Commish: 10 teams in playoffs for '12 71 Associated Press NEW YORK -- Commissioner Bud Selig expects the playoffs to expand from eight teams to 10 for the 2012 season. Selig went public last fall with his support for expanded playoffs, and the matter is subject to collective bargaining with the players' association. "I would say we're moving to expanding the playoffs, but there's a myriad of details to work out," Selig said Thursday at his annual meeting with The Associated Press Sports Editors. "Ten is a fair number." Selig said scheduling is the major issue of discussion, including how many games the new wild-card round will be. The two wild cards in each league would meet, and the winners would advance to the following round against division winners. "The more we've talked about it, I think we're moving inexorably to that," he said. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6404094 Old news I guess since he showed his support last fall, but it's the first I've heard of it. Article kind of tricked me into thinking it was finalized. meh.
NO. THANK. YOU. 162 games is enough to weed out the good from the not so good. stop jacking with this.
Uh I think this is a great idea. Finally another team can possibly come out of the AL East besides the Red Sox/Yankees. This allows for better competition in baseball and will be good for the game. In the NBA 16 teams get in (Even scrub ass teams) and the chance of upsets happening in a 7 game series in the NBA is FAR less likely than in baseball. So if this expansion does happen the field will be much more wide open.
The Rays made it out of the AL East. It isn't like the third team in the AL East is likely to grab that additional WC spot. You only fix that problem with salary caps/max salaries. 8 teams was the perfect size.
A series upset is far more likely in baseball than basketball, for that reason you have to weed down the teams who make it to those who are the best of the best during 162. That said, the way they plan to have it with the 2 wildcards battling in a 3 or 5 game series to move on to the division round, isn't bad.
From a marketing standpoint, I sort of get this. When you expand the field, more teams will be "in the hunt" towards the end of the year, drawing more fans and such to games. But from a game standpoint, it makes the 162 game regular season more meaningless. Then again, if we still had the old 2-divisions and pennant races, the Astros WS appearance and several playoff appearances would've disappeared in history. So I guess I can't really complain about expanding such things.
Don't see how owners can reject this. More postseason appearances and races means more money for them. I'm more ambivalent. Baseball has bigger issues they should deal with like addressing the uneven payrolls (which is what soured me completely from baseball).
If you're gonna let more teams in, then shorten the regular season. Pennant races made the regular season meaningful...if you keep adding playoff spots available, you cheapen the playoffs and empty meaning from the regular season. Making the playoffs means something in baseball, still. I'm not interested in turning MLB playoffs into a tournament.
Don't like it...the current system is ideal. Reward the division winners and the best 2nd place team. If another 2nd place team or a 3rd place team out of the East believe they should get it...well draft better or spend more money.
Pepperidge Farms does. If they're going to do it, I say they do a soccer-like system. Home and away, aggregate scoring, with away team runs as the first tie breaker. That way, it's only 2 games over 3 days (travel day in between) and it doesn't push LDS back too far that the other teams are waiting a week to play.
I don't know jack about baseball and even I can tell this is a stupid idea. Just as stupid as not having a salary cap and letting the all-star game determine home field advantage in the world series.
was it really better under the old system...where they just alternated AL/NL every other year?? i think people make way too much of the home field advantage in the WS being decided by the all star game. doing it based on W-L when: 1. you have so few games against the other league; and 2. you don't play ever team in the other league would be ridiculous, as well. these leagues are separate entities. very different from conferences in football/basketball.
