Major League Baseball’s playoff format last underwent seismic changes entering 2012, when it expanded the postseason to allow four wild-card teams into the tournament instead of two. Things have stayed the same since then, but further adjustments may be in the offing.
Beginning in 2022, the first season after the current collective bargaining agreement expires, commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB could add two more playoff qualifiers per league. That means almost half of the sport (14 of 30 teams) would have some chance of reaching the World Series when the fall rolls around. But that’s not all – MLB would hand the No. 1 team in each league a first-round bye, the higher-seeded teams that don’t have byes would select their first-round opponents and those clubs would play three-game series in one city.
On one hand, an expanded playoff setup would likely encourage more teams to make an effort to compete. There are arguably too many franchises that haven’t pushed hard enough to grab playoff spots in recent years. It could also increase television ratings and ticket sales, as clubs that might normally be out of the race late in the season would have more realistic shots at getting to October. Those are all good things from the league’s perspective.
On the other hand, there’s a case that a 14-team postseason would reward mediocrity and further water down the playoffs. In most cases, these six and seven seeds aren’t going to be juggernauts. Back in 2017, for example, the Royals and Rays would have made the tourney with 80-82 records. It’s extremely unlikely, but imagine a sub-.500 team going on a magical run in the fall and winning the whole thing. That would perhaps make a mockery of the six-month regular season. Although, of course, we don’t know how these potential changes would affect the regular campaign. It’s possible the schedule would switch to fewer than 162 games (a total that has been in place for both leagues since 1962) in order to accommodate a longer postseason.
All said, there are pros and cons to an increased group of playoff teams. Where do you stand on the subject?
(Poll link for app users)
Sometimes I doubt Manfred’s commitment to sparkle motion
History will consider Manfred the worst Commissioner in baseball.
agree…time for the bum to go! astroisk***** !!!! Happened on his watch. He should step down. Didnt do enough as a leader to have more preventive measures in place! He sent as message telling teams not to. I tell my dog not to jump up on people but she still does?
I AGREE ! !! Get him out before he ruins the sport !!!
Selig. Kuehn. Landis.
Bowie Kuhn was a baseball commissioner.
Harvey Kuenn was a baseball player who was traded to Cleveland for Rocky Colavito.
No idea who Kuehn is.
They made me do it.
Haha yeah!
I do kinda like the top seeds calling out who they want to play against… I don’t need to see half the league in the playoffs though.
The Top seeds don’t get to choose their opponents. They get byes. The next highest ranked teams get to choose their opponents.
Only one top seed would get a bye. The other top seeds do.
I guess that depends on how you’d define top seeds… I’d consider #2/3 seeds a top seeds.
It’s still terrible in general
Priggs89 and Manfred are IDIOTS. …Worst idea EVER! … Fire Manfred!
Relax Francis.
Ok.
Great movie, but it’s “lighten up Franci
s***
Um Priggs89 doesn’t like the idea as a whole. Slow down and read before you respond and specifically call someone out
I really don’t like the idea of teams “picking” their opponents. I don’t like the concept of 14 playoff teams to begin with but the “picking your opponents” part just seems so extraordinarily corny that I really can’t get past it. I suppose after time I’d get over the increase in number of teams — but I really don’t think I’d ever be okay with the “selection of opponents” thing — it just seems like such an incredibly forced “extra tension” type thing. like the team that gets picked will be all like “you thought we sucked so we’re going to beat you”. just seems so incredibly childish and forced.
That certainly is one way to look at it. I don’t really feel it’d be any more forced than the underdog narrative that’s shoved in our faces by the lower seeds every single year. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t feel sympathetic for the 90-win team crying about how nobody believes in them because they’re playing against a 95-win team.
Yeah, can’t we do this same thing without adding two more wild card teams? Don’t buy that this addresses tanking or promotes more competitiveness. I love the idea of getting rid of the one game WC though.
I don’t mind it either.
But just add one playoff team and get rid of the first round bye. Three division winners, three wildcards, division winners pick their opponent.
Expand each league by a team too to keep the playoffs scarce.
Ok if you did that what are you doing after the first round… 3 teams 3 wildcards…6 divided by 2 = 3 lol
Three division winners and three wild card teams without a bye won’t work Dexxx.
After the first round , that leaves you with three teams bro!
This is without a doubt a god awful idea. CASE CLOSED!
Makes Gerrit Cole’s contract look good though.
No one needs fifth starters and could get by with a couple of #5 guys and a #4 as a three.
All that matters are core talents. The Pirates would have a zero chance at the trophy until the rules were changed and Tampa and Oakland not much better than zero.
Fire Manfred ASAP.
Can he get fired?
I think the owners vote. Don’t know the number of votes needed, if that’s even what happens
I think the regular season is already a mockery. There’s to many games. Needs to pair down to 150 or so. Having these teams playing regular season games in the snow or freezing cold temps is ridiculous. Pretty soon Mr October won’t exist.. will be Mr November or December for the world series to be crowned.
Of course the owners are not going to allow the season to shorten. Loss of money. and all.
That being said… I do like the new proposal. If for no other reason but to stop some of the tanking.
It doesn’t stop the tanking, though. Teams have less incentive to build the best roster they can. If you’re in the NL and you think you can’t be better than the Dodgers in the next 2-3 years, that would lead a team to not have the same urgency to shell out a huge FA offer to players like Mookie Betts. Why would they, when they could just have about a .500 team that will make it into the playoffs anyways?
Do teams tank in baseball? They fully rebuild yes, and tear down. but getting the top pick isn’t like in football. In baseball the draft is so deep with so many rounds.
They DO tank in baseball, regardless of how meaningless the draft is. The MLBPA even filed a couple of grievances related to it.
While the draft is a bit of a crapshoot and much deeper than other sports, the higher the pick, the much more likely they are to succeed. If you look at the history of #1 overalls, around 90% make it to the majors, and quite a few become stars, especially lately since scouting and analytics have gotten better. 8 players drafted first since 2000 have made an all-star team, with maybe 4 on pace for a chance at the HoF.
Your stats on draft picks are way off. Only about 30% of 1st rounders ever get to the big leagues and stick. Fewer become above average players. Keep in mind that even a “cup of coffee” counts in those stats as “reaching” the big leagues. I don’t know where you came up with that ridiculous 90% number.
I think one item still on the back burner, could be moving the World Series around annually, like the Super Bowl….Put it at warm weather site or dome and they can play till Thanksgiving….
And screw the 2 best teams fans out of a thrill ride like that? Great plan…
Not what I want, but I truly believe it’s something they’ve kicked around…
All Manfred brings are unnecessary changes that do nothing to make baseball better.
Baseball purists, fanatics and real fans HATE him and those who arent, don’t watch baseball. Manfred is KILLING baseball. Get him OUT of the game entirely!
Bravo! Does anyone have a petition?
that is a fallacious argument, I love baseball, don’t hate the guy, this is a dumb idea though
No, it isn’t a “fallacious argument.” If it is, identify the fallacy.
Yea, let’s take the season back to 154 games, and have the playoffs be just the top team from the al and nl, like the old days. God knows I don’t want to watch anymore baseball games than I have to.
Manfred could have been working to get minor leaguers a living wage, but no, instead dives facefirst directly into whatever worthless capitalism tells him to do, even it means completely changing the fabric of the game.
This is not the NBA, we have 162 games, we dont need more playoff teams, we need less.
Only the best should be there, not scrub .500 teams.
That’s Tony Clark’s job moron.
No, it’s not. Tony Clark’s job is to represent major league players. He doesn’t represent minor league players.
Never seen this jleve before but what a tool!
Is everyone gonna get a medal as well?
You guys must be insane not to like this idea! Times change and sports evolve. You traditionalist need to dig your own grave just like baseball is doing. It needs to keep up with the NFl or it will eventually die. I think it will be exciting and very creative on Manfred’s part. Thinking outside the box will keep the sport alive.
Nope
Dotnet 22, you said a mouthful!!!
It’s not going to compete with the NFL. Never will. That ship has sailed. So, they need to stop trying to be NFL – lite. These goofy gimmicks aren’t going to bring in new fans.
Seen any NFL stadiums lately? Most are half empty. Manfred is about to do the same to baseball. FIRE MANFRED.
Isn’t that the reason to look for changes?
What are you talking bout most nfl stadiums are half empty ???
What are you watching ?
It’s true… though I think some teams are just so terrible people aren’t going to watch….:
NFL Attendance Hits 15-Year Low This Season
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/01/03/nfl-atten…
More people are watching the NFL on TV. Fewer people are watching the NFL in person.
According to David Broughton and Andrew Levin of Sports Business Daily, the NFL averaged 66,648 attendees at home games in 2019. That’s the lowest average since 2004.
The Cowboys averaged 90,929, leading the league for 11 straight seasons. Fifteen teams saw a decline in attendance, led by the Jaguars (8.7 percent drop), Raiders (7.6 percent) and Bengals (7.0 percent).
Two teams saw an increase of more than five percent. Washington’s audience grew by 7.3 percent (the stadium was still at less than 80 percent capacity), and the Bills have a 6.0-percent jump.
Several years ago, the league suspended the blackout policy, which blocked local broadcast of home games if all non-premium tickets weren’t sold. Despite efforts to improve the in-stadium experience, there’s no substitute for winning.
Attendance peaked in 2016, with 69,487 per game. In 2004, 66,328 attended each game, on average.
They need to take Bauer’s advice and make the games more accessible to audiences. With blackouts and the playoff games being on random channels it’s hard for casual fans to keep up.
Look what happened to nascar when they started manufacturing the way the champion is decided.
Never watch Nascar. What was the story with that?
It’s not the change in playoff format that spoils the idea. It’s that expanding the teams means almost half the teams make the playoffs. Expand the number of franchises by four and I’m okay with the changes.
Mr. Tiner, get out of mommies basement and go watch a soccer game. Leave baseball alone!
Keep up with NFL. Will be more like NBA which ain’t good.
Nope Nope!
Bobby, you are the insane one here.
He still polishes his Participation Trophies.
Oh please, Manfred’s a tool for the quick buck and you’re wilfully ignorant. If he wants to bring fans, how about a ceiling on ticket prices so an average family can go again? TV baseball is booming, but tickets, food, drinks, parking are exorbitant.
Maybe you should blame greedy players and agents for their part in outrageous ticket prices.
A progressive mindset is poison. It literally ruins everything.
Progressive is good or we would all be cavemen. This just happens to be a bad idea.
Don’t confuse progress with “progressive” thought. The latter is a code word for Socialism (communism).
don’t confuse thinking with whatever the hell it is you are doing, maybe people could take conservatism seriously if it wasn’t so backwards and damaging
Stay in school. Be sure to take some history and civics classes. After that, you can take a class called “Critical Thinking” and learn about logical fallacies. Or, you can just keep proving certain moronic tendencies … it’s up to you.
And the other 16 teams will get a participation trophy
the only thing I don’t like right now is a one game wild card playoff, other than that, leave it alone
agreed.
Agreed, WC should be a 3 game series, change nothing else
WC should be a 3 game series with a doubleheader on the second day if needed and no travel day!
We’ve got to make it more difficult for the wild card teams.
I don’t know any true baseball fan that actually likes this
Manfred unified the entire fanbase of MLB against him with this alone.
What a massive, massive clown.
Bob Costas does
Quite similar to Costas’ idea – true.
There should be a fire Manfred option
I don’t see any possibility that the owners would agree to shorten the regular season to add this extra round of playoffs, unless players agree to reduce their salaries proportionately (and that will never happen). While 14 teams would make the playoffs, 16 would not and those 16 teams would lose significant revenue if the shortened the regular season from 162 games to say 150 games. It’s just not going to happen.
Also, baseball is the last professional sport where the regular season truly means something. This got watered down a bit when they added the 2nd wild card team, but the 1 game playoff somewhat offsets that. If they expand to 4 wild cards per league, then qualifying teams will rest their players at the end of the season (vs going full bore just to make the playoffs) and the excitement of September baseball will take a huge hit, as WC teams could clinch by Sept 15th versus coming down to the last week or even last day of the regular season. I’d hate to see this happen. MLB needs to build its brand and grow organically versus looking for the easy way out by adding more costly playoff games just to increase revenues.
“Also, baseball is the last professional sport where the regular season truly means something.”
Honestly, I view it completely the opposite. It could be argued that the regular season is MORE meaningful when more teams make the playoffs, right?
No. It dilutes the effort of the regular season. THINK!!!
Yes. Throw the cheaters out and leave baseball alone.
Dorothy Mantooth is a saint!
More teams (still just the top half) included, fewer total days of playoff baseball, and no more STUPID 1-game wild card play-in I like it!
The most important factor for me is the length of the baseball season. Baseball is amazing, and it is really the only sport I follow. But there are too many games played and the playoffs go on FOREVER.
Second, more teams making the playoffs makes the season more relevant. Up until the 2nd wild card team, September baseball was only relevant to maybe 6-10 teams. Some would be way ahead in the standings and not have to worry. Then a majority of the teams had little to no chance. Things improved in that regard with more 2 more wild cards. This would make it even better.
And the 1-game play-in is simply retarded.
The top team getting a by is a good idea, but having them pick who they want to play is just… weird. I’d have to think about that more.
Anyone who complains about the playoffs being … too long [?] can’t be a really serious baseball fan.
agree!
Totally agree
WRONG!
I like it pending two changes.
1) expansion to a 32 team league
2) Wildcard series and LDS are 3 game series hosted by the high seed
Trim the fat from the early postseason rounds and focus on the LCS and WS
Nobody shows up for some teams now. Expand when they do, not now.
Fan attendance is no longer the concern it once was for a team owner. There’s such a significant amount of money generated from TV deals/merchandise/ads that I’m not sure attendance is even a tertiary factor. Besides, building more moderately sized stadiums or modifying current stadiums would help those franchises who are having that problem. It doesn’t make much sense to punish cites ready to support a team simply because certain markets struggle luring in fans.
Nobody shows up because MLB markets exactly zero of its players as well as they could. Zero effort = zero result. We have a massive crop of HOFers in their primes right now, along with the greatest player of all-time, and no one can even watch any games on tv unless they commit to a massive amount of money to watch every team except the ones in their area.
MLB needs to tear down -at- the top. Just a worthless group of absolute morons without a clue.
@ Strike Four, Greatest player of all time? I didn’t know Babe Ruth was still playing. Don’t give me that crap that Mike Trout is the greatest. Babe Ruth was not only the greatest power hitter the game has ever seen. He was also a great pitcher. Plus he was the biggest draw the game as ever had. No player in the history of baseball, has ever come close to that trifecta.
You nailed it Salt Lake.
Tampa Bay and Oakland need to be IN new parks before expansion is considered.
I bet the Yankee’s will always pick the Twins to play in the playoffs!
Maybe I’m a traditionalist, but I pretty much disagree with everything Manfred has proposed. Kids aren’t not watching baseball because the time of game, they aren’t watching because their parents aren’t teaching them about the game, and analytics are making it boring via the 3 outcomes crap.
Shake that fist at the cloud.
You never contribute anything to these conversations other being an obnoxious jerk. How pathetic is your life that you actually get a kick out of this?
This site used to deal with trolls more harshly. They’ve become very lax
3 outcomes and analytics are the best new things about the game.
The biggest problem as to why no young people care is that MLB doesnt market its superstars. These guys would have been massive A-list celebrities if they were around in any 1900s decade. Non-baseball fans don’t know what any players even look like, but everyone knew what Jose Canseco looked like back when he was an active player. Cant enjoy something if it literally costs hundreds just to watch it on tv.
Put MLB back on network tv AND basic cable, ASAP.
3 outcomes is the reason we have these new rules trying to speed up the game. Newsflash – length of game isn’t the issue; pace is. They could make every game stop after 90 minutes and most people still wouldn’t watch. More balls in play makes for more enjoyable baseball.
I do agree about the tv stuff though.
Typically I don’t side with Mad Dog but he made a good point in that it largely helps the league if they shorten the season (which is EXTRA long when your team is losing) and heightens the playoff atmosphere with more action. Plus when the MLB network showed the added teams to the WC bracket it was AZ and NYM for the NL while Boston and Cleveland for the AL. Just looking at the bracket made it far less insane than it sounded when presented as a “14 out of 30 team” playoff.
Not that I’m for it, I’m just not as against it as the initial backfire has been.
more tv money. more teams playing meaningful games.
the negative I have is baseball players who take too many days off can completely kill momentum and hot streaks.
everyone here complaining are the same people who swore the wildcard games would ruin baseball. they have no reason except that’s not their dads baseball.
Then why have a season? Just do a round robin tournament.
“everyone here complaining are the same people who swore the wildcard games would ruin baseball. they have no reason except that’s not their dads baseball.”
Eh and a lot of the people on here that are for it are just doing it to be contrary and so they can make statements like you just made. Makes them feel like they’re sticking it to the “old geezers”.
WC games didnt ruin baseball, but they sure are not necessary in the slightest. We gain nothing out of them other than letting a mediocre team over 162 get hot for 2 weeks in October and potentially win a title. Grrreeeeat.
Dude, the last WS winner was a WC team. Technically the playoffs are unnecessary. Just let the two best teams in the division battle it out for the title. Baseball is so long of a season when your team sucks as it is. So those hot streaks keep a lot of fans interested. Especially for a team like the Mets that just narrowly missed.
If this is for money, which no doubt its at least a part of the reason, make the current wild card 3 games. And the divisional 7 games. That adds an extra minimum 6 games, and a maximum 12 more games.
If this is to try and make baseball more appealing, it’s not the way to go. There is so much that can be done from a media standpoint. And it’s very simple. Don’t blackout games (make it accessible), don’t take revenue from youtubers/twitter videos (promote free marketing), and don’t allow the espn crew to complain that the game is going to extras! This was a dodgers Red Sox game in Fenway if I’m not mistaken. How are you going to promote the game when your own side is calling it boring?
Add one more team to both the AL & NL to get to 16 teams each League.
Stop the regular season at 140 games. Every team enters the post season and is seeded by records and scheduled 1-16, 2-15, etc.
First three rounds best of five League Finals and World Series best of seven.
Go away!
I want another reason for the change other than it’ll make more money.
Here’s a poll for everyone. Who’s most hated? Manfred, Goodell, or Bettman?
That’s a tough answer…I still lean towards Goodell.
I’ve gotta go with Manfred.
The issue here comes down to what a WS championship says about a team. Pre-division era, it said that team had the best regular season in the league and then won a single series proving they were better with everything on the line than one other excellent team.
In the divisional era, that changed somewhat. Now you had to be near the top of the league, but also survive multiple series, one of which is only 5 games. This is a different test than the original WS.
I grew up in the divisional era, so I look at 20+ Yankee championships with a view of “it was much easier then.” Win your league, 50% chance of winning a championship. If the divisional era had always been in force, what would that number be? 10?
That said, the proposed changes take the old tests and throw them out the window. Better teams rise to the top over longer sample sizes. The shorter the series, the more teams involved, the less representative the championship is of greatness IMO.
This test would not just be different. It would be worse. Why not just change the wild card game to a wild card 3-game series and call it a day?
With a double header if needed on day two. No travel day – winner plays the next day. Only problem is cable tv basically schedules the post season games.
I’ve only been a baseball fan about 7 years so my opinion isn’t the best. I feel a week lay off for #1 sees is ridiculous. O dont think they should add more teams, at least not how its proposed. If anything add 3 more wild cards. Division winners make it thru. 5 wild card teams best makes it thru other 4 have 1 game playoffs. As I typed this I realized how stupid it was lol
Lmao.
No.
Should realign so it’s 4 teams per division, need 2 more teams (OKC, Vegas, Mexico).
Just get rid of divisions. Top 5 from each league go to playoffs. No expansion needed.
Montreal, New Orleans, Vancouver or San Juan.
Every city with over a million people should get a team: San Jose, San Antonio, Dallas, Brooklyn, Montreal.
If we go up to 32 teams, I would support a 12-team playoff. 4 divisions of 8 teams each, top 2 per division go to the playoffs along with 2 wild cards per league.
2nd place teams have to play against the wild card teams in the first round while the division winners get a bye, then a standard 8-team bracket after that.
Maybe lose wild card and top 2 teams from each division make it in. That maybe the best way, or division winners and the next 3 best teams, some divisions are weak like al central
This idea is ridiculous. Let’s reward those who played subpar baseball by giving them the chance to make the World Series. This idea is asking for injuries to players who deserve to be in the postseason. Playing meaningless games.
And baseball is such a weird game. The orioles could beat the Yankees in a best of 3 series and no one would be in total shock. There’s no point in playing 162 games to have a sub par team knock out a deserving team
That’s why they play series.
I wonder how much legitimacy this proposal truly had. Or if the media is just wayyy overplaying it. I mean Tony Clark didn’t even know of the proposal. Was it just someone throwing an idea out in a meeting and someone tweeted it out and everyone freaked out?
I’m sure I’ll get flamed for this, but I’d like to see mlb do away with the divisions within the leagues and have Each team play each other the same amount within each league with some number of games mixed in for interleague games. The current format benefits teams in lousy divisions (beat up on bad competition) and punishes teams who play in good divisions. An AL team would play each team 10 times and would than have (if they kept the current season length) 22 games for inter league play. Best 6 or 8 teams from each league make the playoffs.
Get rid of interleague play. Have teams play more games within their division. Divisional play will mean something, and the AS game and WS will become more of a true rivalry.
12 games (6 home, 6 away, all 3 game series) vs 14 teams = 168 games.
We could balance the schedule and therefore would not need more than 1 or 2 playoff teams, because we have a 168 game sample and that tells you all you need to know.
It should be about winning as many games as possible. The NBA is blowing it right now because they decided the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead was much more important than them going 73-9, because if that is the reality, then 73-9 means nothing, and if 73-9 means nothing, then why not just shoot for the 8th seed and only take the last month of the season seriously? This is what the future is. Lots of “load management” days. It sucks.
For divisions to mean anything, you must have an unbalanced schedule.
who cares about the NBA anyways, paint drying is more interesting
I wouldn’t be against that but I’d rather see a full blown realignment. There’s absolutely no reason teams in the south should be in divisions with northeastern teams.
I’d be for full realignment. Put teams in the same league based on geographical location to make travel easier and either have a DH in both leagues or do away with it entirely.
Why do you think ESPN pays all that money for baseball?
To broadcast Red Sox/Yankee games.
If anything, MLB would get rid of inter league to play more inter divisional games.
Mathematically speaking, every team should be playing a balanced schedule if you’re going to have wild card teams in the play offs and they’ll never go back to that,for the same reason……National TV ratings and money.
As much as these rule changes suck, they’re likely not completely attributable to Manfred’s idiocy. The commissioner is really just an extension of the owners st this point, so all of these dumb official and potential rule changes, (three batter minimum, restricted roster expansion, 14 postseason teams), are likely being advocated for by owners who just want to squeeze more money out of the sport, and even if Manfred weren’t such a slimy toady that does everything the owners want him to, that doesn’t mean the owners would give up trying to change the game for a few extra dollars. They’d give him the boot as soon as possible and appoint someone who would go along with their ridiculous demands. The problem is just as much the owners as it is a spineless commissioner, so the only way to fix these problems is to stop giving the owners money. If they take a hit to their wallets after these rule changes, maybe they’ll be incentivized to undo them down the road.
Great points, and I love how terrible Manfred is being is uniting the comment section like never before, lmaoo
Right on, Strike Four!!!
Definitely makes sense. naturally people don’t like change
This is to get teams to be competitive? BS. This is being proposed so they don’t have to deal with the real issue which is guaranteed contracts and not having a salary cap.
Also, why does change always have to be good?
If a change makes sense, most people will eventually learn to love it. This is just change for the sake of making money. It doesn’t make the game better and actually punishes the best teams.
There’s a number of reasons that this is terrible but the top reason is that it screws over the top seeds. Momentum is a major factor in the playoffs and all those consecutive days off can sink a team. There would be no reason to fight for the top seed. Then letting teams pick who they face…gross.
You sound stupid the games will be played in the same amount of time that the teams not playing in the WC game already sit so your argument is non existent
Maybe, that schedule is unknown at this time…I think MLB will try and stagger the games over a week to get as many as possible in prime time…just because they aren’t traveling, doesn’t mean MLB won’t schedule days off
Cable tv controls the scheduling of post season games
I think a first round Bye could be a bigger problem than people realize too. It’s not like in the NFL where that just means one game off… in Baseball say it was a best of 3 series it would be 5+ days off. And while that could be good to ‘rest’ players and such… baseball is also a sport where taking that many days off makes players “rusty” and it could wind up hurting those teams more than people realize. I suppose there would be ways around it… intra-team scrimmages, etc. But idk it could still be risky.
Ok a team in a 3 game series goes all 3 games
They start their next round with their 4th SP and the 1st place team is going with a rested ACE yeah I see the disadvantage
Anything is better than the 1 game playoff
And it gives the mid market teams an ability to compete with the major market teams
There should be no change in the playoffs until expansion.
Nobody wants to see an 83 win team win a World Series. Only the best regular season teams should make the playoffs. That means division champions. Period. Two Wildcard teams per league is more than enough (too many).
You do know the Cards won a WS with 83 wins right
Do I need to repeat myself?
This year is the first one in 7 years that I will not auto renew my MLBTV subscription. I’ve grown tired of all of the needless rules and proposed changes. Also the fact that the Dodgers and Yankees have bought their way to the 2020 World Series is another reason MLB wont get a dime from me this season.
Don’t be ridiculous! I’d love to see a Dodgers-Yankees World Series but the two best teams rarely make it that far.
Can 14 of 30 votes get Rob Manfred fired?
The days off are a big problem. There are several instances where a team clinched their round of playoff and had to wait for their next opponent and got stale. One example would be when the Tigers lost to the Cardinals in WS due to a long layoff. The Tigers had to wait several days after clinching the AL and were out of sync once the WS began. Players are creatures of habit and when you give them several days off, their internal clock goes into the Twilight Zone.
I’m in the minority that I am all for expanding the playoffs. People were against the first wild card expansion as well, and then the second. Look at all of the exciting baseball we would have missed out on if the league hadn’t expanded the playoffs then. Game 163 would have never happened had there not been a wild card spot for the Red Sox and Rays to fight for. After that, adding the second wild card in each league and it being a one-game playoff has also made for tons of exciting baseball. Teams fighting for their lives with crazy comebacks and things you don’t always see during the regular season.
What I am completely against, though, is allowing teams to pick their opponents. That’s ridiculous. You should play the teams set out in front of you. The only way you should be able to control your own destiny is through your regular season record.
As for people being ticked off if a sub-.500 team wins the whole thing? Who cares? The teams with the best record rarely win it all anyways. Wild card teams win and make noise all the time, even in football. I think it’s exciting to see those teams get far in the playoffs. It just goes to show you that there’s a reason to have more teams in the fight. There are still tons of advantages to winning your division, so if you win, say, 105 games and lose to a team that won 80 then that’s on you.
I also like the idea of a three game series rather than a one-game playoff. As exciting as a one-game playoff can be, it just doesn’t really mesh well with a 162 game regular season.
Neither does winning 105 and then losing 2 games to get bounced
Can you not say the same thing about losing 3 in a row in the DS or even 4 in a row in the LCS/WS? You can only play so many playoff games, but you have to have playoffs of some sort. Look at the 2001 116 win Mariners team. Most wins ever in an MLB season for a team, yet they get bounced in the LCS 4 games to 1. And that’s not just baseball, it’s all sports. How about the 7-9 Seahawks getting a first round win in the NFL playoffs? The Warriors upsetting the Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs? These things just happen in sports. The regular season still matters. Winning your division still matters. From what I’ve read, the proposal calls for all three games to be played at the home of the team with the best record. That’s still an advantage, and if you are what your record says you are then you should be able to handle your business. If not, you’re on the couch like every other team that has been a clear favorite and lost in all sports.
No one’s arguing against playoffs of some sort. We have them now and people seem to like the concept.
The difference between baseball and every other sport is that the best teams in history lost 1/3 of their games. Most years, 90-95 wins gets you in, which is basically going 6-4 the whole season, or even a bit worse. And those are the top 10 teams in the sport. What percentage of the time does the better team win in football or basketball? Randomness is baked into the baseball cake in small sample sizes in a much larger proportion that the basketball or football cake. You still need to play with everything on the line in a short series (5-game, 7-game are already extraordinarily short for baseball). Why make it even more random?
I just think when more teams have a chance, it adds to the excitement. You still won’t usually have a team win less than 82 games and win the whole thing, or even win one series in the playoffs. It’ll probably happen eventually, but it’ll be extremely rare. There have been several times a team has won 90+ games and didn’t make the playoffs. Just last year Cleveland won 93 and missed them, and that was with a second wild card. Cleveland was also derailed by injuries. This would give those teams a chance to compete in the playoffs, and I just don’t see how that’s a bad thing? It also gives more smaller markets a chance. I wouldn’t go any further than 14 teams though, even with an inevitable future expansion. I think that if you win ~90 games, you deserve a chance. Will some bad teams sneak in? Sure, but it won’t be the norm. There are usually very good teams that just miss the playoffs barely every year.
The choosing your own opponent is absolutely bogus though, and I can’t get on board with that. It’s like trying to turn baseball into a reality show.
I love the idea of teams picking there opponents.The debating would be great for fans to debate. Teams picking there poison, seeing how the organization feels about the other team and how they match up. On otherhand I don’t think half the league should be given a chance to win the world series. Imagine a .500 team getting hot in October, and beating a 100 plus win team.
DFA Manfred
All of you act like the postseason has not evolved
There was a time when there was no playoffs and the 2 best teams just played in the WS.
I don’t like the picking of the opponent but the team getting the bye doesn’t play in the time frame now so the loss of momentum is a non argument
Division’s become important because they get home field
Best record becomes important because of the bye
Teams have less incentive to tank with more opportunities to make the post season but with the series being all home games for the division winner it still makes it harder for the WC teams
The team with the best record gets a much needed bye at the end of the year and does not have to worry about resetting their pitching staff for the playoffs
There was also a time when there were only 9 teams per league and no divisions. So what?
All of you act like the postseason has not evolved
There was a time when there was no playoffs and the 2 best teams just played in the WS.
I don’t like the picking of the opponent but the team getting the bye doesn’t play in the time frame now so the loss of momentum is a non argument
Division’s become important because they get home field
Best record becomes important because of the bye
Teams have less incentive to tank with more opportunities to make the post season but with the series being all home games for the division winner it still makes it harder for the WC teams
The team with the best record gets a much needed bye at the end of the year and does not have to worry about resetting their pitching staff for the playoffs
Shorten the regular season. Expand the WC game to best-of-three. Done.
Leave the regular season alone! WC teams get no days off to rest. Day 2 is a doubleheader if needed.
I only support 14 teams making the playoffs after the expansion…. Hopefully Vegas and Nashville. All the other ideas he proposed like a first round bye, teams get to pick their opponent etc is dumb.
Manfred only wants more $$$$$$$ from TV and over priced tickets for the teams. He doesn’t give a rip about the fans.
Exactly.
If they want to add 2 more wild card teams it would be better to do it like they have it now. 1 game winner take all, if anything has come from adding a wild card it’s been the 1 game winner take all.
Wild vs wild winner advance
Wild vs wild winner advance
Winner wild vs winner wild 1 game winner advance.
Limited extension and less time off for division winners. No byes needed.
Baseball season is long and the problem is the parity isnt great. Big market teams usually make it and small market teams have short windows then back to rebuild. The last month or two half the teams or more are done.
Could also fix this by having a true salary cap and floor. With revenue sharing that would create more of an equal playing field.
12 teams is better. Top two record get a bye. Then the next night Division winner plays the lowest WCs and same goes for the last two WCs. Those four teams should play a stage series. If the home team/higher seed wins game one they go on and if the lower seed wins game one they play another game the next day to decide who moves onto the division series
The problem with a lot of you commenting are yankee and redsox fans.I am from Baltimore so I think it is a cool idea to be able to get into the playoffs as apposed to just having to beat out the redsox and Yankees all the time it just isn’t fair.
The Orioles used to be in the hunt every year. What happened? Unlimited Free Agency. There will be little to no parity until that system is fixed.
The league isn’t big enough to warrant this kind of change. The playoffs need to be a reward for good teams, period.
I wouldn’t mind if sometime in the future the league expanded to, say, 36 teams… then this playoff structure might make sense. But for now, the last thing MLB should try to do is make the season longer. If they do it, greed would be the motivation, and fans won’t be stupid enough to let it happen.
He is ruining baseball
So either shorten the regular season, or get used to snow during World Series games. Then add in even more chances for medium teams to beat good teams, and we already live in the timeline where this can happen. Does anyone want more of it?
The more I think about this, the more I wonder if the idea was floated publicly to make whatever they really end up doing seem like a stroke of genius by comparison. There’s just so many obvious problems.
If you want to expand how about… to 12
3 wild cards on both sides
Division winners advance and wait on the winner of the wild card round.
WC2 and WC3 play a single game sudden death
Winner WC 2/3 play 3 game series vs WC1.
Winner of wild card plays the division winner.
I don’t want to see a sub 90 win team in playoffs a easy common thing. Don’t want to see division winners getting bounced in a 3 game series.
Here is the fix to get more games and make more money. 3 game wild card series Monday Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday and Division series starts Thursday Friday like now and it will be 7 games. Or have 4 wild card teams and on Monday it is a 1 game play in game then the winners have a 3 game series. So if the 3 or 4th wild card can up set the 1 or 2 wild card, and they have to win a 3 game series, and then have to face a division winner with no rest days and beat them then maybe they deserve to be there.
That’s what I’m promoting – No off days for the wild card teams. Make em play a day- night double header too if needed,
As long as all the teams get stadiums with roofs so the WS can conclude in December!
Baseball players do not want byes. They want to stay in rhythm.
So true! They play almost every day for six months and then have to sit for five days in October. It sucks!
Fire Manfred!!!
Well heck fire, sometimes mediocre wild card teams catch fire and win the WS. So there…..
The league is trying to squeeze as much money out of fans as possible and ruining the game. People don’t go to stadiums because it costs hundreds of dollars for a family. I don’t see any issue with the playoffs and certainly don’t want the regular season schedule to change the number of games. They are going to price themselves out of their fans and ruin the playoffs. Half the league in the playoffs makes the season worthless and cheapens the championship. It’s also going to effect pitch counts, starting pitchers later in the season and just phoning it in late in the season to keep people fresh. Terrible idea!
Tigers fan here. Can we expand the playoffs to 30 teams?
I bet the white sox still don’t make the postseason.
9 post season appearances in the entirety.
Very sad
This isn’t going to happen, they are trying to get people’s minds off of cheating. Though if it did happen, it would make baseball fall off a cliff like NASCAR did when Bill France jr changed the playoff points system. If anybody follows NASCAR they will know what I am about to say. Nascar used to have a point system where for every race “raced” the drivers who finished 1-10 would get points from greatest to least, simple. Then Bill France jr (I stress JR.), changed it to where for every race there are 3 “stages” the race get divided into, and you get points for every “stage” of the race you win. He also made it to where after the (i think) 36 week mark, all the points are erased and you get to the “playoffs” which is ten races where drivers get eliminated until the final race at Homestead Miami Speedway. Bill France Jr thought this would get more people interested in NASCAR, but as you can probably tell, it has terrible ratings, it’s confusing, and flat out stupid. I don’t want baseball to do that. Please Robert Manfred, be a big boy and don’t do this. That’s all.
So… less incentive for teams to be great. Less incentive to give players big contracts. You don’t have to be a great team, just a mediocre team that gets into the playoffs and goes on a hot streak.
Might as well cut the season in half. Best 14 teams goes to Season 2. Best 6 goes to playoffs.
More incentive to sign mid level FA like Adam Jones or Hunter Pence instead of running out guys who should be in the minors only because of how cheap they are
Only change I’d like to see are the wildcard teams play a best of 3 series. No more extra teams, and letting the number 1 seeds pick their opponent is wacky.
If they’re going to add more playoff spots they should add 4 teams.
The Nats barely made it in and won it. A few years ago the Cardinals won it with an 81-81 record. Adding another team in each league is not a bad idea.
If you have played. 500 ball, you shouldn’t be in the playoffs. Remember all ghr screams when the Padres won the west with a sub
500 year?
That never happened. Never. Therefore, there were no screams. Stop repeating that nonsense.
Manfred may be trying to get paridee. The NFL tried that. See how well it worked.
Look at the NBA! They have teams with LOSING RECORDS making the playoffs!?! What is that?! More teams is NOT the answer.
I don’t want more playoff teams, but I’d be OK with the top seed picking their opponent after the play-in game.
Getting almost as bad as the NBA, half the league makes the playoffs, Players decided their teams like pick up league
That was the easiest no vote I’ve made on here.
Yes, of course! Playoff baseball is the best. Plus it would encourage teams to be better. The one caveat I’d add would be you have to have a record above .500 to be eligable. Also, add more regular season games, start the day after the World Series. I’m pretty sick of pretending I like football or basketball highlights the rest of the year. With the added revenue mlb could pay espn to not just care about the aforementioned sports. While we’re at it, let’s just forgive the steroid era (it was a blast!!!) and Pete Rose! A lot of you are taking all of this way too seriously.
This rant was paid for by Manfred for Prez 2020
Manfred’s reign has been nothing but a disaster. Absurd rule changes, talk about playoff expansion, and not straightening out the damage Selig did to the game. I am not a happy fan…
They need to leave the rules alone. This guy thinks he needs to change things every year. Maybe it’s time for a new commission.
I hate this idea but let’s try tinkering with it for a bit. One extra wild card team not two. Bye for the top two division winners. That way they’re competing for seeding until the end of season against other divisions while trying to win their own. Only lowest ranked division winner gets to pick the team they play against. The wild card winners don’t deserve anything extra since they didn’t win their division. Best two out of three traveling between cities with the games played every other day. This might force the team picking their opponent to choose based off of geography instead of who they think the weak link is. To accommodate this schedule cut the regular season to 155. There, fixed it.
We have to remember Manfred is just the stumblebum lightning rod for the owners.
None of these moronic changes would even be proposed without their approval.
Manfred is likely being set up as the fall guy for the electronic cheating scandal,the minor league contraction fracas and the pace of play changes not working out.
He’ll also probably be the sacrificial lamb given the MLBPA in the next CBA negotiation.
Just conjecture on my part ,but it would explain a lot of his blatantly stupid comments.
Yes and 3 game series with a 1st round bye
I voted no. “Picking” an opponent sounds a little like a cage match, smack down on the WWF.
Now if it was a formal announcement on the field with the team captain taking the mic, going into some long winded talk leading to a call out. “We want you, Nationals!” Of course, getting into naming names and even name calling.
Then, consider a follow up response from the “chosen” team captain with a little of the same, mic drop, etc. Maybe some walk up music and pyrotechnics.
Go big or go home.
Why not just make the wild card game a 2 of 3 series?
Change it up, why not. The proportions will look better once they get up to 32 teams and 4 divisions.
Yawn, proposing and approving are 2 different things
The biggest change I’d like to see is that the wild card teams get more than 1 game—make it a 3 game series. That’s made easier if more teams are involved, at least from a scheduling perspective.
It’s frustrating to have a great season and then run into the hottest pitcher on the planet and be out. Happened to the Pirates twice when they faced Bumgarner and Arrietta. Kinda like the NHL when you run into the hot goalie, but at least they have at least 4 games to try and beat him.
I’ll change my vote to yes if macho man randy savage gets to pick the team the Yankees play
MLB doesn’t need to fix its problems with competitiveness by playing into late November; what it needs is a CBA that allows everyone to compete–that means more aggressive revenue sharing, a salary cap and a salary floor.
They need to address the broken free agent system as well. There is too much player movement in the MLB, and it’s part of the reason fans aren’t watching anymore. Teams should have the opportunity to offer higher contracts to their respective franchise players than other teams in free agency. This means the players still have the freedom to leave if they so choose, but they’ll get less money if they do so. Then teams like the Pirates and Marlins won’t disintegrate overnight anymore. Take it another step further and tax owners who can’t or won’t spend $60MM or more on the annual roster.
Bingo. I posted something earlier about Free Agency. I’ve been worried since the first A-roid deal with Texas that unlimited free agency has the potential to destroy the game’s competitiveness for all but the richest 5 owners.
Hmmmm … howcome nobody ever talks about the players’ greed?
they could make the system work far better with with nothing but neutral or positive effects on the total amount of money being earned by players. Anyone who knows a couple basic Excel formulas and has a couple hours to kill can come up with plenty of ways to balance it competitively while still incentivizing spending on players overall. When you look over time at what teams actually spend, how they spend, and which teams spend and don’t spend… they could very easily subsidize a floor that would make a perennially robust market for mid range players.
I imagine a firmish-soft cap with exceptions in the form of modifying cap calculation. Say, scenario like if you give your home grown player a big extension its cap hit could be its actual value * .85 or something like that (I’m just shotgunning numbers to illustrate it) giving the team a leg up on retaining its own guys. Incentivize extensions over dumping your pending FA’s for prospects.
Those are some good ideas, especially trying to allow teams to keep their own players longer. But – how do you keep teams from (for example) blowing their budget by signing one $300MM player and having nothing left to spend on building an actual team? Or, keeping the rich teams from stacking up on highly-paid players that others can’t afford? Parity in baseball is a conundrum to be sure.
Why not let everybody in. Then every team’s fans even late in the year even in a bad season still can root for their team and slant the playoffs so teams have better odds the better their ranking, keeping some teams from tanking and with each series winners getting bonus money’s making games more important. TV money could pay for it. Then just like spring, every team has hopes in making that magical fall run to a championship.
Rob Manfred should be ashamed. If this new playoff proposal goes through, he’ll turn the season into a joke—worse than the NBA. He’ll destroy the game.
I’m not really worried about the number of teams, if they want more mediocre teams as cannon fodder in the playoffs for bigger playoff brackets, whatever. That doesn’t bother me. It’s arbitrary BS like choosing opponents, three-game series… nope nope nope