[Argonaut]

MLB EXPANDS TO SEATTLE AND TORONTO

So the offseason has started, and our division nemesis Oakland Athletics have just triumphed in a Game 7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The Big Red Machine hasn't totally taken over in my universe... it's more like the Big Green Machine.

As if that isn't bad news enough, I'm pretty sure the A's are getting Rickey Henderson this year in their intake. The rich get richer. We'll see how long they have him in the minors.

I'm at work and don't have the full details of my universe at hand, so I can't do the full 1976 recap yet. But I just wanted to share something that I found exciting: the 1977 AL Expansion is underway, with the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners set to play next season. Seattle joins us in the AL West. There will be an expansion draft a day or so after free agency hits.

Now this current MLB alignment will mean that the AL and NL will be unbalanced for a very long time, until the Rockies and Marlins come around in 1993. Theoretically this means that it's harder to make the playoffs in the AL. But in practice, unless they manage to snag some great players from the other AI teams, I suspect the Mariners will be a punching bag for a while and our playoff chances won't be affected much. At least until they get Junior.

I can protect 15 players from my roster, with guys with 3 or fewer years experience automatically exempt. I'll get to keep all my star players, but there's still some interesting decisions. I've attached a preliminary protection list I put together. I've covered all of my position players and starting pitchers. The decisions come with my bench players versus my relievers.

As-is the list protects some relievers at the expense of my 2 good backups: catcher Bob Boone and utility infielder Manny Trillo. Both are good enough to start on a lot of teams. Boone especially is about as good as Jim Sundberg, but I favour the latter because he was a long-time Ranger in real life. So is it easier to find bench players or relievers? I'll think about it.

In other news, my ideal pitching target, real-life Ranger and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven has become a free agent! I'll definitely try to sign him and have an unheard of Hall of Fame rotation. Not sure why the Twins didn't re-sign him, they have quite a bit of money available.