Baseball Realignment On Track

Baseball focused on four or five plans to realign the leagues during a meeting Thursday, staying on track to meet its goal of making the changes for next season.

The plan that seems to be gaining the most support, known as “16-14,” calls for two leagues - the A.L. would have two seven-team East divisions while the N.L. would be split into a Central and Western, each with eight teams west of Chicago.

One form of the so-called radical realignment would have all 30 teams using the designated hitter in the “16-14” concept.

The realignment committee still must present a plan to baseball’s executive council, full ownership and the players.