Changing the schedule devalues the divisions too much

The Cleveland Guardians can show their skills in a more balanced schedule but it inherently affects how important the Divisions in baseball are.

The Cleveland Guardians are 10 games over .500 and are cruising to the playoffs with just about a month left to go before the end of the season. Over the last 40 games, the Guardians will play five series against AL Central teams.

For the Cleveland Guardians, that means two more series against the Kansas City Royals, two more against the Minnesota Twins, and one and one-third against the Chicago White Sox. Under the new model of games, the Cleveland Guardians won’t face their inner divisional rivals nearly as much.

For 2022, 47% of the Cleveland Guardians’ schedule was made up of series against the Twins, White Sox, Royales, and Detroit Tigers. In 2023, that number drops to just 32%, with the emphasis on having more non-divisional games make up the team’s schedule. This is of course to help smaller markets draw fans to the ballpark by having the more popular teams come to town.

Do you know what else would help teams draw fans to the park? A salary cap and floor. But New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and a few others would never go for that. Not to mention the player’s union. So here we are, with another dud from Rob Manfred.

This move devalues the divisional championships even further

Fun fact, Major League Baseball crowns nine champions every season. You probably don’t realize that because of how little value the MLB and fans, place on anything that isn’t the World Series. Every season, the AL and NL crown four champions.

The Eastern, Central, and Western champions, as well as their respective league champion. The move to reduce the inter-divisional games may allow for more unique matchups in a season, but it also devalues the divisions.

Winning the division should mean something. It does in sports like UK/European soccer. It should be celebrated when your team wins the division, but so many fans are so jaded over the concept that they just ignore it.

It matters and it should be celebrated. It’s not easy to win the division. But things like an ever-increasing number of wild card births and fewer divisional games are only going to devalue what it means to be a divisional champion and man, that’s heartbreaking.

Rob Manfred’s Major League sucks.