One of the things I never liked in sports is when the teams with the lowest winning percentage are automatically given the top draft slots. In essence, this rewards a team for “sandbagging” for the last month or so of the season. Thus I propose the following:
A. On the first day that a team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, they begin to play for draft order.
B. A win gives a team 1 point. A loss gives a team -0.5 points.
C. Teams are "initialized" with the point total accumulated during the 5 games prior to being eliminated.
D. All playoff teams are automatically given the last ten slots.
Advantages of this system:
1. Teams would be motivated to win for the duration of the season.
2. Teams would need a minimum level of competitiveness to avoid losing ground (looking at you Astros).
3. “Fire sales” would likely be less common.
4. Fans would have another goal to track if there team is out of the hunt.
What is the consensus on this plan?