Earlier today, the Houston Astros were sold from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane.
Doesn’t really mean much, does it?
What if I told you that the sale means that the Astros will move from the National League Central to the American League West? And that interleague play will now take place throughout the entire season? And that two teams will be added to the playoffs?
Have I gotten your attention yet?
Let me explain the situation just a little better.
First, let’s talk about the Astros’ move from the NL to the AL, which will happen in 2013. What this change does is even out the divisions. Right now, the NL Central has six teams (the Milwaukee Brewers, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago Cubs, and the Astros), while the AL West consists of just four teams (the Texas Rangers, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Oakland Athletics, and the Seattle Mariners). As a result, the NL has a total of 16 teams while the AL possesses 14 clubs. The Astros’ move to the AL evens the leagues up at 15 teams apiece.
That’s fine by me.
Second, with an odd amount of teams in each league, schedules will likely be more even and interleague play will transition to a season-long occurrence instead of all interleague games being played in the early months of the season.
Even equals good in my book. As do more interleague matchups.
However, the one change that I do have a problem with is the third aspect of today’s announcement – the fact that two teams will be added to the playoffs. This change could take place as early as next season.
If the MLB indeed adds two wild-card teams to the postseason, it will mean that exactly one-third of baseball’s teams (10 of 30) will make the playoffs. While this is still less than the amount of teams that make the playoffs in the NFL, NBA, and NHL, it potentially takes away drama like what we saw this year when the wild-card berths came down to the final night of the season.
I certainly would have loved to have seen my beloved Atlanta Braves make the playoffs, but they simply didn’t deserve to after the collapse they suffered during the final month of the season. The same can be said for the Boston Red Sox, who completed an even more historic nosedive in September.
According to Commissioner Bud Selig, “You don’t do things for one year. You do things for a long period of time.”
That’s great. But coming off one of the most exciting postseasons of all-time, specifically in terms of the World Series, I’ve just got one thing to say.
Give us more, not less.
Source: ESPN.com