MLB Needs Help and this will work

[mgervace]

I know we have little say in what or how Major League Baseball is run, but we, as fans, need to do something.

I, as well as many others, are sick and tired of this Bonds / Steroid stuff, Grimsley and HGH.....



What better in sports is Playoff time.....

MLB needs to retool itslef, and make evry game count and everyday has a meaning..... this way, like the Tribe saying it's early, can't be an excuse anymore.



Think of this 30 teams, 2 leagues 1 World Championship....

Each league has 8 positions to play for......

The playoffs then begin.......



I mean with Boston & New York always playing for 2 spots, leave little in the way of interest to many teams / cities.....



Take a look at todays standings, just in the AL alone, and this is how it would be playing out..



Detroit 39-23

Chicago 38-23

Boston 35-23

New York 35-25

Toronto 34-27

Texas 32-28

Oakland 31-31

Cleveland 29-32

Seattle 29-34

Baltimore 28-34

Los Angeles 27-33

Minnesota 27-33

Tampa Bay, yes Tampa 25-37 would be 5 games out of the Playoff run, rather than the 12Gb they are from Boston and New York, with NO CHANCE at a spot......Other than KC, EVERY TEAM is or would be in the race, from day 1 and the ENTIRE season / EVERY Game would matter......



At the same time, this would be WAY to much Pressure for the Players and coaches,,,,, but at their salaries, I wouldn't feel that bad for them.......



I mean really, look how exciting baseball would be with this format..... and thats just the AL.....

[SamtheBravesFan]

Dude, we've been through this before. Mediocrity will be rewarded. Baseball can't have more than four teams without looking like a bunch of hacks. It is not the kind of game to be played with that many teams in the playoffs.

[Reed Johnson]

I agree with mgervace. Only 4 teams per league is DUMB. We need more play-off teams!

[geezer]

I think 4 division winners, no wild card, and home field advantage through World Series by best record not all-start game winner.

[SamtheBravesFan]

I agree with mgervace. Only 4 teams per league is DUMB. We need more play-off teams!

So why is it dumb?

[SamtheBravesFan]

I think 4 division winners, no wild card, and home field advantage through World Series by best record not all-start game winner.

That sounds much better, although the division re-alignment for a second time might be testy.

[Reed Johnson]

So why is it dumb?

Probably because only 8 teams make it.......

[SamtheBravesFan]

Probably because only 8 teams make it.......

Um... yeah, and why is it bad to have 8 teams out of 30 make it into the playoffs? Do you really want half of baseball to get into the playoffs and turn the playoff drive as meaningless as basketball's?

[Jake83]

Lets just end the regular season and have a 30 team tourney every April to see who is champion

[SamtheBravesFan]

Lets just end the regular season and have a 30 team tourney every April to see who is champion

Baseball would SO die off. :P

[Jake83]

Baseball would SO die off. :P


That is somewhat what was just suggested.

[redlegsfan21]

We do not need Edmonton Oilers (#8 seed in the Stanley Cup Finals) who were 41-28-13 in the regular season (.500 W%).

[SamtheBravesFan]

DOuble post

[SamtheBravesFan]

We do not need Edmonton Oilers (#8 seed in the Stanley Cup Finals) who were 41-28-13 in the regular season (.500 W%).

Oh, nice one. If we're going that route, why should baseball be like basketball and hockey? I think three rounds is enough, thank you.

[SamtheBravesFan]

We do not need Edmonton Oilers (#8 seed in the Stanley Cup Finals) who were 41-28-13 in the regular season (.500 W%).

Wait a second... what does that have to do with this debate?! So the lowest seed in the Western Conference makes the final. Big deal! That's hockey! We're talking about baseball converting to hockey/basketball playoffs, not the other way around! :radio

[SamtheBravesFan]

... I've got it.

In basketball, there are four divisions and four wild cards in each conference. In hockey there are three divisions and five wild cards. With so many wild cards, don't you think that dilutes the importance of winning the division title even a tiny bit?

[UnderPressure]

... I've got it.

In basketball, there are four divisions and four wild cards in each conference.

Football, you mean.

[jlpennington]

Football, you mean.

No, you're both wrong.

NBA: three division winners (no matter what their records are in comparison to the wild cards, they are the top three seeds), six wilds cards per conference

NFL: four division winners and two wild cards per conference, top two seeds from each conference get first-round byes



I personally HATE the NBA Playoffs. Teams with losing records get in the playoffs every year and it's awful. Those are teams with losing records who have no chance of getting a lottery pick for the Draft. Theoretically, a team could miss the playoffs by one game and get the #1 pick in the Draft.

Major League Baseball and the NFL have the best playoff systems in professional sports today.

[geezer]

That sounds much better, although the division re-alignment for a second time might be testy.

We need 2 new AL Expansion teams, 16 AL 16 NL, no Wild Card nor interleague play.

[ivylover]

This may work:
Have 6 teams from each league representing (like the NFL Playoffs)
have a short 3-game wild card series
Like (If playoffs started today)
AL:
1.Detroit
2.Chicago White Sox
3.Boston
4.New York Yankees
5.Toronto
6.Texas

NL:
1. New York Mets
2. St. Louis
3. Cincinatti
4. Arizona
5. Los Angeles Dodgers
6. San Diego

Detroit, Chicago, New York Mets, and St. Louis get First Round byes (Agian like the NFL Playoffs)
Then only 4 teams from meach league start the divisional playoffs and then so on

I dunno why MLB dosn't have this rule (maybe because its very similar to NFL playoffs? :noidea)

[ivylover]

Major League Baseball and the NFL have the best playoff systems in professional sports today.

Not the MLB, Its pretty much the only sport where you can have the 5th best record in all of baseball and still miss the playoffs

[SamtheBravesFan]

No, you're both wrong.

NBA: three division winners (no matter what their records are in comparison to the wild cards, they are the top three seeds), six wilds cards per conference

Oops, my bad. :ughh Can't believe I made that mistake.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Not the MLB, Its pretty much the only sport where you can have the 5th best record in all of baseball and still miss the playoffs

And... that's a bad thing, right? ;)

[wamby]

Not the MLB, Its pretty much the only sport where you can have the 5th best record in all of baseball and still miss the playoffs

The team with the fifth best record has no business being in the playoffs. I think there are already too many teams in baseball's post-season as it is.

[redbuck]

Haven't we gone over this before?

What better time than the playoffs? Sure, the playoffs are great. But so is candy...until you eat too much, throw up and get a bunch of cavities.

Can't the regular season actually mean anything? Baseball has a long season. Let's not decide the fate of all the teams by July 1. Don't you remember the races at the end of last season? The Yankees vs. Red Sox and Indians vs. White Sox games in the final weekend. What about the Braves' '14 comeback or the Cubs' '69 collapse? Those memorable events wouldn't happen with an NBA-style 5 month playoffs. Those memories sure are better than some extra worthless playoff round. I'm not a big NBA fan but it must be tiring to have to watch your team win series after series after series after series just to make it to the finals.

In so many ways baseball has avoided the sterile "perfection" that the other major sports have reached. That's part of what makes baseball so great. Baseball doesn't jump on trends (except for retro ballparks), but I mean like the NBA with rap music.

Don't ruin the regular season. Let's keep baseball special.

[125osprey]

I would prefer to see only the top team in the American League play against the top team in the National League. No league championship series, no divisional playoffs and absolutely no wildcard teams.

I would also like to see:

1) the outfield fences moved out

2) the elimination of the designated hitter rule

3) the elimination of inter-league play

4) the pitching mound raised to fifteen inches from the current ten inches

5) rotating home-field advantage for the World Series (not dependent on the winner of the All-Star Game)

6) permanent banishment for players who use performance-enhancing drugs

7) more stringent selection process for induction into the Hall of Fame

8) adoption of Bill James' idea for the selection of All-Stars

9) moratorium on league expansion except in the following situation: contraction of two current teams (no names) and the establishment of clubs in Havana, Mexico City or San Juan.

10) players who start and finish their careers with the same organisation

[Oriolesfan1810]

Hey, MLB needs to get with the program. We need some of things that other leagues have.

Salary Cap - So that each team has a set spending limit. Makes the game fair and not unbalanced (Cough... Yankees... Cough.. Red Sox... Cough.... Yankees... Cough... Red Sox). If you don't agree with me fine, there's a lot of people out there who don't and I don't give two craps. I'm throwing in my two cents. Hard Cap of $93,000,000 or a soft cap of $102,500,000. And do hard raises on the cap too, just 4%. Makes the game fair and makes Steinbrenner mad (Heh heh)

Tougher Luxury Tax Threshold - NBA is 69.3%, NFL is 55.3%, MLB needs to make it 60%. Not 31% like it is right now. What's nice is that the Luxury Tax goes through as Shared Revenue.

Salary Rollbacks: If a player is making more than the Rollback Limit (Ex: $14,000,000), Rollback his salary by 25%, take what's extra, throw it in the Threshold fund that will go to shared revenue

More Playoff teams: Sure!!!! Do it like the NFL, 6 teams per side, and but make it 3-5-7-7 or 5-5-7-7.

Shortened Season: Bud Selig liked this idea and I agree, I think we need to shorten the season somewhat, not much, but somewhat... Probably by 12 games or the previous 144-game schedule back in the day. 162 games is a lot of wear and tear on players. There are some months when teams don't even go without a day off.

Balanced Schedule / Make Interleague every 3 years or Abolish it completely!: It's about time to go back to the Balanced Schedule or do an unbalanced schedule and play interleague every 3 years. Believe me, I don't think teams want to be playing Division Rivals 19 times each year. I think it's pathetic.

Designated Hitter: I don't mind, but... it can go if it wants..

All-star game: Just keep a lease on it.

General Public's say: Let the general public and the fans have a say at the owner's meetings, tell them what's going right, what's wrong, who should be banned, this, that, and the other. Let them have a say too.

Let's not forget folks, this is a CBA year, and talks could still stall out and be difficult like they were back in 2000.

[Elvis]

I would prefer to see only the top team in the American League play against the top team in the National League. No league championship series, no divisional playoffs and absolutely no wildcard teams.

I would also like to see:

1) the outfield fences moved out

2) the elimination of the designated hitter rule

3) the elimination of inter-league play

4) the pitching mound raised to fifteen inches from the current ten inches

5) rotating home field advantage for the World Series (not dependent on the winner of the All-Star Game)

6) permanent banishment for players who use performance-enhancing drugs

7) more stringent selection process for induction into the Hall of Fame

8) adoption of Bill James' idea for the selection of All-Stars

9) moratorium on league expansion except in the following situation: contraction of two current teams (no names) and the establishment of clubs in Havana, Mexico City or San Juan.

10) players who start and finish their careers with the same organisation

Couldn't have said it better myself. Are you sure you're not me? :confused:

[wamby]

I would prefer to see only the top team in the American League play against the top team in the National League. No league championship series, no divisional playoffs and absolutely no wildcard teams.



I wouldn't mind seeing this either. It worked for nearly 70 years. It's too bad that the games post-season has to be so cluttered now.

[W_Marone]

I would prefer to see only the top team in the American League play against the top team in the National League. No league championship series, no divisional playoffs and absolutely no wildcard teams.

I would also like to see:

1) the outfield fences moved out

2) the elimination of the designated hitter rule

3) the elimination of inter-league play

4) the pitching mound raised to fifteen inches from the current ten inches

5) rotating home-field advantage for the World Series (not dependent on the winner of the All-Star Game)

6) permanent banishment for players who use performance-enhancing drugs

7) more stringent selection process for induction into the Hall of Fame

8) adoption of Bill James' idea for the selection of All-Stars

9) moratorium on league expansion except in the following situation: contraction of two current teams (no names) and the establishment of clubs in Havana, Mexico City or San Juan.

10) players who start and finish their careers with the same organisation

I do agree with most of your points, I think the MLB hall of fame is the most elustrious hall of fame, they dont include college coaches and players really like the football and basketball, plus its harder to get in and stuff. I do strongly agree that if you get caught using you should be banned forever...period.

[Knick9]

I would prefer to see only the top team in the American League play against the top team in the National League. No league championship series, no divisional playoffs and absolutely no wildcard teams.

I would also like to see:

1) the outfield fences moved out

2) the elimination of the designated hitter rule

3) the elimination of inter-league play

4) the pitching mound raised to fifteen inches from the current ten inches

5) rotating home-field advantage for the World Series (not dependent on the winner of the All-Star Game)

6) permanent banishment for players who use performance-enhancing drugs

7) more stringent selection process for induction into the Hall of Fame

8) adoption of Bill James' idea for the selection of All-Stars

9) moratorium on league expansion except in the following situation: contraction of two current teams (no names) and the establishment of clubs in Havana, Mexico City or San Juan.

10) players who start and finish their careers with the same organisation

1) I wouldn't mind it, especially since I'm seeing more hitter's parks being made. I mean seriously, show the pitchers some respect and actually make ballpark dimmensions favor them for once.

2) I wouldn't mind it. I agree. I'm on the fence with this rule to be honest, but I won't be upset if it goes. Expansion of two teams would go more smoother alittle bit if the DH goes.

3) Definately agree. It must go.

4) I don't really agree with this, though. I think the pitcher's mound is fine where it is.

5) I agree.

6) Definately agree. Don't give cheaters second chances. Do it once and you're gone for good.

7) I agree. It wouldn't hurt.

8) I don't know, enlighten me on this. (?)

9) It's a nice idea no doubt. If it could be done in some countries then I would be all for it. The problem is I think it's impossible almost.

10) It should be optional.

[Knick9]

Hey, MLB needs to get with the program. We need some of things that other leagues have.

Salary Cap - So that each team has a set spending limit. Makes the game fair and not unbalanced (Cough... Yankees... Cough.. Red Sox... Cough.... Yankees... Cough... Red Sox). If you don't agree with me fine, there's a lot of people out there who don't and I don't give two craps. I'm throwing in my two cents. Hard Cap of $93,000,000 or a soft cap of $102,500,000. And do hard raises on the cap too, just 4%. Makes the game fair and makes Steinbrenner mad (Heh heh)

Tougher Luxury Tax Threshold - NBA is 69.3%, NFL is 55.3%, MLB needs to make it 60%. Not 31% like it is right now. What's nice is that the Luxury Tax goes through as Shared Revenue.

Salary Rollbacks: If a player is making more than the Rollback Limit (Ex: $14,000,000), Rollback his salary by 25%, take what's extra, throw it in the Threshold fund that will go to shared revenue

More Playoff teams: Sure!!!! Do it like the NFL, 6 teams per side, and but make it 3-5-7-7 or 5-5-7-7.

Shortened Season: Bud Selig liked this idea and I agree, I think we need to shorten the season somewhat, not much, but somewhat... Probably by 12 games or the previous 144-game schedule back in the day. 162 games is a lot of wear and tear on players. There are some months when teams don't even go without a day off.

Balanced Schedule / Make Interleague every 3 years or Abolish it completely!: It's about time to go back to the Balanced Schedule or do an unbalanced schedule and play interleague every 3 years. Believe me, I don't think teams want to be playing Division Rivals 19 times each year. I think it's pathetic.

Designated Hitter: I don't mind, but... it can go if it wants..

All-star game: Just keep a lease on it.

General Public's say: Let the general public and the fans have a say at the owner's meetings, tell them what's going right, what's wrong, who should be banned, this, that, and the other. Let them have a say too.

Let's not forget folks, this is a CBA year, and talks could still stall out and be difficult like they were back in 2000.

Salary Cap: Definately agree. It's time to see the big picture folks. This current revenue sharing system is flat out bogus! It's a joke. Honestly, I believe MLB has hardly any backbone, especially in economics.

Tougher Luxury Tax Threshold: Definately agree.

Salary Rollbacks: Okay, I guess.

More Playoff Teams? Absolutely not! Now tweaking it by re-alignment and the elmination of the wild-card would be fine. 4 division champions and that's good.

Shortened season? 144 is alright, I wouldn't mind it.

Abolish interleague play and have a more balanced schedule.

DH: I wouldn't be upset if it left. It can go if it wants to. I'll pack it's bags...

Have the All-Star game just be for fun again. None of this "it counts" crap.

[redbuck]

I would prefer to see only the top team in the American League play against the top team in the National League. No league championship series, no divisional playoffs and absolutely no wildcard teams.

I would also like to see:

1) the outfield fences moved out

2) the elimination of the designated hitter rule

3) the elimination of inter-league play

4) the pitching mound raised to fifteen inches from the current ten inches

5) rotating home-field advantage for the World Series (not dependent on the winner of the All-Star Game)

6) permanent banishment for players who use performance-enhancing drugs

7) more stringent selection process for induction into the Hall of Fame

8) adoption of Bill James' idea for the selection of All-Stars

9) moratorium on league expansion except in the following situation: contraction of two current teams (no names) and the establishment of clubs in Havana, Mexico City or San Juan.

10) players who start and finish their careers with the same organisation

1. Fine but not a major issue to me
2. yes
3. No but make it less common and less random and uninteresting
4. Don't care
5. I like the All Star Game way
6. No, doesn't make much difference to me. If we aren't banning players for playing in Coors Field or for playing pre-1947 or for playing in power stacked lineups, it really isn't fair
7. yes
8. Sure. Fans picks are stupid but not a big deal.
9. Stop going foreign. Don't end it all together but doesn't make sense in the next few years. Hate the idea of contraction and ruining the fandom for the few fans who did go to games. It's not right to take away a person's right to enjoy major league baseball.
10. more would be better

My ideas
1. Use errors more liberally. Then they might actually mean something.
2. Enforce better stadium promotions
3. In general do something to make the parks less generic and more interesting
4. Have scoreboards list important stats - OBP, OPS, RC, RF, K/BB, ERA, SBR etc. and not AVG, HR, SB and RBI as many do
5. Reduce prices in any way possible- salary cap? But find a way to not lose all the middle class fans
6. Bring back at least a couple more parks with astroturf - sounds terrible but would at least be different. I'm talking about the bright green stuff, not this fake grass we use now
7. Fire all announcers who use cliches like "The game is 90% pitching" or "This team never quit" and encourage more intelligent fans
8. Add grassy picnic areas to ballpark seating like in the minor leagues
9. Have more player/fan autograph time
10. Allow bat boys to toss more balls into the stands
11. Never ever adopt instant replay
12. Never ever increase the number of teams in the playoffs

[Oriolesfan1810]

someone actually agreed with me on the salary cap! Whoa!!!

[mgervace]

Lets not determine the fate of teams by JULY 1st.... well, we basically have!
An 8 team, race for position thruoughout the year would ALLOW teams who have no chance (currently) to have a fighting chance...
example, Tampa... in the Format I'm talking about they'd be 5 games out of the 8th spot....
BUT currently, they are 12 games out behind Boston & NYY....

So, this format WOULD have MORE regular season meaning!!!!

[runningshoes]

Probably because only 8 teams make it.......

You know, there's a reason why only eight teams make it.

It's called competing to be the best.

You want baseball to end up like the NHL where teams can half-ass it all the way to the playoffs?

[ACrank]

It didnt make any sense here:

http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=43957

and now that we are talking about it again - it still doesn't make any sense....

[Oriolesfan1810]

I think we just need to expand a bit more, don't go 16 teams, do 6 teams. Best record in AL and NL get first round byes automatically.

Did u know that there are 14 teams within 5 games of first place? Everyone's contending except if you are the Royals or Pirates..

[ACrank]

Sorry, but i am against turning MLB into the NHL or NBA - where half the teams in the league quality for the playoffs, where the post season seems to be as long as the regular season, and where in the case of MLB - a sport primiarily played outside - the October Classic would become the November Classic.

Now having said that there are a lot of things that i think can be done to improve MLB. In no particular order (and inspired somewhat by many of the posts above):

1) Shorten the season. 144 games is too short - thats what AA and AAA play, and cutting them back that far would cause the minor league seasons to be cut, and thats just too much money out of a lot of peoples pockets. Taking it back to 154 is fine - but if that doesn't work bring back the Sunday DH - even if its once or twice a month that ought to cut the season down somewhat.

2) Resolve the DH issue. I would prefer, as i know most of you here would, for the DH to be eliminated. Understand if that happens the players union is, at least, going to want the rosters increased to 26 players as a way to take care of the players who are just DH's until their careers end. Like that? i don't either, but you know its going to happen. I'd rather just give in and have both leagues use the same set of rules. As it is the NL is the only league not using the DH.

3) Salary Cap. Salary Floor as well. And here is something else i thought of - come up with some sort of rule that limits the amount of salary dumping a team can make. The Marlins going from $60 million to $15 million in one year is just stupid. Maybe a limit of a 50% salary dump within a calendar year.

4) Interleague - if its going to continue come up with something that makes sense. This idea of teams trading teams with other teams just to set up their schedule so it can draw more fans seems self serving. Allow one series on a biannual home/home basis with a "traditional rival", and either balance the rest with playing the other divisions on a rotating basis (ala the NFL) or set up a formula to pick interleague games based on the previous years record.

5) Keep the unbalanced schedule. I know a lot of people don't like it, and i can understand, appreciate, and even agree with your reasons why - but looking at it from the owners point of view you are going to want more games with teams within your division. I mean from the Indians POV - yeah, games with the Yankees and RedSox would be nice, but not if you have to deal with games with the Devil Rays and Mariners. There are drawbacks to this - the Padres from last year being a prime example.
But one change i would make - spread out the appearences by the teams over the season. Right now i believe the Indians are done or close to being done with the Tigers and WhiteSox until September - that doesnt make much sense to me. If they are playing teams in the division 19 times - the first 9 should come before the All Star Break, and the last ten should come after the All Star Break.

6) I would keep the balance of teams in each league the same - there is no way i would want a daily interleague game (its being watered down enough now) unless if i could sell it to a cable network wanting to get into baseball (OLN anyone?). I would investigate the idea of realigning the NL into 4 4 team divisions, but in the long run would probably keep things the way they are for simplicities sake.

[Oriolesfan1810]

Sorry, but i am against turning MLB into the NHL or NBA - where half the teams in the league quality for the playoffs, where the post season seems to be as long as the regular season, and where in the case of MLB - a sport primiarily played outside - the October Classic would become the November Classic.

Now having said that there are a lot of things that i think can be done to improve MLB. In no particular order (and inspired somewhat by many of the posts above):

1) Shorten the season. 144 games is too short - thats what AA and AAA play, and cutting them back that far would cause the minor league seasons to be cut, and thats just too much money out of a lot of peoples pockets. Taking it back to 154 is fine - but if that doesn't work bring back the Sunday DH - even if its once or twice a month that ought to cut the season down somewhat.

2) Resolve the DH issue. I would prefer, as i know most of you here would, for the DH to be eliminated. Understand if that happens the players union is, at least, going to want the rosters increased to 26 players as a way to take care of the players who are just DH's until their careers end. Like that? i don't either, but you know its going to happen. I'd rather just give in and have both leagues use the same set of rules. As it is the NL is the only league not using the DH.

3) Salary Cap. Salary Floor as well. And here is something else i thought of - come up with some sort of rule that limits the amount of salary dumping a team can make. The Marlins going from $60 million to $15 million in one year is just stupid. Maybe a limit of a 50% salary dump within a calendar year.

4) Interleague - if its going to continue come up with something that makes sense. This idea of teams trading teams with other teams just to set up their schedule so it can draw more fans seems self serving. Allow one series on a biannual home/home basis with a "traditional rival", and either balance the rest with playing the other divisions on a rotating basis (ala the NFL) or set up a formula to pick interleague games based on the previous years record.

5) Keep the unbalanced schedule. I know a lot of people don't like it, and i can understand, appreciate, and even agree with your reasons why - but looking at it from the owners point of view you are going to want more games with teams within your division. I mean from the Indians POV - yeah, games with the Yankees and RedSox would be nice, but not if you have to deal with games with the Devil Rays and Mariners. There are drawbacks to this - the Padres from last year being a prime example.
But one change i would make - spread out the appearences by the teams over the season. Right now i believe the Indians are done or close to being done with the Tigers and WhiteSox until September - that doesnt make much sense to me. If they are playing teams in the division 19 times - the first 9 should come before the All Star Break, and the last ten should come after the All Star Break.

6) I would keep the balance of teams in each league the same - there is no way i would want a daily interleague game (its being watered down enough now) unless if i could sell it to a cable network wanting to get into baseball (OLN anyone?). I would investigate the idea of realigning the NL into 4 4 team divisions, but in the long run would probably keep things the way they are for simplicities sake.

Salary floor is a good idea, man.