The Eastern League of Professional Baseball Clubs, Inc., has announced that the two divisions in the league will be restructured and renamed for the 2010 season. These changes are due to the addition of the Richmond Flying Squirrels to the league. The two six-team divisions will now be known as the Eastern Division and Western Division.
The Eastern Division will be comprised of the Binghamton Mets, New Britain Rock Cats, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Portland Sea Dogs, Reading Phillies and Trenton Thunder while the teams in the Western Division will include the Akron Aeros, Altoona Curve, Bowie Baysox, Erie SeaWolves, Harrisburg Senators and Richmond Flying Squirrels.
These divisional changes will not have any effect on the playoff format for the Eastern League. The first and second place teams in each division will continue to make the postseason with those clubs meeting in a best-of-five divisional playoff series. The winners of each of the divisional series will then meet in the best-of-five Eastern League Championship Series.
Additionally, these new divisions will be used when selecting the rosters for the Eastern League All-Star Game. The game will feature the top players from the Western Division taking on the stars of the Eastern Division.
“After a thorough review by the league in which a number of options were taken into consideration, we have come to the conclusion that this divisional alignment will be the best option for the league moving forward,” said Eastern League President Joseph McEacharn.
