Commissioner Bud Selig announced that MLB will add two Wild Card teams — one in each league — for a total of ten playoff teams. Selig remains hopeful that the change will occur in 2012.
"People can be critical. I understand that," said Selig to reporters (including Danny Knobler of CBS Sports and MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, both Twitter links). "It will be dramatic."
Selig also confirmed that the creation of two 15-team leagues means there will be interleague play "from Opening Day on," but he doesn't believe it will water down the World Series according to Andy Martino of The New York Daily News and Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentintel (Twitter links). Designated hitter rules will remain the same, and it would take a "catalytic event" for them to change reports Knobler (on Twitter).
The two Wild Card clubs are expected to meet in a one-game playoff prior to the League Division Series round, which increases the importance of winning the division.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
If this means that the LDS series are a best-of-seven then I am all for this.
Considering adding more wild card teams will necessitate squeezing even more playoff games into the schedule than there are presently, I can’t imagine why this would be the case.
I can only hope that the two wildcards play a one game series.
Right, because it totally makes sense that the AL East second place team that won 95 games should have to prove themselves worthy of the real playoffs by having to beat the AL Central second place team that won just 85 games.
This is the worst idea of all time.
ummmmm, actually this year it would have been the Rays and Sox in the play in game and if both wild cards can’t come from the same division it would have been the Angels with 86 wins so you would be right. but Tampa only won 91 with the other division winners with 97,96, & 95 wins so they deserve to play in for their lives for being 4 games back of the next best.
That was a hypothetical there, fella.
And if you come in second in a division, yes, you should have to play and prove yourself.
Worst idea of all time? Only slight hyperbole there.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like 2 wildcards any more than anybody else here. But if the tradeoff is all other series are 7 games (I realize that’s not a logical position, but it’s certainly doable) then I take the good with the bad. I mean, really, I’d rather it just go back to two divisions in each league and the LCS and World Series each be a 9-game series.
The worst idea of all time would be the All-Star game deciding home field advantage in the Series lol
On average, the runner up to the wild-card team wins 89 games…
I agree, as long as their are no one game playoffs. That works in Football when you only play 16 regular games, but in baseball after playing 162, a one game playoff is absurd.
Don’t think of the wild-card game as the ‘playoff’. Think of it as a preliminary decision to see who gets the wild-card, and the real ‘playoffs’ begin afterward.
However, due to other reasons (ex. scheduling, not pushing WS into Nov., too much rest for other teams, etc.), I will be in favor of a one-game match.
I propose a 30 team playoff.. Each team plays one elimination game until there is one team standing.. We can call it October Insanity!
Or in this case Selig Insanity
That is the best idea I have heard in the past 45 seconds. Right on.
Next idea . . .
Read the article. Selig said it will be a one-game playoff, which makes winning the division more important. Of course you know what is going to happen now. The Yankees will finish second, they will play the other wild card team in a winner take all match, they will lose, and the fans of New York will complain that it should have been a best of seven, so their Yankees will win at least one post season game.
Except to be accurate you should replace “Yankees” with “Red Sox” in what you just said, considering that the Yankees have never won a World Series as the Wild Card team, and have only finished as the Wild Card winner twice since its inception.
Maybe you are the won who should be more accurate. The 2007 Red Sox won the division on their way to a championship.
Who knows whether the 2007 Red Sox would have won the division under the proposed system. Both teams were lining up their rotations for the postseason and finished only 2 games apart. The Yankees were significantly outplaying them at the end of the season despite that as well.
Imagine if that Red Sox team just barely lost the division at the very end. They would have played a one game playoff against either Seattle or Detroit, who could have thrown Felix Hernandez or Justin Verlander to knock out the eventual World Series winners before the Postseason even started!
Yes, imagine. Imagine if Pedro was taken out of the game in 2003. So, that WS for the Yankees is not really a WS bc of how close it was in the ALCS game 7. Great argument.
Scoreboard is scoreboard. Whatever your opinions, the Sox won the division. Dont try and change history to make your points.
Yes, bc Philly fan or Braves fan would not have the exact same argument. With 10% of the televisions in the New York and Boston markets and add another 3 % for Philly and another 2 % for Atlanta, that is 15 % of all televisions owning baseball fans being upset about seeing their teams in arguably the most competitive divisions losing in a one game gimmick. So if I was MLB I would listen…
Unless they dont like money.
What cracks me up is how bad a businessman Bud Selig truly is…Lets change one of the best off season MLB has had in terms of competitive play and tv viewers…
Real smart.
Interesting how that will play out with 5 teams reaching the playoffs in each league. I guess the two wild card teams will battle it out with one of them being eliminated before any of the other teams play.
Yeah in a one game playoff… weak sauce
And what, have a one-game playoff?
$H*+ Selig, just have them flip a coin.
MLB is officially expanding the playoffs to 10 teams. I’m personally against this. The move is obviously to ensure that BOS and NYY get in the playoffs each year. I do not want MLB to to turn into the NHL and NBA where playoffs go on for 2 months and over half the league makes the playoffs.
Conspiracy theorize much?
I doubt its why they are doing it, but it makes sense. They are the money makers for postseason.
If anything I would think it would help the Orioles, Rays, and Bluejays.
By moving the Astros into the AL West, it might increase their chances by playing a weaker team 18 times.
Really? Weaker than the Cubs and Pirates? Good assessment.
I’m pretty sure slider meant that it would increase the other teams in the AL West’s chances to make the playoffs because they could beat on the Astro’s for 18 games.
I’m sure slider32 meant that it increases the AL West’s chances of making the playoffs because they get to beat up on the Astros 18 times, man. Not that the AL West is weaker than the NL Central.
believe me they had just as many in the central, Cubs,Pirates even the Reds ths year wont change much for them.
Uhm…the rays have been in the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years, if anything it’s to make sure the Yankees AND Red Sox both make the playoffs.
Why do the Rays need help? They’re better than the Red Sox.
They are at the moment, but with their small market, any sustained greatness is likely short lived. They have great management, so they can certainly contend sporadically, but they won’t dominate like Boston and New York. I agree that this is to aid teams who would normally not have a chance when the Yankees and Red Sox are clicking at full tilt.
Contend sporadically? They have averaged 92 wins the last 4 seasons. Thats far from sporadic winning. Yeah, they lose talent because they are not a big market team but they have more than enough talent continuing to come up to make them consistent contenders.
The business model of the Red Sox and Yankees isn’t the only one that works.
The Rays will be better than the Red Sox for at least the next couple of years. They have potentially the next Crawford and a very in depth farm system
I assume you’re talking about Jennings? He got extremely hot against us (Rangers) in the DS. He’s going to be good.
it helps the Nationals and the Mutts too they may actually make it now
Yeah I am a long suffering Blue Jays fan, I would like to see my team make the playoffs again before I die and being in the AL East, well, death is more likely to occur first under the current format. Therefore I want an extra spot, maybe I will have a reason to watch baseball after August for the first time in 19 years.
Funny, I enjoy watching Jays baseball after August because I enjoy watching baseball. 🙂
So you will enjoy watching them not make the playoffs for another 20 years then as well, right? Because if you’ve been watching this team for a long time, the only time we were even remotely close to making the playoffs since 1993 was the 1998 season where we pulled to within a few of the wild card. I do enjoy watching the Jays, but after watching endless failing seasons, it gets tiring to watch the final clawing of September. You are either very young and not experienced this enough or a wild eyed optimist.
Everyone who hates this change is amusing. 50 years ago, two teams with the best records went straight to the world series. Then, they started adding playoffs, first 4 teams, then the lone wildcard in 1994. I’m sure a bunch of people flipped out about tradition blah blah, but the internet wasn’t around (ok it was there in 94, but not like this with less users) so we didn’t hear the complaining. Now we get to.
Things change people, deal with it.
Wow…that’s quite the overreaction of a comment. All I said was that I enjoy watching baseball for the sake of watching baseball, and playoff baseball is just a bonus. I don’t really invest that much emotion in professional sports. And I don’t care about this change either way.
I am a Mets fan I know what your going through
The more playoff teams the less chance you have making the series. If you take the two best records like the old days, it would have been the Yanks vs Philly this year.
you still had a CS round so it still would have been NL East and West and AL East and West. So you would have started with Texas vs. Yanks in the AL. Texas beat Detroit who beat the Yanks so therefore Texas still goes. NL would be The phillies though as they would beat the Diamondbacks.
He meant before 1969, when there were no divisions.
So back when there were 20 teams and you played every team the same amount. That really applies in today’s game with 30 teams.
add the Rays in two because they will almost always win over 85 a year which is more than most teams in the other divisions can say
on the flipside the Mets maybe able to make playoffs now.In 2013 they will be somewhat better
Really? Almost always?
One step closer to the absurdity of all the other sports where half the damn field makes the playoffs. Great.
More playoff teams = more fans who care in September and October.
= more $$$$
If this is added for the 2012 season, the Nationals just became contenders for post-season play
Your lips to the baseball gods’ ears, friend.
so did the New Yor Muts the Nats didnt do much better than them
Anyone not expecting a drop off for the Mets after they lose Reyes is delusional…
Technically speaking, this helps every team that finished 2nd in their division without getting the wildcard
terrible
AL East vs NL East. Sweet. Yanks, Sox, Rays and Phillies, Braves, Nats.
This is silly.
WOW I don’t know about anyone else but I am pleased to see that Nats being mentioned with the big guys without having won anything yet.
can anyone explain to me how this actually works? cause we already have whoever wins the AL and NL wild cards going to the postseason. i can understand that but adding 2 wild card teams means that 2nd place AL and NL wild card teams now have a chance at going to the postseason too 0_0?
The 1 and 2 wild cards play each other in a 1 or 3 game playoff while the other teams get a “bye.” The goal is to add incentive to win the division beyond home field advantage and make money.
So for instance, the Braves would play the Nationals in a such a system. The theory is that (while last year was nice, it doesn’t happen every year) a team like New York can forfeit the division race and set their pitching for the playoffs (like they did in 2010) so they would have the same tactical advantage as a #1 seed.
But who gets home field advantage in the three game series?
The one with the better record I’d guess… Or whoever owns the tie breaker.
The better record against each other?
Yes.
The Two Wild Cards aren’t (most likely going to finish tied).
If for instance if Atlanta wins 92 games and Washington wins 89, the Atlanta would have home field.
If they do finish tied, whoever has the better record against each other (let’s say if The Braves beat the Giants 4 out of 6 Games) the Braves would have homefield.
The other thing this does is take away the best pitcher to start the next round as you would want your best pitcher for a one game playoff. I am all for a one game playoff because it really does give the advantage back to winning the division. 3 games makes everybody else wait too long.
Teams will always set their teams up for the playoff if they can, the Giants and the Cards proved that the hot team at the end of the season usually wins. Bye’s in baseball can be a deterand.
Two examples hardly qualifies as proof
I disagree, it’s all match ups. If you asked me going into the playoffs who the worst matchups for the Phillies would have been, I would have said St. Louis and San Fransisco both years.
I would have gladly taken Arizona or Milwaukee in the first round over St. Louis.
Why not just make the wildcard team play all their playoff games on the road. That would be a very big incentive to win the division.
Making the playoffs actually means something with the way it was. I believe this will somewhat tarnish that. I personally don’t want to make my team to make the playoffs as the second wild card. It won’t be nearly as satisfying. Not a fan.
People can stop whining about how there isn’t a disadvantage to making it to the playoffs as the wild card team
This is honestly getting absurd. It’s reached the point where regular-season success means nothing. So unfair to the clubs that actually build quality teams, when they can get knocked out in any one short series by a stroke of bad luck.
or by the umps, as it usually happens in the playoffs. this past world series was pleasantly devoid of corrupt blues.
I wouldn’t say devoid, i.e. Matt Holliday at first base, but nothing that decided any games.
The NLDS between the Phillies/Cardinals was pretty bad (on both sides). Especially Game 2.
The World Series wasn’t bad, I can’t think of any off the top of my head, so that’s a good sign.
thats such a lame excuse man. if a “better” team is eliminated in a short series then it wasnt bad luck, the better team won.
I think it means its a small sample size/matchups. If they were the better team they’d be the better team after 162.
If we’re talking about a three or five game series, then maybe you’re right.
But if we’re talking about a one game playoff, which is probably what the Wild Card “round” would be, then you’re dead wrong.
I don’t mind adding another wildcard team. However, I don’t like the idea of a one game playoff. The two teams should at least play 3 games.
I was thinking the same thing. 1 game tells you nothing about who should advance, might as well play rock paper scissors and move on. Even a best of 3 isnt great but Id much rather the team who advances have to take 2 of 3
also, if you are using your ace for a 1 game series, then he is out for the next round… Not fair if you want to find the best team.
Using your ace in the ‘wild-card round’, only to have him out of the next round?
Think of it as punishment in the next round for not winning the division.
I said this in a higher post but it actually gives the division winners a big help if they play the wild card. Assuming it is a one game playoff, you would roll out your ace for the game as it is a must win. This then benefits the division winners and brings back some validity to trying to win the division and not just coast at the end. Takes out the wild card’s ace until game 3 or 4 while whoever plays them can then use their ace twice. I like the fact that as a wild card you have no guarantee of playing a full series in the post season. Division winners will finally matter again and we will see better baseball in september.
Which not only makes it a boost to be division winner instead of a wild card, but also makes it a boost to be the #1 seed so that you face the wild card.
I like it, in reality, neither wild card team should be in the playoffs in the first place, so who cares if their season is decided by one game?
I’d prefer a 3 game series but I see the advantages to a One Game Playoff, especially Ratings wise. I don’t really have an opinion either way. I’d lean towards a 3 game playoff so it’s not as much of a crap shoot, but I’d love the excitement and drama of a “win or go home.”
What? Are you trying to say using a the largest sample scale to make it in, and then using the smallest possible one when they get there makes no sense?
I’m beginning to think Selig is senile or has a mental problem.
I disagree. In a one-game playoff, both teams would use their best available starting pitcher. Assuming they have a chance to throw their ace in this game, he would be unavailable until at least game 3 of the division series. With a three game series, your ace would have more time to rest for the division series. A one-game playoff gives a considerable advantage to the teams that win their division, allowing them more time to set up their rotations.
the fans said nfl and the players deserted the fans. same thing with nba. mlb and it’s commissioner are definitely ignoring the fans. sack that commie(sh).
All I want for Xmas is for the World Series to be over before New Years.
Some people on this thread wont be complaining when their teams makes the playoffs (and shouldnt have) on the new rule
This degrades the quality of my favorite sport.
So did the original Wild Card.
I’m not for adding the 2nd Wild Card, but the first Wild Card didn’t degrade the quality of the sport, in fact, it made it that much more interesting.
You’re going to have so many more teams fighting for that 2nd Wild Card spot “Wildcard Wednesday” or whatever it was has that much more of a chance at happening every year.
Should make the Sept strech a little more interesting
Let’s not turn this into the joke of a playoff system that the NBA has where over half the teams make the postseason…
maybe we can add the lottery to for the draft!!! get your ping pong balls out!!!
Selig just keeps adding to his legacy of worst commish in history, huh?
Why even bother playing 162 then? If we are just going to let more teams in why not just make it 90 games? We have the long season for a reason: the team that won the most IS the best. We already know this. Cool, lets water down the playoffs even more. MLB is getting so disgusting.
mr. rose?
what?
Are you referring to pete rose? He’d think Giamatti was the worst commish in history, wouldnt he?
Why even have a World Series, then? I mean, the Phillies were definitively the best team in the MLB by virtue of record by your standard, so why should we want a best of seven series to determine they were a full five games better than the Yankees?
Umm yea you are just wrong.
Seriously can any of your posts have any sort of logic?
The phillies got to face the amazing NL east teams and the even better NL central and west teams! Whoever wins the most games isnt necessarily the best team, if they were they could beat the very best teams in a playoff format. Heck even my tigers who won 96 games I am hesitant to say they were that great because they had the twins/royals 36 times!
Playoffs correct anything a 162 game schedule cant, and since you people are already complaining about interleague play year round we have to keep it this way.
Gasp it’s almost like MLB is a for profit organization. The World Series ratings SUCKED.
No one cares about baseball anymore outside the historic baseball cities.
After the final day of the 2011 regular season, Selig ranted about how great it was and how a day like that could “only happen in baseball”. So with these new changes, what happened on the last day of 2011 regular season would have resulted in: Tampa, Boston, Atlanta & St Louis making the playoffs – ie the results of the last day would have made no difference to the teams who made the playoffs and would not have been anything memorable.
and then those 4 teams would have faced each other in a 1-game playoff. The idea of this is to repeat the drama of that final day every year.
Let’s just dilute the game down to mush and make it a year round sport. It’s about nothing but the money…to hell with the integrity of the game itself.
no matter how hard bud sellig is trying to establish his legacy he is stuck with steroid and buttt kissing the richest teams. in particular, yankees and red sox.
Bud Selig leaving one last long and disgusting SKID MARK on the game of baseball during his time on office
just one? he’s been on a tear lately. its like david stern gave him turbo lax.
“It will be dramatic.”
Oh good, because Wild Card Wednesday wasn’t dramatic enough for my tastes.
How often does that actually happen? People forget that those teams were separated by close to 10 games going into September. We almost didn’t have any type of race and it would have made sense to add drama by expanding the playoffs. The stars had to align for the finish we had this year.
Wild Card Wednesday isn’t going to happen every year and it rarely happens every year, that’s why it was so special.
“Wild Card Wednesday isn’t going to happen every year and it rarely happens every year, that’s why it was so special.”
Which is why this two wild card, one game playoff system is so stupid.
Bud is trying to artificially recreate the drama of something unbelievable that happened all on its own.
That’s all this is about. False drama and money. And, while MLB is bowing down to that crap, we’ll be getting a more watered down version of the playoffs.
Can’t wait to see the response when an 83 win team squeaks by a 95 win team in the wild card “round”!
i’d be very surprised if it there was that much of a difference between the 1st wildcard and the 2nd wild card. i’d say most years it will be a 90 win team vs. an 87 win team
Who cares? The Wild Card team should be in the playoffs in the first place. It should be two divisions.
With a season that’s twice as long as any other sport, baseball needs more playoff teams about as much as it needs fourth base.
Bud Selig can always be relied upon to do whatever he can to make a great game worse.
fourth base = home plate so integral for scoring?
Under the new agreement their will be an interleague game every day which would mean 162 total interleague games at most. If you divide the 162 divided by 15= 10.8 games a year for each team much less than the 18 that are played know.
They’re upping the Interleague games to 30 a team. Disgraceful. Bud Selig is letting baseball jump the shark.
I don’t understand why people don’t like interleague play. I like seeing the American League teams play my Phillies.
There’s plenty of things Bud Selig has screwed up but I liked Interleague Play. I’m not necessarily for the expansion of the playoffs but I understand the motives and if my team wasn’t a perennial contender (at this point in time) I would be for it.
They don’t like it because of tradition.
It is part tradition. It’s also because the AL is a league built around the DH. The current way Interleague is, the AL team basically lost the use of that player for 5 or 6 games, depending how many were playing in NL parks. Now, it will be 15 games out of 162, and that just isn’t acceptable.
As a White Sox fan, the World Series in 2005 was a bit anticlimactic since we played the Astros earlier in the season. Bud Selig is ruining my interest in baseball.
So because the sox played the astros in interleague play it ruined the world series for you?
wow.
Yes, it does hurt the World Series. I am not suggesting that it ruins it but I believe that the two World Series teams should never face each other during the regular season, especially multiple times by increasing interleague play.
errmmm why?
why?? yanks and sox have a great rivalry and they play eachother often. there is no argument that suggests that world series teams should have never face eachother
The argument obviously goes both ways, as the NL teams build their lineups without thinking of a DH-type…
Maybe these changes allow Big Papi to sign with the Marlins…
So now the World Series will be over just in time for Christmas!!!
ummmm, it will add an extra game……….
Your picture is like a bootleg version of mine! Sweeeeeeeet
you are fired, budt!
Awful. #FireBudSelig
Thank you sweet Jesus.
Sincerely,
A Blue Jays fan.
Come on… when was the last time a wildcard team won the World Series??? oh…
hah. yeah.
Hey man, I’m not even thinking World Series. The Jays haven’t even been in a playoff RACE since 93. I honestly be happy just having a better chance of September games that matter.
Well Toronto looks like they are in good shape to contend real soon.. however It would suck to see you guy earn the wildcard and get beat out by the new rule.
Ugh. Why not just go to playoff brackets like in college sports? Make the playoffs last a month. Call it October O-Madness.
God, I hate Selig.
At least he’s retiring in 2012.
Will George W. Bush change it back though?
That will be the best thing to happen to baseball in a while.
haha everyone hates this, selig is so clueless and driven by money not integrity.
haha at statements that say everyone does something because that is rarely ever true.
What was it about this season’s playoffs that says to Bud Selig: “This really needs to change?” The season came down to the last game in both leagues. The playoffs were closesly matched throughout. One of the best postseason games ever took place in game six of the World Series. This system is seriously not broken.
The only thing this “fixes” is the wild card team not having a disadvantage, but how important is that, really? If baseball won’t fix its economics, there will always be very good teams in the AL East who would be first place in either of the other divisions finishing behind the Yankees or Red Sox. There’s nothing wrong with those teams going to the playoffs with a fair shot, often with the second best record in the AL.
I’d argue that this goes too far in the other direction. The Wild Card is now fairly meaningless. Even if you make it, you’re likely going to be eliminated by the number one seed in the first round because you burned your best starter in the one game playoff. Who will the number one seed be? Over the last decade: Yankees X 6 , Rays, Angels, Red Sox, White Sox once each. All of them large market teams and the Yankees dominating.
And now you know why this is being done. MLB’s worst nightmare is a Kansas City, San Diego World Series and now they can rest easy, because that will never, ever happen.
Go to hell, Selig.
Let’s ignore 10 years because last year was really exciting.
The stars had to align for the finish we had. What about 2010 when the Yankees folded to the Rays so CC could pitch Game 1 of the ALDS?
Maybe someone said “We should setup the playoffs so this happens every year” instead of once per decade.
Just makes the regular season even more irrelevant. Better idea: Expand to 16 teams in each league, with four four-team divisions. Division winners make the playoffs, period.
but, but… Then we can’t have the Yankees and Red sox in the playoffs together… This will never pass as much as it makes sense.
But it doesn’t make it irrelevant, it actually increases the value of baseball that we will see. Winning a division is now paramount as a 1 game playoff is tough to win with ace vs ace and winning it is a big disadvantage with no ace to start the DS round. Winning the AL East (as they always seem to have the wildcard) will now mean something so there will be some fight at the end of the year instead of just laying down happy that you are in the playoff.
So you don’t want to expand the playoffs by WC, but you’ll do so by division? Isn’t one of those based on record while the other is completely arbitrary? Sounds like you’re way would “taint” the playoffs more than another WC.
The Orioles finally have a chance now!
No…no they don’t.
What’s the point of playing a 162 game marathon of a season if the championship is going to be decided by a series of windsprints?
This will drive up the price of Aces.
how so?
Why do we assume both wild card teams will be coasting in to the playoffs able to rest their ace in time for the 1 game wild card
So much nonsense by the posters here.
The EXACT same logic was used to dispute the introduction of the Wild Card and the three division alignment. People hated the idea that playoffs were being expanded to include two new additional teams in each league. It was going to make the regular season meaningless, extend the playoffs too long, etc, etc.
Think how different the 2011 season would have been in the “old” days where there were just 4 teams in the playoffs. It would have been Texas and the Yankees in the AL and Philly and Milwaukee in the NL. You would not have had the drama with Boston and Tampa. The Braves and St Louis would have been an after-thought as they would have just been playing out the year.
Since 1996 a wild card team (remember – these are supposed to be the teams that we didn’t want in the playoffs at all AND they represent just 25% of the playoff teams) have won the World Series 5 times in the past 15 years and have played in an additional 5 World Series’. That is a significantly higher % than you would expect using basic probability. Point is, the Wild Card adds a LOT to intrigue and excitement to baseball. The Wild Card changes the outcome of the game dramatically. Expanding it a little further would be a good thing IMO.
All that said, I HATE a 1 game playoff system. There is far too much luck involved in a 5 game series. Reducing things to 1 game is silly.
Your statistics support my OPPOSITION to the ‘new’ system. Not the other way around. The reason to play 162 games is to figure out who the best teams are. The fact that wildcards have appeared in so many World Series is evidence that the best teams are not getting there. This is a problem.
The “best” team does not always win the championship in any sport. Your opposition is based on something that does not exist. Using your logic, once the regular season is over in any sport they should just award the championship to the team with the best record.
That’s a fair point, but the nature of baseball gives teams that are not near the best a better opportunity to win in a playoff format. In football, basketball, etc it’s certainly possible of a wildcard/low seed to pull an upset, but much less likely that they repeat those upsets in subsequent rounds all the way to the championship. When was the last time a first round underdog won the NBA title? Ever? It happens occassionally in football, but 10% of the time at the most, right? A third of the time is far too high in my opinion for baseball, a league that has a marathon season for –what exactly? — if it’s not to find out who’s best?
I guess I’m just more traditional. I’d personally be fine with the best team in each league playing in the World Series.
Maybe the answer to that is to reduce the regular season to 150 or 154 games, which would also move the start of the playoffs up and gaurantee no November baseball. (You could easily make the Division Series 7-gamers also). However, I seriously doubt it will happen since each team would be losing revenue from 4 or 6 home dates.
but the wild card team does not DESERVE to make the playoffs. 162 games is enough to say “this team is DEFINITELY better than this one”. Who cares if a team misses by one game? THEY WERE NOT AS GOOD.
but it makes winning the division so much more important with a 1 game playoff and keeps the other teams from going cold.
You know what they should do in this new CBA? If there’s interleague play everyday, we should definitely get rid of that dumb All-Star game winner getting home field advantage in the World Series rule. That’s just plain dumb.
Agreed. If there is lots of interleague play, it’s fair to let the team with the best record have home-field advantage. Scrap the all-star game being the decider.
Who ever wins the Homerun Derby (NL or AL rep) Should get the homefield advantage.. at least it alternates more often.
Why not just give the league that won the series last year Home Field??
Great, push the playoffs further into November ensuring MORE rain outs!! This is lame unless it’s a one game between the two wild card teams!
A one-game playoff? That’s awesome now the team that gets eliminated is going to be referred to as the stooge of the playoffs. It’s like yeah they made the playoffs but they got eliminated with one game so who gives a crap?
Horrible decision… Why do we have to screw with a perfectly fine playoff system? Didn’t we just have one of the best postseason (and final Day of regular season) ever?
And interleague everyday seems a bit overboard. Welcome to the NBA/NFL. yawn….
I really don’t think anyone was clamoring for adding a crappy game that could get their team knocked out of even the wild card spot to a team that could be a few games behind in the standings with a one-game playoff. If they’re tied at the end of the season, absolutely. That’s drama.
Would it REALLY be fair to have had the 2010 Red Sox who were SIX games behind the Yankees get a one-game makeup attempt at the playoffs? No! Horrible idea!
2009, Rockies having to fight off the Giants who were SEVEN games out of the playoffs?
There has to be some actual advantage to playing well enough to win something in the regular season and the Wild Card SO FAR has never been that far behind the “worst” division winner and the 2nd place Wild Card would from my quick checks is about half the time actually the 3rd team in the division, which makes this whole thing sorta terrible.
I like it and dislike it.
I like that the Wild Card team (such as the Cardinals) will have a tougher shot to win the World Series because if you don’t win the division, you only have one game.
But 10 playoff teams out of 30? Do we really need to play 162 games to determine who the best 10 teams are?
I agree with your assessment, and I commented on a similar post above. Would like to see the regular season trimmed down to 150 or 154 games, which would gain 7-10 days worth of time to allow for the 1-game playoff, and a 7-game LDS.
With the 15-teams per league format, teams could play…
Other teams in division: 4 x 16 games = 64
Other teams in league: 10 x 6 games = 60
Interleague games: 5 x 6 games = 30
This is just one way to get to 154 games, with teams getting 3/3/2 home & away series’ versus other division foes, and 3 home & 3 away against other league teams. For interleague (in this set-up) East would play East, Central-Central, West-West for travel and rival-building purposes.
I’d love to see more focus on inter-divisional play.
21 games against each team in your own division = 84 games
6 games against each other team in your league = 60 games
3 games against each team in one division of the other league = 15 games
3 game town rival(rotating home/away each year)=3
Interleague would be like this: (using Cubs for example)
Year 1 Home Vs ALC (Rival series @Sox)
Year 2 Visiter Vs ALC (Rival series @Cubs)
Year 3 Home Vs ALE (Rival series @Sox)
Year 4 Visiter Vs ALE (Rival series @Cubs)
Year 5 Home Vs ALW (Rival series @Sox)
Year 6 Visiter Vs ALW (Rival series @Cubs)
Bud will keep his team rivalry games and it would lead to truly putting a need on winning your division to make the playoffs instead the rest of baseball.
I agree that the interleague rivalry series will def be maintained and highlighted. Also, I’d be fine with 18 games (9 home, 9 away) versus teams in your division, and not totally sold on as many total interleague games as my scenario suggested.
One thing I don’t like with how MLB schedules now, is it seems like teams are CONSTANTLY playing one team at home, then turning around and playing the SAME team 7 days later on the road…. can’t they split it up more?
Something I saw in your scenario… what happens in the year when the Cubs play ALC opponents?… do they just play the White Sox an extra 3 times that season? Suppose that’s fine, since those games hold more fan interest anyway.
They will play 3 times a year at a minimum. If it falls on a year where the Cubs are playing ALC, they will play them 6 times that year.
I am happy to hear this! For me personally I believe that the NFL has the best playoff system around and its good to hear that the MLB is kinda taking one out of their playbook with the second wild card.
This will help teams get into the playoffs and for all those saying what about the lsat game this year well thats NEVER happened before. What happens more often then not is 2 teams are fighting for a division and the other will most certainly win the wild card so really who the heck cares?
you must be a bean pharts fan.
I’m curious how they’ll create merchandise around this. “2nd Wild Card Winners” doesn’t exactly scream “buy this t-shirt”.
Probably just “WE MADE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!!!”
How bout Wild Card Champion ???
Well, that makes sense if you win the one-game playoff, but not for the 2nd wild card winner. Would they even make merchandise for that?
I don’t have a problem with interleague play all the time. I actually thought it was fairly silly to have interleague games as a “special event” atmosphere. Either have it all the time or don’t have it at all.
But if you are going to have it all the time, the rules need to be updated so that each league follows the same set of rules. Meaning the NL either needs to adopt the DH rule (the thought of which makes me cringe) or the AL needs to abandon the DH rule. Phase out the DH rule if you want to. The point is, you can’t have interleague all the time and operate on two separate sets of rules.
The only way MLB would have fairly been able to add 2 WC teams was to make an even 6 division/5 team league. The WC addition makes winning the Division that much more impt. AL West team has 25% chance to do so while NL Central has 16.67% chance. Cant have 1 without the other. Knowing how exciting these 1 game playoffs are going to be…I’m thrilled about it. I find it hard to believe people won’t be excited to watch these games come October.
that’s why the astro boys are moving to a.l. west. to be another kickball…
I mostly like what I’m hearing from the new CBA. Long term draft slotting will probably be a good thing. Love adding a wild-card team, especially since it doesn’t really extend the playoffs.
The only way to make it fair is to have EVERYONE make the playoffs. That way, no one feels left out. Plus, since Bud likes money, every team will be able to bring in more $$ since they’ll be hosting at least one playoff game.
EVERYONE WINS!
hey, i like your plan!
It’s so crazy that it just might work.
MLB is expanding it’s postseason from 8 to 10 teams.
10 is distinctly less than 16 and even more so than 30.
Embellishing the idea makes for weak arguments.
Great ! Can’t wait to see who is gonna be Mr. December !…… Still say that should belong to Santa…….
Sucks to be a wild card team…if you lose you are done, if you win then your ace is shot for the next series…more importance on winning the division so that doesn’t happen? I think yes.
I think you gotta shorten the season to 154-156 now? this would extend the playoffs into mid november?
Yeah I totally want to see Yankees Phillies every year…… If your 95 win team loses to an 85 win team, in the first round, get over it and look forward to next year.
especially when the umps help you lose….
There should be a DH in ALL interleague games. There’s no need for AL pitchers to hurt themselves swinging the bat or running the bases.
If the Wild Card teams play each other then this has almost no effect on the quality of the playoffs for the division winners. It isn’t like Basketball or Hockey playoffs; there aren’t two WC teams looking to get lucky and slay a giant now.
From their point of view there is still only one WC team.
Great move. Can’t wait to watch those games
If this rule were in effect last year, Boston’s epic collapse would have been given a second chance with the one game wildcard. Ditto for Atlanta, who could have kicked St. Louis out of the playoffs and their World Series win with a one game playoff. Funny how this change comes after Boston fails to make the playoffs for the second straight year. Bull… complete bull. I don’t like it. The last games of the season will not be the same now… watching the last games of last season was exciting, now it means nothing as the top two teams will now make the playoffs.
I can’t decide which I hate more. Another Wild Card team or interleague play all year long.
Love interleague play lasting all year, meh on another wild card team, HATE that the two wild cards will play ONE freakin’ game to advance.
I don’t like this… and even as a Jays fan I don’t like this..
I dont mind the extra teams as much as I hate the idea of a one game playoff… Is winning the wildcard only to lose one more game and go home really ‘making the playoffs’.. ?
Without a balanced scheduled and the abolition of divisions, pretty much any solution is going to unsatisfactory, including the current setup. At least the extra WC will give peripheral teams a shot, though it will be a little silly to see three AL East teams go through most seasons…
Hopfully it will be a 3 game playoff
but then the division winners are sitting idle for 4-5 days
why not just abolish the divisions have the al/nl balance schedule, top 4 teams make it.
It would set up the worthy teams (who win their divsion) to start their Aces in game one. Rather than having “bull pin sessions” in the end of the season. (Phillies Atlants)
Other than Hamels, the Phillies actually pitched their aces against the Braves… (you’re welcome).
Hamels was on short rest, otherwise he would have pitched the entire game or at least 6 innings.
“Hmm, these game 163’s we’ve been having lately sure do drum up a bunch of excitement. How can we ensure that we have one of those EVERY season?” –Bud Selig
Also, can you imagine how many more chances for ties and ACTUAL game 163’s this opens up? The end of September is going to just be absurd now, and a lot of one-good-month and 85-win teams are suddenly going to be able to get a lot further than they should.
I dont like it either, but how is that any more absurd then the dodgers winning their division with 84 wins?
It’s not, but that’s unavoidable, I suppose. Someone HAS to win the divisions, but nobody needs to be a second wildcard. If we’re going to do this we should just do away with divisions entirely and have the 4 and 5 seeds play off if we really want to do that.
But if you do away with divisions and have two leagues, then it can just as easily be argued that playoffs devalue what the league winners accomplished.
I wouldn’t buy that argument as much. Two 15-team leagues would be playing for playoff seeds and the home-field advantage that entails. The league winner would be rewarded with home field advantage and the ability to play the winner of the roughed-up wild card play-in.
I understand that, but it’s missing the point somewhat.
Take the UK Premier League (soccer) for example. They play 38 games over the course of the season. The team that finishes top is, rightly, considered the champion. They have proven themselves to be the best team over all of their peers whilst playing exactly the same fixture list.
The only way you could achieve a similar level of honesty in division-less MLB is to have the outright league winners face off for the World Series with *no* playoffs. I’m not suggesting any particular changes, but I think it’s important to note that there is unevenness and unfairness across baseball’s structure. One more wildcard won’t change that, but it may make the season more exciting for some teams. I think it comes before the line of oversaturated playoffs/a meaningless season.
But the setup is already dishonest. Teams have differing schedules, differing teams to leapfrog in their divisions. It’s simply not an honest evaluation of the best, most deserving teams. A second WC isn’t going to detract or add to that.
No, but I guess this is just making the division system WORSE.
This is a great idea.
Amazes me how a bunch of spoiled fans of teams who ALWAYS make playoffs seem to think that adding ONE game a day or two before the division will run the season into Christmas. People are flat out stupid around here.
come on people, seriously, how often is that last game of the season going to happen. That was (probably) the best final day of the regular season in HISTORY. I promise you that it’s not going to happen next year…… except that now it will happen every year!! a one game playoff will be AWESOME.
This is all done in the quest to get the Pirates in the post season. Lets see first redo the divisions so that the Pirates are in with the Mariners, Astros, Royals and Cubs. Then make it manditory that a wild card team comes from this division…..Ehhh what I am thinking they would still get last place.
If this rule had been in effect this year Cards might have lost. And what if the difference of the first and second place wild card teams is like 5 or 6 games. That all doesnt matter as long as you get 2nd? That’s not fair. Stupid move. Way to ruin tradition Selig.
Look up “Rounders” in wikipedia. It’s baseball with one of those 10-inch-long bats, underhand pitching, and a pentagon instead of a diamond.
-Nationals, Mets, Dodgers, Angels
I want to add that hated word by the players and owners == double-hitters.
Have the schedule build in 2 double-hitters each month. That is 6 months and a total of 12 double-hitters — that shortens the season.
Players, suck it up and play ball. Owners, charge a bit more for the ticket, to re-coup your money of those 6 lost games.
The actual problem with your logic is that it assumes that each team’s 162 games are equal. They aren’t. Not every division is equal, although it admittedly varies each year, and the current system of Interleague play further weights that because some teams will face stronger interleague opponents than others. It’s why a playoff is necessary at all.
“Team Irrelevant.” 🙂
12 Teams in it? 6 from AL and 6 from NL?
Cut back on “Inter-league play”. It’s like sleeping with your fiancee the night before the wedding. Just let the teams in the playoffs in each league play each other around the All-Star break. Thats enough. Or just stop it all together. There has to be something in sport that is sacried. The NFL and the NBA have sold out. Put your “F-ING” foot down and give the fans (who pay the checks) some type of suspense. You are America’s Past time. Damn it , act like it!!!!
OK this year the last day of the season had 8 games with playoff implications. 4 of them saw the fate of WC condending teams, 4 had playoff teams trying to get home-field in the DS. If this was there were two Wild Card teams year, the 5th,6th,7th,8th most important games on the last day of 2011 (TEX,DET,ARI,MIL trying to get home-field in the DS) wouldve become the 1-4 most important because the 4 more important, and better games wouldn’t have mattered because TBR,BOS,STL,ATL would’ve already been in the playoffs, against each other, and it would already be known that NYY would be playing either TBR or BOS, and PHI would be playing STL or ATL. Thus, baseball would never have had its “greatest one day of regular season play ever.”
So what happens if there’s a tie in the division and the two teams have to play a one game playoff…say the loser then has to play a one game playoff wild card game.
At this point if they do make it they have to start a series with their second or third best pitcher.
“It’ll be dramatic….”
Move to an NFL-style system with three rounds. Top teams in each league get a first round ‘bye’.
Two bottom league teams vs. two top league teams, etc. Winners play a second round series. Winner of that plays LCS vs. the top team in the league.
why not remove 6-8 games from the final week, make the 2 wild card teams play each other in a 3 game series that would take about a week with the better record team getting the first and last game @ home, then proceed as usual.
or implement the nfl style of playoffs. best records each side gets bye, while the 2 ranked team plays 5 and 3rd rank team plays 4
Really wishing this could have happened last season coming from a braves fan