Two additional wildcards coming up...

[texasdave]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/1...ard-teams.html

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."

Great. Now the fifth-best team in each league will one day be raising a World Series banner. LOL. Why not make it so that any team with a .500 or better record qualifies? The more the merrier, right? Bud Selig is quite the kidder.

Since 1999 these teams would have been in the playoffs:

YEAR		AL		NL
1999		OAK-87		CIN-96
2000		CLE-90 		LAD-86
2001		MIN-85		SFG-90
2002		BOS/SEA-93	LAD-92
2003		SEA-93 		HOU-87
2004		OAK-91		SFG-91
2005		CLE-93		PHI-88
2006		CHW-90		PHI-85
2007		DET/SEA-88	SDP-89
2008		NYY-89		NYM-89
2009		TEX-87		SFG-88
2010		BOS-89		SDP-90
2011		BOS-90		ATL-89
				
AVE WINS	89.6		89.2
				
				
 TEAMS		BOS-3 		ATL-1
		CHW-1		CIN-1
		CLE-2		HOU-1
		DET-1 		LAD-2
		MIN-1		NYM-1
		NYY-1		PHI-2
		OAK-2		SDP-2
		SEA-3		SFG-3
		TEX-1		
				
BY DIV		ALC-5		NLC-2
		ALE-4		NLE-4
		ALW-6		NLW-7

[R_Webb18]

i love it.

[LegallyMinded]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/1...ard-teams.html



Great. Now the fifth-best team in each league will one day be raising a World Series banner. LOL. Why not make it so that any team with a .500 or better record qualifies? The more the merrier, right? Bud Selig is quite the kidder.

Depending on how they format the expanded playoffs, there's a chance that adding teams could make it more likely that the better team from the regular season advances. If the two wild card teams, for instance, have to play a one-game series that is immediately followed by the start of the next round, the non-wild card team would have a significant advantage in terms of setting up its rotation for the best chance of success.

Eventually, yes, the 5th best team is going to win the WS, but we've already seen teams like the 2006 Cardinals win the WS, so I'm not too concerned about the change, especially if they do adopt a format that favors the division winners.

[texasdave]

Depending on how they format the expanded playoffs, there's a chance that adding teams could make it more likely that the better team from the regular season advances. If the two wild card teams, for instance, have to play a one-game series that is immediately followed by the start of the next round, the non-wild card team would have a significant advantage in terms of setting up its rotation for the best chance of success.

Eventually, yes, the 5th best team is going to win the WS, but we've already seen teams like the 2006 Cardinals win the WS, so I'm not too concerned about the change, especially if they do adopt a format that favors the division winners.

It has devolved into a tournament. Nice. Let every team in. Hell, why not? The fifth-best team raises the banner. All that does is cheapen the banner. October madness. At least call it what it is. 2012 tournament champions.

[krm1580]

If the extra wild card is a one game, winner take all I have no issue with it. I think it will actually improve the mess that exists now.

Consider this, in a one game winner takes all, you would most likely have to burn your ace to advance. That means the wild card winner would only be able to use their best pitcher once in a 5 game series in the LDS. I think that is a pretty good idea to give a leg up to a division winner over a wildcard team.

Of course having explained this I am sure Bud will do something stupid like make it a 5 game series.

[texasdave]

Yes, it will be a great day when a team that finishes in the bottom half of its division raises that World Championship banner. Bud Selig is a freaking genius.

[lidspinner]

I love it...it gives more teams fans a chance to have something to root for in August other than NFL training camps.....it might not go over well in the 1st few years but once people see that it brings more fans and more attention to the game of Baseball I think people will start to like it....face it people, Baseball has taken a back seat to Football, I dont like it but its the truth, we are no longer Americas favorite pastime...we need to get the fans and the game back to where it once was....if teams are still fighting for those last 2 spots in August and September then Sportscenter and other media outlets are going to flock to those games, and that is what this game needs, more attention in the later months....

[LegallyMinded]

Yes, it will be a great day when a team that finishes in the bottom half of its division raises that World Championship banner. Bud Selig is a freaking genius.

Even if they finish in the bottom half of their division, they would still be in the top third of the league. I'm not sure how exactly you decide where the cutoff for the playoffs "should" be.

I mean, if you want to attach greater weight to the regular season, you could just do away with the playoffs altogether and proclaim the winner of the regular season the champion of the league-- that's how other organizations, like the English Premier League, operate, and people seem to accept that outcome. Would it be better to sacrifice the potential drama and excitement of the postseason to ensure the league champion is a better reflection of which team is actually best?

[texasdave]

Since it seems as if baseball has determined that it is more important to keep more teams in the playoff chase than it is to determine the best team then do it right.

My plan:
1) Only the three division winners are assured of getting a spot in the playoffs.
2) Every other team gets one additional ping pong ball in the lottery for each additional win they have starting with 81.
3) The fourth and fifth slots are determined by lottery. How exciting is that!!??! I am pretty sure ESPN could make an hour-long show out of that scenario.

The benefits of this plan are obvious. Firstly, you place a tremendous amount of importance on winning the division because that is a team's only guaranteed way of making it in. Secondly, it will greatly increase the number of teams that will be in the hunt for a playoff position deep into the season. A team could be 75-81 entering the last week of the season and still have a chance. That should keep fans in many more cities coming to the ballpark. (The Reds played kids the last month and ended up with 79 wins. It is probable they could have squeezed out two more wins and qualified for the lottery.) It will keep teams playing hard until the end since more wins equal more ping pong balls equal a greater chance of a playoff berth for non-division winners.
The only drawback I see is that teams with lesser records may make it into the post-season over teams with more wins. But since it is weighted for wins one cannot say it unfair. And so what I say. The one-game playoff between the current fourth and fifth best teams is going to be a crap shoot anyway. And after reading these posts it obvious that keeping more teams in the chase for a longer period of time trumps that concern.

[LegallyMinded]

Since it seems as if baseball has determined that it is more important to keep more teams in the playoff chase than it is to determine the best team then do it right.

My plan:
1) Only the three division winners are assured of getting a spot in the playoffs.
2) Every other team gets one additional ping pong ball in the lottery for each additional win they have starting with 81.
3) The fourth and fifth slots are determined by lottery. How exciting is that!!??! I am pretty sure ESPN could make an hour-long show out of that scenario.

The benefits of this plan are obvious. Firstly, you place a tremendous amount of importance on winning the division because that is a team's only guaranteed way of making it in. Secondly, it will greatly increase the number of teams that will be in the hunt for a playoff position deep into the season. A team could be 75-81 entering the last week of the season and still have a chance. That should keep fans in many more cities coming to the ballpark. (The Reds played kids the last month and ended up with 79 wins. It is probable they could have squeezed out two more wins and qualified for the lottery.) It will keep teams playing hard until the end since more wins equal more ping pong balls equal a greater chance of a playoff berth for non-division winners.
The only drawback I see is that teams with lesser records may make it into the post-season over teams with more wins. But since it is weighted for wins one cannot say it unfair. And so what I say. The one-game playoff between the current fourth and fifth best teams is going to be a crap shoot anyway. And after reading these posts it obvious that keeping more teams in the chase for a longer period of time trumps that concern.

This sounds like it would be a great deal of fun. Is it too late to get this in the new CBA?

[Jr's Boy]

So I guess that means it will be snowing outside by the time of the World Series.

[Cardinal_Fan]

I think it's hard to say that the division champs have clearly demonstrated they represent the best three. Do you seriously think that the Reds were better than the wildcard braves in 2010 (when they had identical records but one clearly played in a better division)? How about the 2009 Cardinals? The Cardinals had a worse record than the wildcard and again played it what appeared to be a weaker division.

These may not be the best examples and there are certainly others. But it's quite possible that the wildcard is a better team and has shown itself to be better throughout the season. You cannot compare the schedules of teams in different divisions, so you cannot say that they are the definitive top three.

[Tuff Nut]

Lump all the teams in each league, into one division, then take the top 5 teams....other than that, this one game "playoff", is a joke.

[RED59]

If you don't win your division, you should not be allowed in the playoffs. Otherwise, why bother playing 162 games.

[texasdave]

If you don't win your division, you should not be allowed in the playoffs. Otherwise, why bother playing 162 games.

Amen.