Subscribe!Now the the 2007 Major League Baseball regular season is over, let's see how the final standings play out given the promotion/relegation criteria I previously proposed .
The final standings are shown in the table below.
| American League 2007 First Division | ||
| Team | Record | GB |
| Boston Red Sox | 96-66 | - |
| Los Angeles Angels | 94-68 | 2 |
| New York Yankees | 94-68 | 2 |
| Detroit Tigers | 88-74 | 8 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 83-79 | 13 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79-83 | 17 |
| Oakland Athletics | 76-86 | 20 |
| Chicago White Sox | 72-90 | 24 |
| National League 2007 First Division | ||
| Team | Record | GB |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 89-73 | - |
| San Diego Padres | 89-73 | - |
| New York Mets | 88-74 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 82-80 | 7 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 78-84 | 11 |
| Houston Astros | 73-89 | 16 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 72-90 | 17 |
| San Francisco Giants | 71-91 | 18 |
| American League 2007 Second Division | ||
| Cleveland Indians | 96-66 | - |
| Seattle Mariners | 88-74 | 12 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 83-79 | 13 |
| Texas Rangers | 75-87 | 21 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 69-93 | 27 |
| Kansas City Royals | 69-93 | 27 |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 66-96 | 30 |
| National League 2007 Second Division | ||
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 90-72 | - |
| Colorado Rockies | 90-72 | - |
| Chicago Cubs | 85-77 | 5 |
| Atlanta Braves | 84-78 | 6 |
| Washington Nationals | 73-89 | 17 |
| Florida Marlins | 71-91 | 19 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 68-94 | 22 |
In the American League, the Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox would be relegated to the second divsion with the Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners promoted to the first division. The Minnesota Twins would face the Milwaukee Brewers in a playoff series for the final first division spot. Since the Twins and Brewers split their season series 3-3, we'll use aggregate runs to declar the winner. The Brewers outscored the Twins by the thinnest of margins, 34-33, in their six games together and thus the Brewers would win promotion to the American League first division.
The American League championship series would be played between Boston Red Sox and either the Los Angeles Angels or New York Yankees. The Angels went 6-3 against the Yankees in the regular season and so would have met the Red Sox in the ALCS. Since the Red Sox and Angels met in an actual Division Series, I'll use those results to decide the AL champ. Boston swept the Angels 3-0, and so would be the American League represenative in the World Series, as they actually were.
The National League presents a compelling case for reassessing the criteria for promotion and relegation. Half the teams in the first division had losing records, while over half in the lower division had winning records. One can certainly argue that more than three teams from the lower division could improve enough to deserve promotion in a given year. Thus, the following amendment is made to the promotion/regulation criteria: Any team outside of the bottom 3 in the first division with a losing record will be forced into a playoff with team from the second division, provided there is corresponding second division team outside of the top 3 with a winning record. Thus, the St. Louis Cardinals would face the Atlanta Braves in an additional playoff series with a spot in the 2008 first divison going to the winner.
The Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants are relegated to the National League's second division while the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies are promoted to the first division. The Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros would participate in a playoff for a spot in the first division, as would the Cardinals and Braves due to the above mentioned amendment. The Cubs went 8-7 against the Astros, winning promotion to the first division while forcing the Astros to be relegated to the second division. The Cardinals were 4-3 against the Braves thus preserving their spot in the first division and keeping the Braves in the second division for another year.
The National League championship series would be played between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres. The Phillies went 4-3 against San Diego in the regular season, and so the Phillies would meet the Red Sox in the World Series. Since these teams never met in the regular season, records against common opponents must be used. Against common opponents* Boston was 43-28 while Philadelphia was 29-35. Thus Boston is my hypothetical World Series Champion, and for the first year my hypothetical champion is the same as the real champion.**
In summary, the 2008 Major League Baseball First and Second Divisions are shown below.
|
American League 2008 1st Division | National League 2008 1st Division |
| Boston Red Sox Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Milwaukee Brewers New York Yankees Seattle Mariners Toronto Blue Jays | Arizona Diamondbacks
Chicago Cubs Colorado Rockies Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets Philadelphia Phillies San Diego Padres St. Louis Cardinals |
| 2008 2nd Division | 2008 2nd Divison |
| Baltimore Orioles Chicago White Sox Kansas City Royals Minnesota Twins Oakland Athletics Tampa Bay Devil Rays Texas Rangers |
Atlanta Braves Cincinnati Reds Florida Marlins Houston Astros Pittsburgh Pirates San Francisco Giants Washington Nationals |
*Arizona, Atlanta, Chicago(AL), Cleveland, Colorado, Detroit, Kansas City, San Diego, San Francisco, and Toronto.
**Previous WS Champs: Hypothetical (Real): 2005 Cardinals (White Sox), 2006 Mets (Cardinals), 2007 Red Sox (Red Sox).
