But the Devil Rays Have to Stay in Tampa?

And then sometimes things just work out.

The implosion of the Florida Marlins could not come at a better time for the Nationals. For one thing, 2006 looks to be a rough year on the field, so the news that a division rival will be paring its payroll from $60 to about $40 million is welcome tidings. Puts our problems in perspective, too. Once we get new owners, the Nationals could easily increase payroll by about $20 million. Watching that $20 million in potential players disappear into the pockets of Emperor Selig’s dark minions is a tough thing to watch, but it’s not as bad as watching $20 million in actual players get traded away for table scraps, a used set of Yahtzee dice, and Jesus Delgado.

Then there’s the specter of relocation. Again, bad for the good people of Miami, good for the Nationals. Suddenly, Major League Baseball has two franchises with nowhere to play after 2007. With the Miami franchise seriously looking at cities that have triple-A stadiums, maybe Emperor Selig and Jerry Wormtongue will feel a bit of fire under their behinds to just say “yes” to the piddling guarantees the District needs to sign the lease, sell the bonds, and start building that ballpark for 2008. Oh, and maybe clear the whole ownership quagmire off the schedule to focus on the difficulties of the Miami club.

Not to dwell on the misfortune of others, but what would happen if the Marlins moved west to become the Portland Larches or the Nevada Thirsty Sox or whatever? Presumably, they’d join the NL West, making that a six-team division. So baseball would have to shift a team from the NL Central to the East to balance things out. A quick check of the map suggests that the Pirates would join our division. Not a bad swap, that, from the Nationals’ perspective.