Bud Selig: "moving inexorably" to a 10-team playoff for 2012

[membengal]

More than just smoke signals. Stronger than strong hints:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...-team-playoff/

We’ve seen this coming for some time, but Bud Selig today said that baseball is “moving inexorably” toward an expanded playoff beginning with the 2012 season, and said that, while there are details to be worked out, it will likely be a ten-team affair. Specifically, he said “ten is a fair number.” This is a more precise way than he put it last fall when he said “Eight is a fair number. So is ten.”

Well, yuck. Then again, I said yuck to the three divisions and wild card format, and got used to it.

But still, yuck. Although I suppose I will get used to it. But I doubt I will like it.

[Red in Chicago]

Too many playoff teams is exactly what's wrong (IMO) with the other major sports. 8 teams would be horrible, 10 would be unwatchable.

[PuffyPig]

For small market teams, the more playoff teams the better.

Once you make the playoffs, it's quite the crapshoot. That favours the lesser teams.

Sign me up.

[Danny Serafini]

Originally Posted by Red in Chicago

8 teams would be horrible

There already are eight.

[Slyder]

Originally Posted by Red in Chicago

Too many playoff teams is exactly what's wrong (IMO) with the other major sports. 8 teams would be horrible, 10 would be unwatchable.

Is the context "10 teams" meaning 5 in each league? That sounds pretty good to me as it adds emphasis to winning the division. Just wanted to ask that.

[Redhook]

Originally Posted by PuffyPig

For small market teams, the more playoff teams the better.

Once you make the playoffs, it's quite the crapshoot. That favours the lesser teams.

Sign me up.

No doubt. As a Reds fan, this is great news. As an overall baseball fan, it's debatable.

[Tornon]

They're talking about making it 5 teams per league. Which doesn't seem that bad. I believe Red In Chicago was interpreting it as 10 teams per league making 20 overall

[Handofdeath]

Originally Posted by PuffyPig

For small market teams, the more playoff teams the better.

Once you make the playoffs, it's quite the crapshoot. That favours the lesser teams.

Sign me up.

[membengal]

It def helps the Reds.

It also def devalues making the playoffs. And that is the part that I am still old enough to mourn. Not quite old enough to remember when it was one per league, but old enough to fondly miss two divisions per league and just two playoff entries per league. The old part of me always liked that the limited playoffs set baseball apart. Now it "inexorably" drifts toward making itself into the NBA/NFL/NHL.

[kaldaniels]

As a baseball purist this is awful. As a Reds fan it is great.

[KronoRed]

With a whopping 162 game season we really need 1/3rd of the teams to make it?

[MikeThierry]

Mixed feelings about this one. I think the Wild Card, in general, has been good for baseball so if they do this right who knows how successful it could be. That said, we are talking about Selig here so when it comes to forethought and getting things right, only Gary Bettman is a worse commissioner in this regard.

[Blitz Dorsey]

It's never good when Bud starts using words that he couldn't define.

[MikeThierry]

Blitz, do you have the same feeling that Selig is the most incompetent commissioner in the 4 major North American sports?

[Blitz Dorsey]

Originally Posted by MikeThierry

Blitz, do you have the same feeling that Selig is the most incompetent commissioner in the 4 major North American sports?

Absolutely. It's not even close. Stern is great for the NBA (no matter what anyone says) and Goodell is very solid for the NFL (the biggest job in pro sports as far as commissioners). Bettman actually isn't very good with the NHL ... but he's still better than Selig's underqualified arse.