EPL Meets the MLB?

I think what makes baseball so interesting and compelling is the expansive minor leagues. AAA, AA, A+, A, A-, and rookie leagues - for a single organization. It takes the average draft pick between 4-6 years to move up the minor league system and eventually get called up. Last week, the Tigers called up Buck Farmer, a pitcher who began his season at Single A West Michigan. After two starts at AA Erie, he was called up to the majors to make a spot start with the injuries to starters Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez. His progression through the minors set a record for the shortest amount of time it took a former Whitecap to make the big leagues, but isn't it crazy that there are 6 rounds of training grounds for young players? That means for 30 Major League teams, there are 180 minor league baseball teams throughout the country - wow.

Before I sat down to write this post, I was watching Manchester City and Newcastle square off in the opening weekend of the English Premier League and it got me thinking about how these teams prep their young players. Sure there are training grounds, U21, and U18 teams, but its not to the same extent as the Majors. 

But this got me thinking again. What if the MLB instituted the EPL's relegation system?

Okay real quick: The EPL has 20 teams. The three worst teams are relegated to the Football League Championship, essentially a minor league not for individual players, but for whole teams. In the 2013-2014 season, Cardiff City, Fulham, and Norwich City were relegated for the lower division, though they are still technically in the Premier League. Leicester City, Burnley, and Queens Park were promoted back to the first division. It's a compelling feature of the league that gives even the worst teams a fire to win. Unlike the NFL where teams will tank the rest of their games to get a better draft pick and start fresh next season, the EPL teams will do whatever it takes not to get relegated.

The MLB will never consider this. I'm not asking it to either, because given the expansive system of minor league baseball that I discussed before, it just wouldn't make sense. There is so much research that goes into prospects and scouting that teams would lose a major part of their organization. Remember the post I did a few weeks ago about the Cubs and their farm system? Guys like Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Addison Russell, and Billy McKinney would no longer be Cubs, they would be independent players just waiting for their team to get promoted. The Cubs, having a disappointing season, wouldn't have these guys to look forward to. They are planning their entire future around these players, but with the relegation system, they would be just another bad team. 

If the 2014 season were to end today, the Astros, Rangers, and Rockies would be relegated to AAA. Crazy to think because guys like Adrian Beltre, Yu Darvish, and Jose Altuve would still be on those teams, but not in the Major Leagues. The Sacramento River Cats, Las Vegas 51s and Syracuse Chiefs would be promoted to the Majors. 

On the other side of the coin, in the EPL, the top 4 teams qualify for the UEFA Champions League, which is a Europe-wide tournament of the best club teams in Europe. All of the major soccer leagues in Europe (EPL, Italian Serie A, Spain's La Liga, as well as French, Dutch, German, Portuguese, and Turkish leagues) send their four best teams to the year-long tournament (the first stage of group play begins in September and the finals are in May). How cool would it be to have the actual World Series? Sure, the Red Sox won the MLB's championship, but how will they fair against the Fukoka SoftBank Hawks, the current leaders of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball? How about the Perth Heat, the Australian league leaders? Or the Mexican league frontrunners Diablos Rojos del Mexico? Baseball isn't much of an international sport because the best players filter to the United States. Not like soccer where the best players have an option to play in dozens of countries if they so choose. Sure there is the World Baseball Classic, but it's nowhere near the level of showmanship and global stage of the World Cup. There are tons of factors that go into why the World Baseball Classic is an underwhelming tournament, but that's a discussion for a different day. I think it would be so interesting to have those teams all face off. International exposure without forming a national team. Food for thought. 

Thanks for reading.