The State of the Game- MLB

[SmokyBurgess]

In a perfect world...

2 leagues with 8 teams each (Contraction will clear up water downed pitching.)
DH gone...and inter-league play gone.
Scheduled doubleheaders.

Hey! I can wish, can't I?

[bravos4evr]

Originally Posted by SmokyBurgess

In a perfect world...

2 leagues with 8 teams each (Contraction will clear up water downed pitching.)
DH gone...and inter-league play gone.
Scheduled doubleheaders.

Hey! I can wish, can't I?

I think 12 teams each would be fine, no DH and no inter-league play.

the real question, what 3 teams do you ditch from each league?

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by bravos4evr

I think 12 teams each would be fine, no DH and no inter-league play.

the real question, what 3 teams do you ditch from each league?

Tampa Bay & Miami to start - Florida should again be reserved for spring training.

Arizona for the same reason

Oakland & Toronto

...let's see - that leaves one more to delete from the National League...

San Diego


and without interleague play, the World Series would be 'pure' again.

-by that I mean, I always enjoyed the prospect of two teams who had not met before (at least recently) playing for 'all the marbles'.

Of course, none of this would ever occur because of the owners and the players' union.
.
.

[tachyonbb]

Raymond, The Philadelphia Athletics was one of the original American League franchises. I agree that Oakland needs to upgrade to nicer facilities but I would not drop them as they are one of the originals. Drop the Rockies or Seattle instead.

[familytoad]

Not the Mariners
I'm a lifelong Phillies fan, but the Mariners are team B since it's just a few hours away and every game is covered on TV here.
They have a great fan base ,a terrific stadium and "own" the whole NW portion of the country. They are KEEPERS

I recall when both KC and Minnesota were in talks of contraction. That would be terrible as those teams have winning traditions.

I don't want any team to be disbanded, but if you HAVE to pick a couple, I agree with the Marlins and Rays. Why they don't draw fans is debatable but they should have to "put up" or "shut down".

Just kill the DH and the 40-man roster nonsense, maybe add 2 players year round and that would be a start!

Pitchers are simply never going to be the workhorses we saw in the 60's and 70's since the clubs just have too much to lose. I think getting better, " lights out " relief pitchers like many teams have been doing is a good thing. Of course these type of games can be too slow paced for some folks (not me, I love baseball anyway)

[bravos4evr]

40 man roster is good as it forces teams to start the option clock on minor leaguers and not store them away.

If you are referring to september callups, I heard a good solution today, teams can call up whomever they want off the 40 man, but must submit a 25-27 man roster for that day's game.

[familytoad]

Yup Nick, I was referring to the September callups. I realize that most teams only
call up a few players but the pitching changes get silly sometimes.

That proposed 25 to 27 man roster has been gaining popularity, I heard it discussed this week on Phillies broadcast. It's a nice compromise I think, although I bet the extra players will be mainly relief pitchers. The teams would de-activate the starting pitchers that weren't scheduled and it would end up almost the same...