Sleep Deprived Rangers Fans Would Welcome This

As fans of the Texas Rangers we, here in the Cheap Seats, suffer from sleep deprivation during weekday series on the left coast agaisnt West Division rivals Oakland, Seattle and Anaheim/Los Angeles, California.  We are so happy that Houston has joined the AL West (and not becuase they are horrible).  That means more games in the Central Time Zone.

With the advent of daily interleague play and the inevetible (in the eyes of many) adoption of the DH in both leagues, it may be time for radical realignment in MLB.  We have often pondered a realignment of the West divisions, self-serving as it may be, but Matt Yallof of MLB.com thinks when (not if) both leagues go to the DH, then radical, geographic realignment should be considered.

Mr. Yallof's full article is here, but here's the short version:

Realign geographically.  Here is his proposed realigned divisions:

Eastern Conference

East
Boston
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Philadelphia
Toronto

Midsouth
Atlanta
Tampa Bay
Miami
Baltimore
Washington

Midwest
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Detroit
Pittsburgh
Milwaukee

Western Conference

Northwest
Seattle
San Francisco
Oakland
Minnesota
Colorado

West
Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Angels
San Diego
Arizona
Texas

Central
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
St. Louis
Houston
Kansas City

Everything looks good in the Eastern Conference, as far as we're concerned (but we really don't care that much). The problems lie in the Western Conference.  Geographically speaking, it kind of makes sense.  The whole North/South divisions in the Northwest and West Divisions.  But the time zone issues make it a nightmare for fans of the Twins and our Texas Rangers.

With there being six West Coast teams, keeping them all together is an impossiblilty, but if we're going to blow up the whole thing, let's make it more fan-friendly when we put it back together.  Keeping in mind the fine fans of Minnesota and Texas (ok really just Texas because that's what affects us, but Twins fans get the benefit also), here are our proposed divisions for a Western Conference:

Central

• Chicago Cubs
• Chicago White Sox
• Kansas City
• Minnesota
• St. Louis

Southwest

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Houston
• San Diego
• Texas

West

• LA Angels
• LA Dodgers
• Oakland
• Seattle
• San Francisco

This just makes more sense.  And lets us get more sleep.