Realignment

MLive.com has this little nugget. Nothing that hasn't been mentioned before...except maybe for the MWL President referring to where travel is a pain...

Midwest commish: Consider realignment

George Spelius has no intention of letting the problems of another Class A minor league spill over into the Midwest League.

But Spelius, the Midwest League president, worries that Minor League Baseball might not like his solution.

Spelius said the problems of the low-Class A South Atlantic League --which is spread from south Georgia to New Jersey -- is having with travel are not something baseball's other two Class A leagues, the Midwest and Carolina Leagues, should also have to endure.

"If people don't realize baseball needs to cut down on travel, they should," said Spelius, the league's president since 1987. "Baseball at all minor league levels need a little realignment. But what needs to happen is that Major League Baseball needs to talk with the minors."

Spelius said his ideal solution would be for either one or both minor league teams in Lake County, Ohio, and Lexington, Kentucky, be asborbed into the Midwest League. That would help balance the Midwest League into truer East/West divisions. In the long run, those additions would limit travel in the league as teams would play more games in their own division.

Spelius said the current Midwest League setup of pairing six Eastern Division teams with eight Western Division clubs is "a pain in the butt.