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Postseason scheduling (in relation to start times)

Be flexable in relation to start times, based on the teams involved. Don't just let the networks put the smallest market teams in the day or late night. Don't start any game after 8 except the first round IF it involves two western teams. Understand outfront that the first round is going to have some overlap so have some planed games on TNT. Play the second round at 5 and 7:30.

Instant replay

Will not work in baseball. Five hour games sitting around waiting on replays, and then speculating on where the runner on second would have ended up on the reveresed call. Different from the NFL where do-overs are natural. No. Just use a camara to look at fair or foul and home run or not with an IMMEDIATE AND FINAL call by something like the goal judge in the NHL. The real problem are places like Houston with too cute by half outfield walls that jut and dive for no real reason. These need to be eliminated with reasonable outfield walls that are non-uniform only if for an actual archetectural reason.

Expansion and contraction

Baseball over-expanded in the 1990s. But the players will never stand for a contraction. Certainly there is no basis for any more expansion. Moves need only happen in dire circumstances, with markets dying. My personal political opinion is that we may be heading in that direction, i.e. post-industrial ex-cities that are now making moves slower, but let's just leave that alone. International (and Canada is not international) expansion is a pipe dream.

Interleague Play

I never liked it. For the best team in a two team market, it is unnecessary. For the second, it deprives them of being the only outlet of an exclusive set of teams, and makes a fan choose, which was not the case in California before. For single market teams, it is just another game, often marketed on the fact that two teams are in the same state (again making fans choose a fav, which many fans would say "I like the Reds, but in the AL the Indians are OK" in central Ohio for example). At the end of the day Minnesota @ San Diego is just another game. If we are going to do it, move Milwaukee back to the league it belongs in an have 2 15 team leagues of 5 per division and play such a series every day.

World Series home field advatange

Best over-all record.

Division Series

Too long now. The extension of the playoffs, particularly in an era where the WS is most likely going to be in the northeastern US most years, is just pushing the sport too late. However, five games IN FIVE DAYS, starting the Tuesday after the regular season, forcing teams to use pitchers as in the regular season. Second round will be seven games IN EIGHT DAYS. World Series should be seven games in nine days. New invention called a jet plane.

Length of the regular season

It is too long, if followed by three rounds of playoffs. Some math whiz should figure out a system where teams play an even numer of games (so many versus every team in the division, so many versus the league, so many versus the other league) so it would be fair. The Yankees and Red Sox should not play each other every other weekend.

Competitive balance

First, break the union. That simple. Every other sport has some form of salary cap which makes the system fair. Impose one and lock them out until the accept, as the heroic NHL owners had the courage to do. Lock em out, for years, if necessary (it will not be). Salary cap.

Second, impose a minor league base salary of, say, $40K in A, $60K in AA and $80K in AAA. If you want your talents developed, at team expense, fine. You will make $40K while that is being done, with no signing bonuses, nothing. If you don't want to sign, fine. Join the Navy. It is insane for the Nationals to pay a player millions who will be developed at a loss in some stumpwater town and then do a year or two in Washington before heading to the highest bidder. What is his alternative?

Third, institue the draft in Latin America. Currently it only applies in North America.

Fourth, pass a federal law that no state, city, county or other jurisdiction can spend more than $50 to build a ball park for a team. If you can pay a player $100M/year, then you can build your own ball park and pay that player less. He will have to live on $50M. Poor guy.

Fifth, change the trade dead line to June 1. This crap of teams acting a de facto farm teams where a player will be "called up" the big club for the drive has to stop.

SamCdbs said:

Some math whiz should figure out a system where teams play an even numer of games (so many versus every team in the division, so many versus the league, so many versus the other league) so it would be fair.

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Well, I'm not a math whiz, but here goes:

1. Realign so each league has three divisions of 5 teams. (Move Milwaukee back to the AL, move Kansas City to the West Division.)
2. Each team plays 22 games against its own division: 4x22 = 88 games.
   Each team plays 6 games against the other 10 teams: 6 x 10 = 60 games.
   Each team plays 6 interleague "rival games" (e.g. Cubs-White Sox, Mets-Yanks) = 6 games.
   Total - 154 games.
3. Schedule four or five doubleheaders each year. (These could be the abominable separate-admission games.)

With this scheduling it should be possible to begin the playoffs before October.

TMC1982 said:

Postseason scheduling (in relation to start times)

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I will answer two questions with this answer. Post Season will start October 1st with ALL games during the week played in the afternoon to attract young fans.

TMC1982 said:

Instant replay

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Stays the same, improve the time they decide IF/WHEN they decide to go to instant replay. They take too long to see if they wanna use it or not.

TMC1982 said:

Expansion and contraction

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No more expansion is needed. EVERY single major city that DOES NOT have a team, is within a 4 hour drive, if I am not mistaken, of a major league baseball club. As far as contraction, that is the fault of the owners holding cities hostage. YOU(the owner) wanted to build a stadium that holds 48,000 when you at best has never had a crowd over 40,000.....build a stadium that only holds 38,000.

TMC1982 said:

Interleague Play

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HATE IT!! It would ONLY be done every other year.

TMC1982 said:

World Series home field advatange (for example, should MLB continue with the stipulation that the winning league of the All-Star Game get home field advantage in the World Series)

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ALSO hate it. All-Star game is just an exhibition game...it should have NO BARRING on the World Series. It should alternate every other year.

TMC1982 said:

Division Series (should the League Division Series be expanded to a best-of-seven series)

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Leave it AS IS. I love the format.

TMC1982 said:

Length of the regular season (and the effects on the postseason)

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Have the season start on MAY 1st! This crap where players are playing in sleet, snow and bellow freezing temps is BULL****!! Approx. 148 games will cover it..!
May 1st to September 30th. And ALL games on the weekends are afternoon games so that families can do OTHER things on their evenings.

ALSO, ALL pre-season games NO MORE than $3 a piece!

TMC1982 said:

Competitive balance

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A hard salary cap OR drop the "fine/penalty tax" to anything OVER $85 million.

Ira Lacher said:

Well, I'm not a math whiz, but here goes:

1. Realign so each league has three divisions of 5 teams. (Move Milwaukee back to the AL, move Kansas City to the West Division.)
2. Each team plays 22 games against its own division: 4x22 = 88 games.
   Each team plays 6 games against the other 10 teams: 6 x 10 = 60 games.
   Each team plays 6 interleague "rival games" (e.g. Cubs-White Sox, Mets-Yanks) = 6 games.
   Total - 154 games.
3. Schedule four or five doubleheaders each year. (These could be the abominable separate-admission games.)

With this scheduling it should be possible to begin the playoffs before October.

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Thank you.:up

Ira Lacher said:

Well, I'm not a math whiz, but here goes:

1. Realign so each league has three divisions of 5 teams. (Move Milwaukee back to the AL, move Kansas City to the West Division.)
2. Each team plays 22 games against its own division: 4x22 = 88 games.
   Each team plays 6 games against the other 10 teams: 6 x 10 = 60 games.
   Each team plays 6 interleague "rival games" (e.g. Cubs-White Sox, Mets-Yanks) = 6 games.
   Total - 154 games.
3. Schedule four or five doubleheaders each year. (These could be the abominable separate-admission games.)

With this scheduling it should be possible to begin the playoffs before October.

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You forgot one thing......now you have 15 teams per league and you have to have a interleague game each day

TMC1982 said:

In other words, if you were the commissioner, what would you do to try to improve MLB? How would you address the following issues:
Postseason scheduling (in relation to start times)

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No off days unless the they are traveling between one city and the next. Throw in a few afternoon games even during the WS.

Instant replay

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Nope. Fire incompetent umps and replace them with good ones.

Expansion and contraction

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If anything, contraction

Interleague Play

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Get rid of it. It creates an unfair advantage for some teams due to the imbalance.

World Series home field advatange (for example, should MLB continue with the stipulation that the winning league of the All-Star Game get home field advantage in the World Series)

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Alternate like they did in the past OR just give it to the team with the better record

Division Series (should the League Division Series be expanded to a best-of-seven series)

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They should make the LDS become the best of 3 with the WC not being allowed to play at home at all

Length of the regular season (and the effects on the postseason)

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Keep it as it is

Competitive balance

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It would be fine if there is some contraction OR a better salary cap

I don't want to go into the steroid/performance enhancing drugs issue because to me, that has really become played out.

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Agreed