2017 Baseball Promotion and Relegation

If Major League Baseball had promotion and relegation like professional soccer (outside of North America, that is)...

* American League East: Down, Baltimore Orioles; Up, Durham Bulls, winners of the International League South Division. Therefore: Boston Red Sox, Durham Bulls, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays.

* American League Central: Down, Detroit Tigers; up, Memphis Redbirds, winners of the Pacific Coast League American Southern Division. Therefore: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Memphis Redbirds, Minnesota Twins.

* American League West: Down, Oakland Athletics; up, Reno Aces, winners of the Pacific Coast League Pacific Northern Division, and the 1st-place Triple-A team with the 6th-best record, therefore I presume it would win a Playoff for the last available spot with the 1st-place Triple-A team with the 7th-best record, the El Paso Chihuahuas, winners of the Pacific Coast League Pacific Southern Division. Therefore: Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Reno Aces, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers.

* National League East: Down, Philadelphia Phillies; Up, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, winners of the International League American Northern Division. Therefore: Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Washington Nationals.

* National League Central: Down, Cincinnati Reds; up, Indianapolis Indians, winners of the International League West Division. Therefore: Chicago Cubs, Indianapolis Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals.

* National League West: Down, San Francisco Giants down; up, Colorado Springs Sky Sox, winners of the Pacific Coast League American Northern Division. Therefore: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres.

To simplify things, where I could avoid it, I put a promoted Triple-A team in a Division so it would not be a Division opponent of its major league "parent club." This is why promotion and relegation couldn't work in baseball: The farm system.

Anyway, regardless of whether I put Scranton or Durham in the AL East, it would be in the same Division as its parent club. So, screw Tampa Bay. And, regardless of whether I put Indianapolis or in the AL Central or Memphis in the NL Central, it would be in the same Division as its parent club. So, I decided to not have 2 teams named Indians in the AL Central.

Colorado (Denver) vs. Colorado Springs would be an interesting rivalry, and, keep in mind, the Sky Sox are a Milwaukee Brewers farm team, not a Rockies farm team.

An oddity: In each Division, it's one of the Original 16. And 2 of them (the Phillies and the Giants) have won a World Series since 2008, and all of them have at least made the Playoffs since 2013.

Baseball Relegation and Promotion

If Major League Baseball had a system or relegation and promotion, like in club soccer... ignoring the fact that, for the moment, there are no non-U.S. teams in the International League, and most of the teams in the Pacific Coast League are nowhere near the actual Pacific Coast:

The Indianapolis Indians had the best record of any Triple-A team, with a .618 winning percentage, winning the International League West Division. They would be promoted to take the place of the Houston Astros, who finished last in the National League Central Division. (That's the I-Indians' cap, above.)

The Sacramento River Cats had the next-best record in Triple-A ball, with a .597 winning percentage, winning the PCL Pacific Southern Division -- one of the divisions left over after the merger between the PCL and the now-defunct American Association. The River Cats would be promoted to take the place of the Seattle Mariners, who finished last in the American League Western Division.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, in spite of not having a home field all season due to their ballpark being renovated -- PNC Field was originally built to resemble Veterans Stadium, as the team was a Phillies farm club called the Red Barons, and it's going to look like a real ballpark by Opening Day of next season -- finished .583, leading the IL North Division. They would be promoted to take the place of the Miami Marlins, who finished last in the NL Eastern Division.

The Charlotte Knights had a .576 winning percentage, winning the IL South Division. They would be promoted to take the place of the Boston Red Sox, who finished last in the American League Eastern Division. That's right, "Red Sox Nation" and (N)ESPN, your Chowdaheads would have been relegated to Triple-A!

The Omaha Storm Chasers had a .576 winning percentage, winning the PCL American Northern Division, made up of former AA teams. They would be promoted to take the place of the Minnesota Twins, who finished last in the AL Central Division.

The Reno Aces won the PCL Pacific Northern Division, at .563. The Albuquerque Isotopes (formerly the Albuquerque Dukes) won the PCL American Southern Division, at .556. Having the 2 worst records among the Triple-A Division winners, they would face each other in a 1-game Playoff, for the right to replace the Colorado Rockies in the NL Western Division.

So...

American League

Eastern Division

Baltimore Orioles

Charlotte Knights

New York Yankees

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

Central Division

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

Omaha Storm Chasers

Western Division

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Oakland Athletics

Sacramento River Cats

Texas Rangers

National League

Eastern Division

Atlanta Braves

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons

Washington Nationals

Central Division

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Indianapolis Indians
Milwaukee Brewers

Pittsburgh Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals

Western Division

Arizona Diamondbacks

Los Angeles Dodgers

Reno Aces

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Nice setup for rivalries between Oakland and Sacramento, which might help boost attendance in Oakland; between Kansas City and its Triple-A club Omaha; and between Indy and both Chitown and Cincy.

Of course, this could never happen, because none of the current Triple-A teams has a ballpark with a seating capacity greater than 25,000. Most are in the 10-to-12,000-seat range. These teams simply couldn't afford to boost their ballparks to major league standards.

It also doesn't help that these teams are all part of "farm systems," and might have to face their "parent clubs." Some Triple-A clubs even have the same names as their parent clubs, which is why the Scranton team would have to go back to their former name, an amalgamation of 2 old-time minor league clubs, the Scranton Red Sox and the Wilkes-Barre Barons.

MLB Promotion & Relegation 2011

Promotion and relegation, which is done in foreign soccer leagues (but not in North America's "Major League Soccer"), couldn't be done in the U.S. Not because of the vast distances involved (the Jet Age renders that a bad argument), but because of the ties of minor league baseball, basketball and hockey teams to major league clubs, as part of their "farm systems."

But if it was done, here would be the relegations and promotions for Major League Baseball for the 2011-12 off-season:

American League East: Relegated, Baltimore Orioles; Promoted, Patwucket Red Sox. As bad as their parent club finished this year, the Triple-A team, outside Providence, gives their fans some hope for the near future.

American League Central: Relegated, Minnesota Twins, after winning the Division 6 of the preceding 9 years. Promoted, Omaha Storm Chasers, formerly the Omaha Royals of the American Association, now Champions of... the Pacific Coast League? Since when is Nebraska on the Pacific Coast? Apparently, since the American Association folded and its teams were merged into the PCL.

American League West: Relegated, Seattle Mariners; Promoted, Sacramento River Cats.

National League East: Relegated, Florida (now Miami) Marlins; Promoted, Durham Bulls.

National League Central: Relegated, Houston Astros. Promoted, Columbus Clippers, former top farm team of the Yankees, now (much better geographically) of the Cleveland Indians. They won this year's Pennant in the International League.

National League West: Relegated, San Diego Padres. Promoted, Round Rock Express, the team outside Austin, Texas, owned by Nolan Ryan and two of his sons (and sort-of named for Nolan).

Of the 7 teams to finish first in a Division of a Triple-A league, the Reno Aces had the lowest winning percentage, and are thus the odd team out, for that reason, rather than for geographic reasons. I suppose a Playoff between the 6th and 7th seeds could be held -- or, perhaps, one-game Playoffs between 4th and 7th, and 5th and 6th, and the winner would then be the new 4th seed.