Bud Selig is more convinced than ever that major league baseball needs a major realignment plan.
So the sport's acting commissioner and his allies are working hard to sway teams in time for what figures to be an eventful owners meeting in two weeks."This was not a group of wild-eyed radicals that just decided that it was time to overthrow a sport with the greatest history and tradition in the world just for the sake of doing it," Selig said Wednesday after the realignment committee met with the executive council.
"I think it will be a grand slam for the industry."
With owners scheduled to vote during the Sept. 16-18 meeting in Atlanta, Selig said there are still as many as five scenarios, with multiple variations. All involve unbalanced schedules - meaning teams would play most games against division rivals - as well as the placement of 16 teams in one league and 14 in the other.
"The real goal isn't to realign. The real goal is to come up with very efficient scheduling, which would make the season more meaningful," committee chairman John Harrington said.
"Due to the complexities of scheduling . . . 16-14 is probably what we would come out with," the Boston Red Sox CEO added, "and all of our teams want unbalanced scheduling."