The Sports Beat

The New York Yankees, despite an injury bug the size of Franz Kafka, are going to finish the season with the fourth best record in the American League .  Since the “top” four teams in each league are supposed to make the playoffs, the Tankees should be looking forward to another quick exit from the postseason, and continuing Derek Jeter’s yearly berth in my birth-month.

Alas, the $200 million machine will fail the Steinbrenner Doctrine this season.  There really is no “excuse” for missing the playoffs when you spend that kind of money (other than the fact that shit happens), but did Brian Cashman truly fail, or did the system fail itself?

The Yankees making the playoffs is good for baseball.  The Yankees bring immense interest, ratings, and revenue.  Bud Selig likes those things.  So, while it’s good for baseball to see new blood, and the Rays will be supplying this sangre in 2008, Bud may have failed himself.  Not only did the Yankees finish at the top of the standings, but they did it in–by far–the best division in baseball.  According to ESPN.com’s RPI Index , the AL East sports not just the top two teams in baseball, but the fifth and sixth best teams as well (Tampa Bay, Boston, New York, and Toronto, respectively).

(By the way, the Chicago Cubs, ranked fourth, are the ONLY Senior Circuit squad ranked in the TOP EIGHT.  Yup, top eight.  Just another reminder that the National League is AAAA.)

So, what do we do about this issue?  Well, we do nothing, because we don’t have the power, and it’s not as if anyone pities the Bronx Bullies, but Bud Selig might want to do something about it.  Perhaps returning to balanced scheduling, and limiting interleague (won’t happen because of doller$) would be the best way; returning to the two division format and taking the two division winners and the next two best teams regardless of division would work, as the likelihood of some bums like the Dodgers making the playoffs while a team like the Mets or Brewers watches from home would be reduced.  I’m not sure which would work best, but I think either would work better than the current system.

Unfortunately, apathy generally rules when a problem comes along only occasionally.  And this is just one of those “occasions.”  Just like the electoral college, the three division system appears to have outlived its usefulness, but the clamor for change remains just a slogan.