Will MLB ever rebalance the 2 leagues?
2007-08-19 04:23:31 · 9 answers · asked by Craig X 1 in Sports ➔ Baseball
the reason is because you have to have an even number of teams in each league. think about it. if you have 15 in each league, there will be 2 teams that wont be able to play because american league teams can only play national league teams during interleauge play. and i hope they dont do any more expantion teams.
2007-08-19 04:29:21 · answer #1 · answered by ryansraysrule 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's simple: both leagues need to have an even number of teams. Remember, for most of the season, there are no interleague games. If each league had 15 teams, each league would have up to 7 games going on each day with 1 team not having an available opponent. As a result, there'd always be a team with 3-4 days off per week. Giving a team half a week off is an excessive amount of time to rest, especially if it could give time to skip the second half of a pitching rotation.
I don't think that the MLB will change the amount of teams anytime soon. They shouldn't add more because they just added the D-Rays and the D-Backs. They wouldn't add any additional teams, especially since a few years ago there was speculation that two teams (Twins and Expos) would be eliminated. In addition, the league would never actually remove teams, seeing as that has never happened before.
However, decades from now, I wouldn't be surprised if both leagues were to have 16 teams each.
2007-08-19 12:02:45 · answer #2 · answered by x 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its obvious, the Brewers never stood a chance in the AL East with NY and Boston- long term. So when owner Bud Selig saw a chance to move to the NL in 1997, he gave the Royals a half a$$ed offer to switch. He knew they couldnt afford the moving fee because they didnt even have central ownership at the time, so he moved his Brew Crew.
Ignore any answer on here that says both leagues needed even team numbers for interleague play- thats just wikipedia nonsense. If both leagues had odd numbers you could still play interleague. What matters is that the total collective of both leagues be an even number.
MLB has discussed adding 2 international teams but that wont happen until Bud kicks it.
2007-08-19 13:23:32 · answer #3 · answered by Dennis T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Before the 1998 regular season began, two new teams—the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays—were added by Major League Baseball. This resulted in the American League and National League having fifteen teams. However, in order for MLB officials to continue primarily intraleague play, both leagues would need to carry an even number of teams, so the decision was made to move one club from the AL Central to the NL Central.
This realignment was widely considered to have great financial benefit to the club moving. However, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Commissioner (then club owner) Bud Selig decided another team should have the first chance to switch leagues. The choice was offered to the Kansas City Royals, who ultimately decided to stay in the American League.[2] The choice then fell to the Brewers, who, on November 6, 1997 elected to move to the National League. Had the Brewers elected not to relocate, the Minnesota Twins would have been offered the opportunity to switch leagues.[3]
found the answer but the two people ahead of me beat me to
the answer they are both right
2007-08-19 11:34:17 · answer #4 · answered by Robert G 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
To please Milwaukee Fans that the National League Braves Played There from 1953 to 1965 winning two Pennants and a World Series title in 1957, so there Success Came in the National League, as for the Unbalance their will expansion in Charlotte NC and Portland OR, 5 to 10 Years from Now, and Everyone will either have a New State of the Art Facility or their Current Ballpark Renovated Even the Marlins and Devil Rays will have new Ballpark by 2015, so Overall Bud Selig whose lives in Milwaukee Will make sure All teams will still be Around and have a Ballpark where People will be Proud of, That'sHis Promise.
2007-08-19 13:52:55 · answer #5 · answered by tfoley5000 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Brewers were allowed to go to the National League when Kansas City turned the option down. Without the move, there would have been 15 teams in each league. Then teams would have been forced to have 3-4 days off with no opponent. At that time there was no interleague play so each league would have a team with a bye for 3-4 days at a time, all season. That wouldn't have worked.
2007-08-19 11:30:10 · answer #6 · answered by gfcbarracker 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
In order to facilitate interleague play, each league had to have an even number of teams.
Addendum: I believe it was in Wikipedia that I read where three American League teams were approached about switching to the National League. The Royals and Twins declined, and obviously the Brewers accepted.
2007-08-19 12:23:52 · answer #7 · answered by Awesome Bill 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need an EVEN number of teams in each league, otherwise one team in each league will be sitting while everyone else is playing.
I'd like to see two teams dropped and go back to 14 teams per league.
2007-08-19 12:04:32 · answer #8 · answered by harmonv 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The leagues ARE balanced, because a functional league with a near-everyday schedule needs an even number of constituent teams.
14 == even number -- good! :)
16 == even number -- good! :)
15 == odd number -- doubleplusungood. :(
2007-08-19 12:15:47 · answer #9 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋