Let's Talk Baseball: Bold Proposal Final 2011 Standings

Season 2 of my grand experiment is over, or at least the regular season portion thereof. For those new to the program, here is my original post for the idea and here is how things shook out at the end of last season, setting up the two divisions I used for the 2011 season.

The final standings are as follows:

First Division

1. Phillies (unchanged from September)
2. Yankees (unchanged)
3. Rangers (+2)
4. Tigers (+2)
5. Rays (+2)
6. Red Sox (-3)
6. Cardinals (+3)
8. Braves (-4)
9. Angels (-1)
9. Giants (+1)
11. White Sox (unchanged)
11. Reds (+1)
13. Rockies (unchanged)
14. Marlins (unchanged)
15. Padres (unchanged)
16. Twins (unchanged)

Second Division

1. Brewers (unchanged)
2. Diamondbacks (unchanged)
3. Dodgers (+2)
4. Blue Jays (unchanged)
5. Nationals (+2)
6. Indians (-3)
7. Mets (-1)
8. A's (+1)
9. Pirates (-1)
10. Cubs (unchanged)
11. Royals (+1)
12. Orioles (+1)
13. Mariners (-2)
14. Astros (unchanged)

Biggest rises: Cardinals
Biggest falls: Braves

The teams in italics are the six different teams to win the past six World Series titles. I am hoping that trend will continue and yet a different team will win this year.

So, in my better world, the top eight first division teams would make the playoffs. Please note, Sox and Braves fans, your teams would still be in it despite all of their efforts to start vacation early. The bottom three in the first division would be relegated to the second for 2011. Alas, the Padres only lasted one season in the top flight.

The Brewers and Diamondbacks would both be promoted automatically. The next four teams in the second division would enter playoffs to determine the third promotion. I'll give the Dodgers the benefit of the doubt. How about that? With all of their troubles this year, their strong finish would have brought a meaningful result.

As I have said all along, my hope is to be proven wrong. I want to believe that more than a handful of teams have a chance to win the World Series each year. Thus I am hopeful that either the Brewers or the D-backs will win it all. Since they play each other, we know at least one will reach the next round.