Should Major League Baseball Have More Than Two Teams?

On Monday evening, we were treated to a terrific spectacle, as the Yankees’ Robinson Cano outlasted Red Sox slugger Adrian Gonzalez in the Home Run Derby. The Boston Herald put it best:

The Home Run Derby, like seemingly everything in baseball these days, came down to Red Sox vs. Yankees.

Indeed. Of course, the state of baseball has never been better, and I’m generally of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. Something about that statement gave me pause, however.

Should there be more than two teams in Major League Baseball? Let’s run a simple cost-benefit analysis:

BENEFIT: The Yankees and Red Sox would have other teams to play, which could shake things up a bit.
COST: Expanding the league could dilute the quality of play, since there are only 30 or 40 good baseball players in the entire world.

BENEFIT: Expanding the league to include, say, six to eight teams would allow Major League Baseball to capitalize on untapped markets elsewhere in the country.
COST: The rest of the country is a giant forest that is full of wolves.

BENEFIT: Adding more teams would relieve us of this forced choice that confines us to either of two similar cultures and geographical locations, thereby possibly expanding our horizons and lending us a fresh perspective.
COST: Gross!

BENEFIT: Baseball could include colors other than red, black, and white.
COST: We never would have designed SB Nation’s site with these colors if we knew there were going to be other baseball teams!

BENEFIT: Adding more teams would allow for a sophisticated postseason system in which there are multiple playoff spots to vie for, thereby creating all manners of dramatic scenarios.
COST: Okay, wait, playoffs are... okay, so some teams would just have to stop playing at some point? That sounds stupid.

VERDICT: Having more than two baseball teams would create a dystopian Cubist talent-diluted league in which most teams have to stop playing games because of “playoffs” or because they are eaten by wolves. No dice! Be sure to stop by both of SB Nation’s baseball blogs, Pinstripe Alley and Over the Monster.