Error: I'm afraid this is the first I've heard of a "html target=" flavoured Blosxom. Try dropping the "/+html target=" bit from the end of the URL.
Sat, 17 Nov 2007
Major League Baseball 2007 Relegation Report
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).
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