Proposed Playoff Expansion with a Reality TV Twist

[Vanimal46]

 

What is this, The Bachelor? Will the Yankees give the Twins a rose every year in the playoffs? This is a bad idea.

[Puckett34]

That's gonna be a no from me. Expanding to 7 teams per league, best record picking opponent, all of it. Nope

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Looks like another example of fixing something that’s not broken.

 

Expanding to seven teams is lol funny.

 

Higher seeds selecting their opponent is intruiging, though.

[mhanson93]

I wonder who the Yankees would pick...

 

Edit:  OP beat me to it..lol

[Vanimal46]

Looks like another example of fixing something that’s not broken.

 

Expanding to seven teams is lol funny.

 

Higher seeds selecting their opponent is intruiging, though.

I don’t like any of it to be honest... Especially 7 teams. Just imagine how many 80-85 win teams make the playoffs in that format. Gross.

[PDX Twin]

Not to mention having the World Series even closer to Christmas.

[SF Twins Fan]

This all sounds awful.  Expanding to more teams is one thing since MLB is one of the few teams that doesn't have half the teams in the playoffs already, but to allow teams to pick is just dumb.

[Diesel]

November baseball in Minnesota would be bad (weather wise a least).

[notoriousgod71]

Manfred doing the impossible by making Selig look competent and sensible.

[notoriousgod71]

 

 

November baseball in Minnesota would be bad

You misread the article. The top team gets to pick their opponent.

[notoriousgod71]

 

 

That's gonna be a no from me. Expanding to 7 teams per league, best record picking opponent, all of it. Nope

This reminds me of the experimental rules they were toying with last year, including CHANGING THE DISTANCE OF THE PITCHER'S MOUND. I'm sure no pitchers will get hurt that way.

 

Also, the minor league extra innings rule is asinine and I will never watch a game again if they choose to go that route.

[nicksaviking]

I hate the one game WC “playoff” game, best of three is better than best of one. I could take or leave the seventh team; but for me that seal was broken when the first Wild Card was introduced, so no big deal.

 

If the compromise shortens the regular season, I’d be game. I think most of this seems minimal in the grand scheme of things, but I know baseball isn’t a sport that embraces change.

 

I could do without any implied made-for-TV dramatics, but it only seems fair that a 101 win division champ who is 2nd place in the League should get to choose if they want to play their 100 win division rival or the the 88 game winner that lucked it’s way into a weak division crown.

[Teflon]

I keep waiting for a photon of hope to escape baseball's accelerating death spiral into the black hole of absurdity and irrelevance.  

[Diesel]

The MLB should look at NASCAR’s quick descent as what NOT to do. What really needs to happen:

 

Nightly national network broadcasts. Like TNT/TBS level. With that, a better crew (Vasgerian please). And please kick out Rob Manfred. I think Bud Selig was a way better commissioner that people thought. Get some of the top internet baseball personalities (Jomboy and Rob Friedman) on the shows. Make a hard salary cap at 200 million and force owners to pay 100 million to payroll without penalty (Yankees are nearing 30 straight years without going under .500). Get Oakland out of their dump and move the Rays to Montreal! 2019 was a dumpster fire in terms of competitiveness. That needs to change before it’s too late.

[Diesel]

And did I see no game 163s!?!?!?

[notoriousgod71]

 

And did I see no game 163s!?!?!? 21628147-0CAD-4283-BCBB-EE6C8F177830.jpeg

Who needs a real Game 163 when you can just contrive one every single year, no matter if the teams have a ten win differential or not.

[KirbyDome89]

I absolutely hate the 1 game WC; HATE it. A best of 3 series isn't doing much better. Nobody actually tunes into the first round, and sometimes the 2nd round, of the NBA playoffs because mediocre/bad teams constantly sneak in as the 6-8 seeds. MLB shouldn't water down their product, or penalize good teams by shortening series to three games. Nearly the entire proposal pisses me off. I've been saying for a while that Manfred is obsessed with making changes only for the sake or change, i.e. he's too concerned about "leaving his mark."  

[Diesel]

I forgot about the trade deadline too. That would change the game immensely. More contending teams would equal less players available to boost a team’s hopes of winning it all.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

This reminds me of the experimental rules they were toying with last year, including CHANGING THE DISTANCE OF THE PITCHER'S MOUND.

The pitchers mound has changed a handful of times, 1893, 1904, 1950 and 1968. That is one of the rule changes I can get behind.

 

Oh, and the experimental rules continue this year too. https://ballparkdigest.com/2019/04/10/controversial-pitching-mound-experiment-pushed-back-to-2020/

https://bosoxinjection.com/2013/12/13/pitching-mound-history/

[bighat]

I hate the idea.

 

I'm still of the opinion that letting the fans vote for the All-Star Game is terrible, but at least that's just an exhibition game.

 

I'm telling you, if MLB has a huge downturn in viewership and they hire the wrong PR firm, we're going to see fans calling the pitches using an app in 10 years.

[Diesel]

Trevor Bauer on the proposed changes: “No idea who made this new playoff format proposal, but Rob is responsible for releasing it, so I’ll direct this to you, Rob Manfred. Your proposal is absurd for too many reasons to type on twitter and proves you have absolutely no clue about baseball. You’re a joke.“

Bauer is a loose cannon, but he’s right.

[Old Twins Cap]

 

Looks like another example of fixing something that’s not broken.

 

 

Problem in baseball right now is the fact that a team is either tanking or cresting, and there is no in-between.

 

The current system is based on draft position and conserving cash for future runs.

 

This is a trial balloon by MLB to see if the public will buy in. 

 

Imagine a team trying to tank, who then gets a chance to beat the Yankees in a three-game series. 

 

Their fans, their hopes, their players, so held down, so without aspiration, suddenly exposed in front of the nation for the actions of their Front Office -- all the trade deadline deals, all the Injured List players -- I mean, you kind of gotta love the concept of saying "Your moment, in your opinion is not now, but in reality, it is now, and, what do you got?" 

 

What do you got?  That's what baseball is saying with this system. There is no place to hide under this system.

 

I'm not sure, but, I kind of like it.

[Vanimal46]

Problem in baseball right now is the fact that a team is either tanking or cresting, and there is no in-between.

 

The current system is based on draft position and conserving cash for future runs.

 

This is a trial balloon by MLB to see if the public will buy in.

 

Imagine a team trying to tank, who then gets a chance to beat the Yankees in a three-game series.

 

Their fans, their hopes, their players, so held down, so without aspiration, suddenly exposed in front of the nation for the actions of their Front Office -- all the trade deadline deals, all the Injured List players -- I mean, you kind of gotta love the concept of saying "Your moment, in your opinion is not now, but in reality, it is now, and, what do you got?"

 

What do you got? That's what baseball is saying with this system. There is no place to hide under this system.

 

I'm not sure, but, I kind of like it.

This is a good point. Baseball has a tanking problem right now after Houston and the Cubs perfected the tear it all down rebuild to a championship.

 

As much as I’d like to see more teams trying to win, I don’t know if I want to see more teams make the playoffs. There’s something to be said about being a top team in the league/conference. I think making the playoffs is a privilege, and should be difficult to make.

 

In other sports like NBA and NHL, where you need to be better than 50% or less of your opponents? There’s not much excitement making the playoffs... Out of the 4 major sports, it’s the most difficult to make the playoffs in baseball, with only 5 out of 15 teams earning the right. I think 7 is too many teams, but maybe 6 is a good compromise?

[notoriousgod71]

 

Trevor Bauer on the proposed changes: “No idea who made this new playoff format proposal, but Rob is responsible for releasing it, so I’ll direct this to you, Rob Manfred. Your proposal is absurd for too many reasons to type on twitter and proves you have absolutely no clue about baseball. You’re a joke.“
Bauer is a loose cannon, but he’s right.

I was just logging on to type this.

 

I applaud his candor and indifference to calling out his boss. I'm going to try that tomorrow.

[Blake]

 

This is a good point. Baseball has a tanking problem right now after Houston and the Cubs perfected the tear it all down rebuild to a championship.

As much as I’d like to see more teams trying to win, I don’t know if I want to see more teams make the playoffs. There’s something to be said about being a top team in the league/conference. I think making the playoffs is a privilege, and should be difficult to make.

In other sports like NBA and NHL, where you need to be better than 50% or less of your opponents? There’s not much excitement making the playoffs... Out of the 4 major sports, it’s the most difficult to make the playoffs in baseball, with only 5 out of 15 teams earning the right. I think 7 is too many teams, but maybe 6 is a good compromise?

On top of that, too many teams making the playoffs make the regular season irrelevant. Heck, playoff hockey is referred to as "the second season."

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Problem in baseball right now is the fact that a team is either tanking or cresting, and there is no in-between.

 

The current system is based on draft position and conserving cash for future runs.

 

This is a trial balloon by MLB to see if the public will buy in. 

 

Imagine a team trying to tank, who then gets a chance to beat the Yankees in a three-game series. 

 

Their fans, their hopes, their players, so held down, so without aspiration, suddenly exposed in front of the nation for the actions of their Front Office -- all the trade deadline deals, all the Injured List players -- I mean, you kind of gotta love the concept of saying "Your moment, in your opinion is not now, but in reality, it is now, and, what do you got?" 

 

What do you got?  That's what baseball is saying with this system. There is no place to hide under this system.

 

I'm not sure, but, I kind of like it.

I’ve been thinking about tanking for the draft. You could set the following season’s draft order something like this:

 

1. Final team eliminated from postseason play the previous year

2. Lottery selection among worst records previous year

3. Second to last team to be eliminated from postseason (Twins in 2015 were this team)

4. Second lottery selection of worst record

5. Third to last team eliminated

6. Worst record of teams remaining

7. Fourth to last team eliminated or Wild Card losers

8. Next worst record of teams remaining

 

And so on, or something like that, instead of guaranteeing the top pick to last year’s worst record.

[IndianaTwin]

 

I was just logging on to type this.

 

I applaud his candor and indifference to calling out his boss. I'm going to try that tomorrow.

I recommend indeed.com for your job search.

[Shaitan]

I thought this was a parody article at first.

 

If they really want to fix something, shorten the season by a hair.

 

I love the marathon of MLB, but September call-ups make it mostly unwatchable.

 

Drop it to a 154 games, move the playoffs up in the calendar to slightly warmer weather. Have fewer callups (I know they already changed that).

 

A bye week? Seriously? In baseball? Ug.

[nicksaviking]

I must be missing something, none of this sounds like a huge game changer. What is everyone one disliking? Seven playoff teams instead of six, that’s nothing compared to when it was only four, or two.

 

The initial playoff matchups being determined by the team with the best record? Sounds fair, what’s the issue with that?

[D.C Twins]

Apparently the MLB wants to go to great lengths to make the 162 game season irrelevant....