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The following
is simply a suggestion to improve the competitiveness of Major
League Baseball. With
the recent talks of possible contraction, relocation, and
disparity in baseball I decided to research an idea that would
help not only the owners and players but the fans as well.
Currently
Major League Baseball teams have what are called 40-man rosters
and 25-man active rosters. The
American League uses a designated hitter to bat in place of the
pitcher. My reasons
for mentioning these facts will come into play a little later on
in this suggestion.
Recently much
has been mentioned about trying to balance out the disparity
problems “big-market” teams have over the “small-market”
teams. Often the
larger markets finish the season with a better record than the
smaller market teams. What would happen if you gave these “disadvantaged teams”
an extra player to use? Now
instead of a 25-man active roster they may now have a 26-man
roster. This would
create more jobs in baseball that could either help out the fact
that some jobs may be lost to contraction or it could be used as a
bargaining chip for the owners to use with the players association
about eliminating the designated hitter rule in the American
League.
How do you
determine what teams are to be considered the “disadvantaged?”
You simply take the records of all the teams in the
National League and all the teams in the American League and put
them each in separate groups.
As it stands now, we have 14 A.L. teams and 16 N.L. teams.
You would then take the 7 worst teams in the American
League and the 8 worst teams in the National League (both
representing the bottom half of each league) from the previous
year and give them the right to have a 26-man roster the following
year. This idea is
subject to change for example; another idea is to take the weakest
half of teams from each division instead of the weakest half of
teams in each league. It would be best to determine which teams
finished with the weakest records on August 31st of the calendar
year instead of the end of the season due to the expansion of
rosters and the integrity of baseball.
So a team
would be given a 26-man roster for an entire year?
No, the expanded rosters would start on Opening Day and
last until the All-Star break, at this time the team must reduce
their active roster back to the original 25-man limit.
This in turn could allow a new adaptation to the Rule V
draft. Under the
current rules a Rule V draftee must stay on the active 25-man
roster the entire year. Under
the new rules he is only required to remain on the roster until
the All-Star break. At
that point the player could have the possibility of spending
nearly two months in the minor leagues and receive some much
needed playing time instead of losing an entire season on the
bench. This would
allow teams who cannot afford big name free agents the chance to
develop players in their systems.
Like
I said before this is simply a suggestion that I am making.
While it may not completely turn around the sport it would
certainly be helpful. Please vote below on what you
think of this suggestion.
Thanks,
-Dave
Pierce (Sophomore, IUP college PA)
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