As the interleague series’ and the debate that goes with it wind down for the 2009 season, I have a proposal to MLB on how they could possibly make it better.

With 16 NL teams and 14 AL teams, it is fairly obvious that each team can not be assigned a “rival” in the other league. So I will take an idea from the Southeastern Conference when they expanded to 12 teams in 1992.

The SEC split into two divisions and assigned each school two “rivals” that they would play every year plus a rotating team from the other divisionb. For example, back in 1992, the University of Georgia would play Auburn and Ole Miss every year and might play Alabama one year, then LSU the next and so on. It should be noted that a few years back, the SEC went went with one “rival” and two rotating teams (so the schools would play each other more), but the early version of this concept is what I want to focus on.

So, this is what I propose: Assign each MLB club two “rivals” from the other league and rotate the rest of the interleague schedule. Under my plan, it  will not matter what division a team is in. For example, Atlanta could play, Boston and Tampa Bay as rivals, but then play Kansas City, Oakland and Baltimore.

The problem I encountered with making out this list was finding another ‘rival” for Washington and Arizona. So, I thought I would give them each one rival and five other rotating series instead of four for every one else. No, it doesn’t seem fair, but it would provide the fans of those two teams more of an opportunity to see the AL. Below is a list of each league and their corresponding rivals.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Arizona — Texas
Atlanta — Boston, Tampa Bay
Chicago Cubs — Chicago White Sox, Detroit
Cincinnati — Cleveland, Minnesota
Colorado — Minnesota, Seattle
Florida (Miami) — Tampa Bay, New York Yankees
Houston — Texas, Kansas City
Los Angeles Dodgers — Los Angeles Angels, Oakland
Milwaukee — Minnesota, Chicago White Sox
New York Mets — New York Yankees, Toronto
Philadelphia — Baltimore, Boston
Pittsburgh — Detroit, Toronto
Saint Louis — Kansas City, Cleveland
San Diego — Seattle, Texas
San Francisco — Oakland, Los Angeles Angels
Washington — Baltimore

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore — Washington, Philadelphia
Boston —  Atlanta, Philadelphia
Chicago White Sox — Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee
Cleveland — Cincinnati, St. Louis
Detroit — Pittsburgh, Chicago Cubs
Kansas City — St. Louis, Houston
Los Angeles Angels — Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco
Minnesota — Milwaukee, Cincinnati
New York Yankees — Florida (Miami), New York Mets
Oakland – San Francisco, Los Angeles Dodgers
Seattle — San Diego, Colorado
Tampa Bay — Florida, Atlanta
Texas — Houston, Arizona
Toronto — Pittsburgh, New York Mets

That’s it. That’s the list. Feel free to debate me, call me names or whatever, but if this interleague thing is gonna stay, then this might make it more exciting and easier logistics and traveling.

Enjoy!