Realignment: How MLB can fix the small-market teams

Major League Baseball has a looming problem. There is a massive gap in revenue and profit from top teams to the bottom. Simply put, it is hard for low-revenue teams like Miami, Oakland, and Baltimore to compete with the New York Mets, Philadelphia, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brad Pitt as Billy Beane said it best in 2009’s “Moneyball,” “The problem we’re trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there’s 50 feet of crap, and then there’s us.”

I have the solution, and it’s pretty simple, expansion and realignment. If the lower teams are struggling financially, can the MLB expand? Absolutely, even the Marlins and A’s grossed over $100 million in profits each after payroll and operating costs, and that’s not even factoring the real money generator … hot dog sales. So the bottom line is baseball is very lucrative, even to the losers.

It is so profitable it’s becoming lucrative for poor teams to lose, and that’s where realignment fits in. Suppose MLB added two expansion teams: Nashville/Memphis/Charlotte and one in San Antonio. There would be 32 teams fitting into eight divisions based on loosely, payroll, market size, geography, and rivalries. This realignment would allow teams Like Tampa and Baltimore to compete with similar market teams instead of being punching bags or farm systems for the Yankees and Red Sox.

Let’s take a look at how the MLB divisions would look with realignment

American League

Platinum     Gold          Silver       Bronze

Yankees           Cubs                 Twins            Rays

Mets                 Braves             White Sox    Marlins

Phillies             Cardinals         Tigers           Orioles

Red Sox           Nationals        Blue Jays     Charlotte/Tennessee

National League

Platinum      Gold         Silver          Bronze

Rangers              Angels           Brewers           Royals

Astros                 Padres           Guardians        Rockies

Giants                 San Antonio  Reds                 Diamondbacks

Dodgers             Seattle            Pirates             A’s

MLB Relegation?

With the DH rule updated for the modern era, the AL/NL affiliations aren’t too important. Fewer teams in a division would allow MLB more schedule flexibility to get former divisional rivalries in while still creating some new class and geographical rivalries. I’m not even opposed to opening up a conversation on a promotion/demotion a la the European football standard.

Kill the All-Star break and have a Midseason Classic

Once MLB can break out of the 150-year-old box they have been in, we can discuss a playoff-style midseason tournament. First, extend the All-Star break to two weeks, and leave the late June or early July schedule open for the to-be-determined series. Next, move around some interdivisional series to let the two teams in each division play for a spot in the Midseason Classic. Followed by an eight-team best-of-three tournament in July.

It may be a little too crazy, so let’s take it one step at a time.

What do you think? How would you handle realignment? Let us know in the comments section below.