If the reports are to be believed, the MLB structure as we know it may not be in place for much longer.  And I’d argue that those thinking up the plans should go even further than the reports suggest.

We’ve known for a while that the expansion of the postseason from eight to ten teams looks certain to happen for the 2012 season.  However, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported over the weekend that MLB and the Players Association have discussed the potential realignment of the divisions.

There are two potential plans on the table, six divisions of five teams or two divisions of fifteen teams.

The sticking points with either plan are that one National League team would need to move to the American League and, with an odd number of teams in each league, Interleague play would move from being an occasional spark in the schedule to a constant presence. 

Maybe the answer is to finish what was started in 2000 when the two leagues ceased to be separate legal entitites and came together as one MLB led by the Commissioner. Make the two leagues play by the same rules by scrapping the Designated Hitter rule and then the leagues would only be different in name alone.

Change is needed because the current unbalanced schedule is completely barmy, particularly in a sport where the Commissioner is always keen to trumpet the ideal of ‘parity’.  Quite how each team’s schedule would be structured from there would need plenty of thought, but the legacy of the two leagues shouldn’t get in the way of creating the fairest, well-balanced competition possible.