Newest Plan For Baseball Makes Sense In Ways...

Here we sit, several weeks after Major League Baseball was supposed to have started. We are anxious to get outside and resume life as we knew it, but we have to wait. Medical professionals need to give us the go ahead when they deem it safe to return to some semblance of normalcy. It's difficult to remain patient, folks need to get back to work and to a lesser extent, we need our sports. I have no inside knowledge, but I really feel like we're close to getting baseball back up and running. 

Rumors about various plans continue to pile up, but the latest one, might be the best so far. It was reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, that the league suggested a new plan. It would allow players to actually be home and play in home ballparks this Summer. Perhaps without fans, depending on what the medical experts deem safe. Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw were both on record saying they didn't want to be sequestered under the previous "Arizona Plan" It would have meant players and staff would be away from their families for almost 5 months. This plan alleviates that part of the plan.   

Rob Manfred
(Getty Images)

Under the proposal MLB would do away with the "American and National" Leagues and instead break it down to 3, 10 team divisions, the East, Central and West. Teams would only play regular season games against their own division and the playoffs would be expanded. Here's the breakdown on what the "divisions" could look like if approved:

EAST
New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins.

CENTRAL
Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves and Detroit Tigers. 

WEST
Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants, Oakland A's, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners. 

There are a couple of things I might change about the alignment. Makes no sense for the Braves to be in the Central, so flip them to the East and bring the Pirates to the Central. You could also argue that the Astros and Rangers would be better off in the Central, because they are on CDT. Tough to replace them in the West because no other teams really make sense going to that division. 

The best part about this proposal as laid out is the travel situation. Playing all of your games within a 2-3 hour flight (most cases will be much less) is ideal, cutting down on one of the most grueling parts of a season. In a lot of cases, no flight would even be required. The Chicago, New York and Los Angeles teams would bus between ballparks. San Diego is a bus ride from Los Angeles. Chicago to Milwaukee also an easy trip. You see where I'm going with this. Atlanta in the Central is really the only fly in the ointment. 

Guaranteed Rate Field
(Chicago Tribune)

I figured to play 108 games, division opponents could play each other 12 times, 6 home and 6 road, likely with 2 visits to each city. That is smart, because there is guaranteed to be at least a couple of rain outs, especially in the Central and East, and a second trip could make scheduling make up games easier. 

The question of playoffs has not really been answered yet. With three divisions might there be a playoff bye for the team with the best record overall? How many teams will qualify? I have a few scenarios in mind, see what you think.

Scenario 1:

Top 4 teams in each division qualify for playoffs, ranked in win order 1-4
Team 1 would face Team 4, Team 2 would face Team 3 in a 5 game series
Winners of that round would face off in a “division round” of 7 games
From there it gets tricky, you could “seed” the round covering the entire league and the top team theoretically could get a bye to the “World Series”.

Scenario 2:

Again, have top 4 teams in each division qualify for the playoffs and seed 1-4.

Team 1 faces Team 4, Team 2 faces Team 3, both would be 5 game series or even a 3 game set.

Winners emerge and 6 teams would still be alive, 2 from each division. those teams are then seeded 1-6 based on record with 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 4.  3 winners emerge re-seed 1-3, team 1 has a bye to the championship round.

SCENARIO 3

Scenario 3:

You could have a tournament bracket, with the top 4 in each division qualifying. The bracket would be determined by record and all divisions combined (tie breakers could be run differential or in some other fashion)

1^st round best of 3 (1v8, 2v7, 3v6, 4v5)

2^nd round best of 5

WS round best of 7

This one is a little cleaner with no byes.

Whatever MLB decides, it will certainly buck the traditional postseason we've all become used to. It will also test the "old school" way of running a regular season. I consider myself more of a purist, but I still find this intriguing and kind of fun in a way. If it gets us to a season sooner rather than later, I'm all for it. 

Catch every Chicago White Sox game, on WGN Radio, 720. 

MLB Power Rankings Week 2, April 16, 2017

Now nearly two weeks into the baseball season, there have been a lot of surprises, both good ones and bad.  The Cubs still hold the top spot in this week’s rankings, but have a slim lead over the hot Astros.  The Marlins were the biggest mover in the positive direction (up 12 spots from last week), while the Cardinals dropped like a stone in a river falling 21 spots…Here’s this week’s Power Rankings…

1. Chicago Cubs                                            LW: 1                                     

Bullpen is a bit of a mess these days, but Cubs still have the best team in baseball, only a matter of time before offense gets consistent.  

Courtesy Daily Herald 

2. Houston Astros                                          LW: 6

Astros have won four in a row and most importantly for them Dallas Keuchel is back healthy (2-0, 0.86 ERA).  Still love their young offensive talent. Had a good week. 

3. Washington Nationals                               LW: 7

Nationals are happy that Bryce Harper is playing like an MVP…hit 2 HR's including a walk-off HR Sunday. Daniel Murphy remains hot as does the pitching.

Bryce Harper 

4. Baltimore Orioles                                      LW: 11

Coming off a 4-2 week.  Dylan Bundy has 2 wins for the leaders in the AL East.  Trey Mancini leads the O’s with 4 HR’s, Chris Davis has 3 for Baltimore.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers                                 LW: 3

Dropped to 3^rd place in NL West, but still the class of the division.  Injury worries with Rich Hill and his blisters. Still have Clayton Kershaw and Corey Seager.

6. Colorado Rockies                                       LW: 5

Bud Black is doing great things in Denver with this young Rockies team.  They just took 3 of four at San Francisco.  Antonio Senzatela, leads with 2 wins.

7. New York Yankees                                    LW: 18

Joe Girardi’s team has won 7 in a row, swept the Cardinals at The Stadium. Michael Pineda is pitching well, Greg Bird and Aaron Hicks are providing some offense too.

8. Cleveland Indians                                      LW: 2

Lost series to Detroit, and White Sox on current homestand.  Even as the Tribe has fallen into last place, it’s still a long season.

9. New York Mets                                          LW: 13

Swept Phillies, but lost 3 of four at Miami.  Good news for Mets, that Matt Harvey is off to 2-0 start…Yoenis Cespedes off to a 6 home run start.

Matt Harvey
(Courtesy New York Newsday)

10. Boston Red Sox                                       LW: 4

Have won last two games.  Mitch Moreland won a game with 2 run single.  Joe Kelly leads staff with 2 wins.

11. Arizona Diamondbacks                          LW: 14

2-4 week, included losses against division foes, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Zach Greinke and Shelby Miller only have one win a piece for the 8-5 D-Backs.

12. Detroit Tigers                                          LW: 15

Tigers now lead the AL Central, and took 2 of three from the Indians in Cleveland.  Matthew Boyd pitching well, leads staff with 2 wins.

13. Miami Marlins                                      LW: 25

Tied with Nationals for lead in NL East.  Over last week and a half won 5 of 7 against the Mets.  Rookie JT Riddle was no joke in hitting walk off homer v. New York.

14. Pittsburgh Pirates                                  LW: 19

Enter the week after sweeping the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Andrew McCutchen is hitting again, and young pitchers starting to come through consistently.

15. Minnesota Twins                                   LW: 12

Dropped consecutive series, to Tigers and White Sox this week. Ervin Santana threw a gem against the Sox, a one-hitter with 8 strikeouts.

16. San Francisco Giants                             LW: 8

After starting the week taking 2 of 3 from the Padres, the Giants dropped 3 of 4 from the Rockies at home.  Giants are a half game behind San Diego in NL West standings.

17. Kansas City Royals                               LW: 22

Royals have gotten hot of late, having won four straight games and moving back to the .500 mark.

18. Chicago White Sox                               LW: 21

Made major league history this week starting an ALL-Garcia outfield.  White Sox finished the week taking 2 of 3 at Minnesota.

3 Garcia Outfield for White Sox
(courtesy CSN Chicago)

19. Cincinnati Reds                                     LW: 26

Reds maintain the top spot in the NL Central, finished the week 4-3.  Will get tested this week with three game series against Baltimore in Cincinnati.

20. Atlanta Braves                                       LW: 28

Opened new home this week, taking each of the first three games against San Diego. Bartolo Colon wins his first game with the Braves.

21. Tampa Bay Rays                                   LW: 20

Lost important piece in starting rotation, Jake Odorizzi is on the 10-day DL with left hamstring tightness.

22. Texas Rangers                                         LW: 16

Three straight losses for the Rangers who are falling fast in the AL West.  The Rangers are 4-8.

23. Seattle Mariners                                     LW: 10

Mariners having trouble closing out games struggling at back end of bullpen. Felix Hernandez still King in Seattle.

👀See also "Cubs Show Class With Rings for Santo and Banks"

24. Milwaukee Brewers                                LW: 27

Brewers have won 5 of their last 6 games.  Eric Thames is providing some offense.  Thames is 1^st player in team history with 5 homers in first 10 games w/team.

25. Philadelphia Phillies                               LW: 29

Phillies are in last place in the NL East, but have scored the third most runs in the division.

26. Los Angeles Angels                               LW: 24

Falling back to reality, have lost five in a row.  The Angels are still in 2^nd place in weak AL West division.

27. Oakland A’s                                            LW: 23

See above.  The A’s have lost 3 in a row but are still in 3^rd place in AL West.

28. Toronto Blue Jays                                   LW: 17

Toronto owns the worst record in baseball after two weeks of the season. 2-10 record has the Jays in last place in the AL East.

29. San Diego Padres                                   LW: 30

San Diego lost 3 in a row to Atlanta in its new home. Padres are tied for the worst run differential in baseball (- 22).

30. St Louis Cardinals                                   LW: 9

What has happened to the Cardinals?  St Louis is the team that shares the worst run differential with the Padres.  St Louis has lost 3 in a row and are last in NL Central.