. And if a team plays three teams, 18 times a year, that accounts for 54 games in a season. So what's Showalter's plan, realign baseball.

First two teams have to be contracted. Then you do away with the National League and American League and have teams play in three regional divisions. Either get rid of the DH or keep it. And no interleague play. Each team would play each other three times at home and three times on the road making for a balanced schedule.

I'm all for realigning baseball, but I think it should be done a little different. Here's my plan.

- Keep all 30 teams. You would have six divisions with five teams. Divisional teams would play each other 12 times. Six games at home and six games on the road. So each team would play 48 divisional teams.

- I would also get rid of the Leagues and use the conference system like the NBA. You would have three division winners and one wild card team for each conference, so the playoff format wouldn't change.

- I would personally like to see the DH go. American league games are already long enough as it is, what would happen if the national league went with a DH. That's why I would like to see the DH just go away. Plus it puts more emphasis on the manager to make key personnel decisions during the game.

Here's the number 1 goal of both my plan and Showalter's plan, schedule integrity. Keep everything fair by riding the sport of the DH and by having each team play each other. Every fan has the opportunity to see the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, or Phillies every season. The current system is watered down by the 18-games that each divisional team has to play against each other.

The playoff format wouldn't have to change. The team with the best overall record is rewarded home field advantage, the way it's suppose to be. But it's time for baseball to dump the un-balanced schedule because the season becomes boring when the Reds/Pirates play each other 18 times a year.