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Rays' Maddon not a fan of 'floating' realignment idea

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By ROGER MOONEY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 10, 2010

Updated: 03/10/2010 02:09 pm

PORT CHARLOTTE - News of a proposed "floating" realignment of Major League Baseball teams slowly made its way through the Tampa Bay Rays' clubhouse Wednesday morning. The response was mixed.

"I'll go on record as saying I don't like that at all," manager Joe Maddon said.

"I absolutely think it needs to be addressed; whether it gets changed is a completely separate entity," outfielder Gabe Kapler said. "Everything should always be examined. We should always be striving to find ways to do things better. That's certainly one area to look at."

"I guess I'd have to look at it and see if it fits," pitcher Dan Wheeler said.

Sports Illustrated baseball writer Tom Verducci reported on SI.com that baseball commissioner Bud Selig commissioned a 14-member special committee for on-field matters to look into all aspects of the game. One is a possible floating realignment, in which teams can switch divisions on a year-to-year bases based on geography, payroll and the teams chances of winning.

An exampled used is the Cleveland Indians. If they know they are going to be rebuilding, they could move to the American League East to benefit from the revenue generated when the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees visit Cleveland three teams each during the season. To make room, the Rays would be moved to the AL Central, where they would have a better chance to contend for a playoff spot.

"I don't like that," Maddon said. "It don't like that at all. Then you're assessing groups."

Baseball is a game built on traditions, and the rivalries created by age-old divisions is nearly sacred.

"I'm not a big believer in tradition over efficiency," he said. "I believe in efficiency over tradition. So if there's a way to do something better, and if it isn't the way it's always been done, I'm for that. I don't think digging in your heels is right because, 'Hey, this is the way it was done 100 years ago, so this is how it should be done now.' To me that just doesn't make sense."

Many Rays fans would love to see the team move to the AL Central, where butting heads 18 times a year with the likes of the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians is more inviting than 18 games each against the Red Sox and Yankees.

Rays players have a different opinion.

"I like playing in the East, believe it or not," Wheeler said. "When we play those teams, we consider ourselves one of the best teams in the American League and we want to compare ourselves against the best teams in the American League."

"I like our division," Maddon said. "I like the way it plays. Of course, I would be open to anything, but it's not like I want to be in another division. I really like playing in the East. I like the fact on an annual basis whoever is representing this division in the postseason is a pretty good ball club. I like the idea of playing in probably the best division in baseball."

Maddon said he would be open to the possibility of realignment if it was the done the way the National Football League realigned in 2002 to create more geographically friendly divisions.

"If there was a good argument made on geography that somehow helped reduce costs in a manner that made it more sensible, and then if you really thought it would impact maybe rivalries and things to that nature, then it really makes sense to me," Maddon said. "But to do it in a floating way based on the perceived potential of a team or the lack of it, I don't like it."

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