Let's Make a Major League! (Phase III: Divisional Alignment)

[Nerdlinger]

So far in this project to create a brand new MLB, we've decided upon the total number of teams and the structure of the league in the Phase I poll and determined the locations for the teams in the Phase II poll. Here are the 28 locations which made the cut:

Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago (1), Chicago (2), Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles (1), Los Angeles (2), Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York (1), New York (2), Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Toronto, Washington

We have to organize these 28 locations based on geography into two conferences of two 7-team divisions each. Unfortunately, I've discovered that there's no clean way to divide them as such, so we're going to have to make some compromises. Below are four fairly reasonable schemes I've come up with for the league's divisional arrangement. Your job is vote on which scheme you think is best. If none of them appeal to you, feel free to vote for "Other" and describe your ideal scheme in a post. Make sure to examine each arrangement carefully before voting!

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These first two alignments differ only in the placement of the two Chicago teams and the Milwaukee team.

Alignment #1

[B][U]WESTERN CONFERENCE[/U][/B]     [B][U]EASTERN CONFERENCE[/U][/B]

[B][U]Central Division[/U][/B]       [B][U]Atlantic Division[/U][/B]

Chicago (1)            Baltimore
Dallas                 Boston
Houston                Miami
Kansas City            New York (1)
Milwaukee              New York (2)
Minneapolis            Philadelphia
St. Louis              Washington

[B][U]Pacific Division[/U][/B]       [B][U]Midwest Division[/U][/B]

Denver                 Atlanta
Los Angeles (1)        Chicago (2)
Los Angeles (2)        Cincinnati
Phoenix                Cleveland
San Diego              Detroit
San Francisco          Pittsburgh
Seattle                Toronto

Alignment #2

[B][U]WESTERN CONFERENCE[/U][/B]     [B][U]EASTERN CONFERENCE[/U][/B]

[B][U]Central Division[/U][/B]       [B][U]Atlantic Division[/U][/B]

Chicago (1)            Baltimore
Chicago (2)            Boston
Dallas                 Miami
Houston                New York (1)
Kansas City            New York (2)
Minneapolis            Philadelphia
St. Louis              Washington

[B][U]Pacific Division[/U][/B]       [B][U]Midwest Division[/U][/B]

Denver                 Atlanta
Los Angeles (1)        Cincinnati
Los Angeles (2)        Cleveland
Phoenix                Detroit
San Diego              Milwaukee
San Francisco          Pittsburgh
Seattle                Toronto

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These next two alignments split the teams into different geographic groupings than the first two. Alignments #3 and #4 differ from each other in the placement of the divisions within the two conferences.

Alignment #3

[B][U]WESTERN CONFERENCE[/U][/B]     [B][U]EASTERN CONFERENCE[/U][/B]

[B][U]Central Division[/U][/B]       [B][U]Northeast Division[/U][/B]

Chicago (1)            Baltimore
Chicago (2)            Boston
Cleveland              New York (1)
Detroit                New York (2)
Milwaukee              Philadelphia
Minneapolis            Toronto
Pittsburgh             Washington

[B][U]Pacific Division[/U][/B]       [B][U]South Division[/U][/B]

Denver                 Atlanta
Los Angeles (1)        Cincinnati
Los Angeles (2)        Dallas
Phoenix                Houston
San Diego              Kansas City
San Francisco          Miami
Seattle                St. Louis

Alignment #4

[B][U]WESTERN CONFERENCE[/U][/B]     [B][U]EASTERN CONFERENCE[/U][/B]

[B][U]South Division[/U][/B]         [B][U]Northeast Division[/U][/B]

Atlanta                Baltimore
Cincinnati             Boston
Dallas                 New York (1)
Houston                New York (2)
Kansas City            Philadelphia
Miami                  Toronto
St. Louis              Washington

[B][U]Pacific Division[/U][/B]       [B][U]Central Division[/U][/B]

Denver                 Chicago (1)
Los Angeles (1)        Chicago (2)
Los Angeles (2)        Cleveland
Phoenix                Detroit
San Diego              Milwaukee
San Francisco          Minneapolis
Seattle                Pittsburgh

Those are the best I could come up with. Don't be shy about choosing "Other" and posting your own if you don't like any of these. If "Other" wins the poll, we'll have a runoff between the newly proposed alignments.

[PlanetZoltan]

I went ahead and voted for alignment 2. I went with 2 over 1 because i figured that since the 2 NY teams are in the same division as are the LA teams, the Chicago teams ought to be as well.

[DownUnderDodger]

I went for #4. Cincinnati, St. Louis & Kansas City are probably not as south as south could dictate but there is a distinct shortage of real south locations.

[Bigfoot 88]

I went with 3. 3 and 4 are equal choices to me. If at the end 4 needs one more vote to win, I would like my vote to go to it.

[BiZmaRK]

I don't see Pittsburgh & Philadelphia grouped together at all. It makes a natural rivalry - and far more sense than putting Miami with any of the Northeast teams. But if we do this, there is no clean way to group the rest together. Even if we try 7 divisions of 4 teams each we can't do it.

[Nerdlinger]

I don't see Pittsburgh & Philadelphia grouped together at all. It makes a natural rivalry - and far more sense than putting Miami with any of the Northeast teams. But if we do this, there is no clean way to group the rest together. Even if we try 7 divisions of 4 teams each we can't do it.

Well, I suppose we could swap Toronto and Pittsburgh in either Alignment #3 or #4. Since Pittsburgh is a much smaller market than Toronto, I had figured it would be better to put Toronto rather than Pittsburgh in the same division as such large markets as New York, Boston, and Philly.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I went with #4. Miami is the only team who would be out of region but I would rather see Miami in a Western Division than Chicago. I never liked how the Whitesox were part of the AL West. (although I can see why they had to do it back then.)

[Nerdlinger]

I went with #4. Miami is the only team who would be out of region but I would rather see Miami in a Western Division than Chicago. I never liked how the Whitesox were part of the AL West. (although I can see why they had to do it back then.)

The biggest problem with the more regional Alignments 3 and 4 is that in either case, you've got three teams in the Eastern Time Zone being placed in the Western Conference. At the same time, you also have four teams in the Central Time Zone being placed in the Eastern Conference, though that's not quite as problematic. It's a bit awkward to have Pittsburgh or Miami in the same conference as Seattle and San Diego, or to have Boston and Toronto in the same conference as Dallas and Houston. The first two alignments have the advantage of keeping all the Eastern Time Zone teams in one conference and all the Central, Mountain, and Pacific Time Zone teams in the other conference (with one exception, either Chicago or Milwaukee).