Contraction

I don't really believe in contraction of teams. I think that MLB needs to be very sure before placing a team in a certain market. Once placed they should have to stay in that market for a certain period of time, say 15-20 years or so. Then if there are money issues they should be allowed to move or maybe even exchange leagues if there is another team that is having money problems.

With regards to Tampa Bay, they have come a long way with me this year. First they dropped the Devil from Devil Rays which gives them a more traditional sounding name and not so gimmicky. If you need an example of gimmicky professional team names look no further than the Arena Football League. Then they put together a very solid team by drafting well and stealing young pitchers from GM's like Steve Phillips, then they didn't do something stupid like trading for Griffey Jr. indicating that their current management has a confidence in the competitive direction that this team is going. Lastly, it looks like they are going to keep the Yankees out of the playoffs which is great. All that is left for them to do as far as I am concerned is build a new outdoor stadium. Winning a world series would be great but the stadium they have has to go.

The Nationals never should have moved to Washington, they should have stayed in Canada eh, or moved to a city that wasn't in such close competition with NY and Baltimore. That may be easier said than done, I realize. Maybe move into N. Carolina. What I would be in support of is a secondary professional league that would allow relegation of teams like Washington to this league and the promotion of the secondary league winner to the MLB. Then there is real punishment for teams/players that finish with the poorest record.