Scott Carson

Stats man Scott Carson is now in his 18th season as "third man in the booth" during Blue Jays telecasts.

The Yankees won their 27th World Series title in October.

The time has come for big changes in MLB, and here is Scott Carson's wish list.

Here we go again. The Blue Jays roll into Arizona on Friday night to play the last place Diamondbacks, mash a season-high six home runs - three from Edwin Encarnacion - and lose.

This is nothing new. For whatever reason - feel free to tell me your theories below - the Jays have never played well during the Interleague portion of their schedule which began in 1997 when the Majors expanded to 30 teams after Arizona and Tampa Bay were welcomed into the fold. Friday night's loss dropped the Jays all-time record against the National League in the regular season to an unflattering 108-122. What also stung was the fact that three of Arizona's runs - representing the difference between a win and a loss - were driven in by D'Backs' starting pitcher Dan Haren. As usual, the Blue Jays pitcher didn't get a hit, dropping their all-time batting average to .092, the lowest among any American League team's pitchers in Interleague.

Let's face it, the Jays, especially under Cito Gaston and the 'grip it and rip it' offensive strategy that his teams have employed, are ill-equipped to play the National League-style of play. Throw in the fact that they can't use the DH, which meant Adam Lind sat on the bench until he hit a pinch-hit home run (imagine that) in the top of the ninth, and the Jays are at a serious disadvantage.

If this all sounds like sour grapes then I'm guilty as charged. Those of you who are fans of double-switches, sacrifice bunts and National League strategy, that's fine, but the old statsman is not one of you. Offensive night's like Haren had against the Jays are few and far between. Basically, N.L. line-ups consist of no more than eight legitimate hitters, something that isn't the case in the always offensive American League. Watching a pitcher attempt to drop a bunt isn't my idea of fun.

In my mind, the time has come to make some fundamental changes to this great game. Here's my wish list:

BALANCED SCHEDULE

I've never agreed with the fact that team's schedules are not equal. Citing the Blue Jays, they are forced to play 54 of their 162 games against the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. Where this is inherently unfair is when deciding the Wild Card race. Teams outside of the A.L. East might face each of those beasts no more than 8-10 times. We all realize that the Commissioner's Office and the TV networks like the status quo because they love forcing all 18 of the Yankees vs. Red Sox games down our throats.

REALIGNMENT

This is from way out in left field, but I favour going to a European soccer-style divisional set-up where the bottom two teams are relegated after the season and the top two from the lower divisions are promoted. Based upon final 2009 season standings, the divisions in 2010 would be set up like this:

PREMIER DIVISION > Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies, Rockies, Cardinals, Giants, Marlins, Rangers

FIRST DIVISION > Twins, Braves, Tigers, Mariners, Rays, Cubs, Brewers, White Sox, Reds, Athletics

SECOND DIVISION > Padres, Blue Jays, Astros, Diamondbacks, Mets, Indians, Royals, Orioles, Pirates, Nationals

The playoff format would see the top four teams in the Premier qualify along with the top two in the first and second divisions. Unfortunately this would not allow for a balanced schedule and they would be more weighted towards playing half of your games in your own division and a quarter against each of the other two. But it's a system that would allow advancing up the ladder as a reward for winning season.

ELIMINATE INTERLEAGUE

Until they are going to go with standard rules for both leagues (DH or no DH) then it makes no sense to punish the American League by forcing their pitchers to hit in N.L. parks. Plus not every team has a built-in rival like the teams in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Kansas City/St. Louis, San Francisco/Oakland, Texas/Houston, and Baltimore/Washington. The Blue Jays did have one with Montreal, but now there is no true rival so why bother. Plus there is no significant spike in attendance, across the board, to warrant this to continue.

SHORTEN THE SCHEDULE

I believe that going back to a 154-game schedule - which was the norm from 1920 thru 1960 - would improve the quality of play, especially during the 'dog days' when the heat of playing in the hot summer months takes hold. But that would come at the cost of money, which is the root of the longer schedule. Eight extra days off would certainly aid in injury prevention, and wouldn't be bad for those of us who travel for the whole summer. This isn't likely to happen, though, because it would take money out of the owners' coffers. Extra days off could also happen if they would go back to the practice of scheduling more doubleheaders, something that was a common practice until the late 1980's.

SPLIT THE SEASON

This is the way that it's done in some minor leagues and might have some validity in the Bigs. How it works is that the season is split exactly in half, and the winners of the first half qualify for the playoffs and then they start from scratch in the second half. This would certainly keep the teams that are already out of the playoff hunt - perhaps a dozen - and their fans interested in the second half of the schedule. The object is to keep the also-rans interested. Usually the cream rises to the top no matter how many games are played, but if it affords the lower tier to stay in the hunt, it can't hurt attendance, especially after Labour Day.

Just a few thoughts on how to make this great game even better.