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MLB should make one change
August 25, 2005

If Bud Selig and Major League Baseball made one more move, they might have things just right. Say what you want about the wild card and 3 divisions in both leagues - I love those changes. They have renewed a lot of fans interest in their teams from year-to-year. Previously, a lot of fans gave up on their teams before the All-Star break. Now interest in the season builds in August and September - at the right time. But now that the game is in good shape from a playoff perspective, there is still one more change to make.

MLB needs to re-balance the American League and National League and even out the divisions at 5 teams each. Looking at the standings now, it's easy to see the need for this. And being a life long Cubs fan I'm getting ticked off every time I look at the standings and realize there are 6 teams in the NL Central (well, maybe it's really because the Cubs are never on top). Look at the American League West. Wouldn't you love for your team to be in that division?

MLB went through expansion in the early '90s and they probably thought they were going to end up with 32 teams. We've all heard about the problems since then with the Expos, Twins, and other teams mentioned in terms of financial crisis. MLB needs to realize that the balance of the teams is great where it stands today - 30 teams. There's no need to tinker with that number for quite some time. Sure, they might need to move a team from one city to another, but don't mess with the total.

Move the Milwaukee Brewers back to the American League. 15 teams in both leagues. Perfect. Now we just need to balance out the American League divisions. Put the Brewers back into the AL Central where they came from and put the Kansas City Royals in the AL West. More perfect. And the other AL West teams won't mind because the Royals haven't been competitive.

With 15 teams in both leagues and 5 teams in each division, every team has an equal and fair shot at winning their division or playing for the wild card. Do it Bud.

Eric Bailey
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