A Radical Idea for Major League Baseball

Now that another World Series is in the books and a fresh five-year labor agreement has been signed, I think it's time that Major League Baseball owners do something that really shakes things up while appealing to the purists and modernists alike. I have a suggestion for a radical new alignment that would do just that, although it likely won't go over too well with the self-appointed guardians of all things baseball. This new alignment would get rid of divisions and the division series and combine some of the best aspects of the old and the new. I will outline it in the paragraphs below.

Major League Baseball would be split into four eight-team leagues: the NL Traditional, the NL Contemporary, the AL Traditional, and the AL Contemporary.

The Traditional leagues would consist of the original eight NL franchises and the original eight AL franchises, respectively, that existed before expansion began in the 1960's. In addition, interleague play would be very limited for the teams in the Traditional leagues.

The Brewers would be assigned to the AL Contemporary. The Contemporary leagues would receive one expansion team each.

The leagues would be aligned as follows:

NL Traditional: Dodgers, Reds, Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals, Pirates, Giants, and Braves.

NL Contemporary: Padres, Nationals, Astros, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Mets, Rockies, and one expansion team.

AL Traditional: Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Indians, Tigers, Athletics, Twins, White Sox.

AL Contemporary: Angels, Rangers, Blue Jays, Mariners, Royals, Devil Rays, Brewers, and one expansion team.

The regular season schedules would be as follows:

NL Traditional teams would play 15-16 games against each other, six games each against NL Contemporary teams, and six interleague games against one designated AL team.

AL Traditional teams would play 15-16 games against each other, six games each against AL Contemporary teams, and six interleague games against one designated NL team.

NL Contemporary teams would play 13-14 games against each other, six games each against NL Traditional teams, six interleague games against one designated AL team, and three interleague games each against four additional AL Contemporary teams.

AL Contemporary teams would play 13-14 games against each other, six games each against AL Traditional teams, six interleague games against one designated NL team, and three interleague games each against four additional NL Contemporary teams.

A team's designated interleague opponent would remain the same each year for teams like the Yankees, who have a natural rival, but would rotate for teams like the Red Sox, who do not. Additional interleague games for Contemporary teams would be against opponents on a rotating basis.

Three All-star games would be played on consecutive nights: NL Traditional vs. NL Contemporary; AL Traditional vs. AL Contemporary; the winner on the first night vs. the winner on the second night.

Regular season ties would be broken with a best-of-three series. All post-season series would be best-of-seven. The NL Traditional champ would face off against the NL Contemporary champ, and the AL Traditional champ would meet the AL Contemporary champ, with the winners squaring off in the World Series.