2009 Season Preview - Teams, Realignment, and Schedule Highlights
2009 sees some new teams forming, some old teams folding, one team splitting into two, and some teams moving around the divisions. 2009 also sees changes to the age requirements and to the number of divisional games played for determing playoff teams.
Division Names
The Central Division is being renamed as the Atlantic Division.
Team Changes
The league has lost two teams from last year and gained two new teams.
Last year's Pacific Division Diamondbacks and National Division A's have folded with several players dispersing to other teams.
The League wants to welcome the Rays to the SJMSBL. The Rays will be managed by Gerardo (Jerry) Quiñones. Jerry has been in the league since 2002 and spent the last two years as a member of the Yankees. Before the Yankees Jerry had stints with the Giants(18) and the Tigers(18), both teams no longer in the league. Joining Jerry from the Yankees is Cristian Martinez. The rest of the Rays players will be new to the SJMSBL.
The Central Division's Twins(18) have decided to split into two teams. The older players will move to the Pacific Division as the Red Sox and will be managed by Matt Johnstone and Tony Anderson. The younger players will remain in the Atlantic (formerly Central) Division as the Cubs(18) and will be managed by Steve McLean and Darren Headley. Both teams will be retooling with some new players.
One team has decided to change their name. Last year's Central Division Expos(18) are now the Astros(18).
Age Requirements Dropping
The age requirement for the National, Pacific, and American Divisions is being dropped from 27+ to 25+ and will be closer aligned to the evolution of other MSBL leagues. The Atlantic Division will remain 18+.
Division Realignment
There will be some realignment of teams within the divisions.
The National Division loses the A's, who have folded, and picks up the Braves from the Pacific Division.
The Pacific Division loses last year's champion Braves as they move up to the National Division and the Diamondbacks, who have folded, while picking up the new Red Sox team and the Pirates from the American Division.
The American Division loses last year's champion Pirates as they move up to the Pacific Division and pick up the new Rays team.
The Atlantic Division's Expos(18) are now the Astros(18).
You can view the new division lineups on the Teams page.
Schedule Preview
The managers voted at March 25th's Managers Meeting to go with the following schedule format.
Opening Day will be April 26th and the regular season will conclude on August 16th. Playoffs will begin August 23rd with the Championship round scheduled for September 13th and 20th (if necessary).
25+ Divisions (National, Pacific, and American) will play each team in the division 4 times for a total of 16 divisional games (4 X 4) plus 4 cross-over games for a total of 20 games.
The 18+ Atlantic Division will play each team in the division 3 times for a total of 18 divisional games (3 X 6) plus 2 cross-over games for a total of 20 games.
Tentative plans, barring late team and field changes, are to release a complete season schedule on April 13th. Start planning your summer vacations. A preliminary Schedule page has been posted with all the off-days highlighted.
Playoff Preview
All divisions will follow the same playoff guidelines.
- Top four teams make the playoffs.
- Both rounds are best two-of-three series.
- First round will have 4th-place vs 1st-place and 3rd-place vs 2nd-place.
- The Championship round will be a best-of-three series between the first round winners.
All-Star Game
The annual All-Star Game is scheduled for July 22nd at San José Municipal Stadium. Game time will be 7:00 PM. More details will be posted closer to game day.