Baseball -- Like You've Never Read It Before
On Deck -- Coming November 10, 2026
Major League Baseball is at a crossroads, and the only way to save the national pastime is to embrace relegation and promotion, a bold new system that aligns the owners' and players' interests with on-field competitiveness to finally give fans the drama and affordability they deserve. Impossible? Not any longer. This book will make you a believer!
“This is a must-read for anyone who loves the game and wants to understand the financial workings of MLB.”
Sam Zygner, author of Baseball Under the Palms and The Forgotten Marlins
"Manheim proposes an audacious, creative solution to the problems currently vexing MLB. Whether or not you agree with his plan, you will certainly be entertained along the way." Mike Haupert, Professor of Economics, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
"In his timely new book, Manheim deftly hurls a knuckleball at the game's established order. Through his in-depth understanding of the sport's history... and respecting the needs of the owners, the players, and the fans alike, he has offered up a tempting alternative to the status quo, a pitch that requires thoughtful consideration." Jeffrey Orens, historian and author of Selling Baseball: How Superstars George Wright and Albert Spalding Impacted Sports in America
For fans of the national pastime, the current state of Major League Baseball feels like a “used, high-mileage 1964 Mustang”—iconic and beloved, yet rattling toward a scrapyard of competitive imbalance and skyrocketing costs. In Relegation & Promotion: Saving Major League Baseball (From Itself), J.B. Manheim argues that the only way to restore the game is to dismantle its closed, static structure and embrace a bold, soccer-style system of accountability.
Drawing on extensive research, Manheim presents a five-year blueprint for transforming MLB into an open-league model where performance on the field dictates survival. By introducing a single, unified National League and a new Affiliated Baseball League, the proposal creates high-stakes Survival Series and Promotion Tournaments that offer the drama of March Madness while incentivizing owners to prioritize winning over tanking. And while relegation and promotion may seem foreign to American professional sports and was once easily rejected as unrealistic, Manheim points to the many current MLB owners and other U.S. sports investors already operating successfully within this model in the English Premier League and elsewhere.
At its core, Manheim’s proposal seeks to reconcile owners’ need for return on investment with fans’ demand for a competitive, affordable, and compelling game. Relegation & Promotion offers a provocative, game-centered path forward for anyone who believes baseball is too important to remain stuck in its past.
For fans of the national pastime, the current state of Major League Baseball feels like a “used, high-mileage 1964 Mustang”—iconic and beloved, yet rattling toward a scrapyard of competitive imbalance and skyrocketing costs. In Relegation & Promotion: Saving Major League Baseball (From Itself), J.B. Manheim argues that the only way to restore the game is to dismantle its closed, static structure and embrace a bold, soccer-style system of accountability.
Drawing on extensive research, Manheim presents a five-year blueprint for transforming MLB into an open-league model where performance on the field dictates survival. By introducing a single, unified National League and a new Affiliated Baseball League, the proposal creates high-stakes Survival Series and Promotion Tournaments that offer the drama of March Madness while incentivizing owners to prioritize winning over tanking. And while relegation and promotion may seem foreign to American professional sports and was once easily rejected as unrealistic, Manheim points to the many current MLB owners and other U.S. sports investors already operating successfully within this model in the English Premier League and elsewhere.
At its core, Manheim’s proposal seeks to reconcile owners’ need for return on investment with fans’ demand for a competitive, affordable, and compelling game. Relegation & Promotion offers a provocative, game-centered path forward for anyone who believes baseball is too important to remain stuck in its past.
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