I read Tom Verducci's report about realignment talk with great interest. I had my own ideas about realignment not long ago.
Something has to be done. Baseball is broken as it is, and it's dying a slow death I think.
Realignment in tiers makes a lot of sense. I like the idea. I could see a league where teams move up and down levels based mainly on last year's win/loss records. The players are already doing it; the better ones graduate to the same few teams. Divisions could be more balanced at the start of the season to reflect the reality created by baseball's lack of a salary cap.
Baseball being what it is, it's quite possible that the playoff winner in the junior circuit could beat the playoff winner in the big-bucks circuit. For a game or two or even a best-of-seven series if, say, the junior circuit champion has a pair of ace starters. People would like that. If the old highly paid guys can't fend off the upstarts, they don't deserve the ring.
Realign the divisions based on geography and payroll, reduce the amount of interdivision and interleague play, and come September there will be a variety of teams with winning records. Young upstart teams and old highly-paid teams. There would be great interest in the playoffs. And no market would need to suffer through 20 consecutive years of losing seasons.
One more thing. For the love of God, get the Pirates out of sharing a division with Houston. There is nothing I hate more than all those games in Houston. It's friggin' stupid. Bismarck, North Dakota is closer to Pittsburgh than friggin' Houston.
