There will be ten teams (five from each league) that make it to the postseason. This will include the three division winners and two wild card winners for each league. The two wild card winners from each league will play each in a one game winner-take-all scenario. The #2 team will play at the #3 team for the first two games of the season. The #2 team will then host the last three games of the series (if necessary). The #1 team will play at the wild card survivor. The #2 team will then host the last three games of the series (if necessary). The ALCS, NLCS, and World Series will conclude the postseason as normal.
Confused yet? You should be because in my opinion the whole idea is pretty much ridiculous. Sure it has its positives. More teams will make the playoffs, which means more teams will be involved with the exciting push for the postseason. There is an added emphasis on winning the division. No one wants to play in the sudden death wild card game. It also makes it more difficult for wild card teams to make the playoffs. They will likely have to use their ace in the wild card game, which means that he will only be able to pitch once in the divisional series.
That is all the positives I've got. Now, I have to show you the major flaws with this format. First of all, anything can happen in one game winner-take-all scenario. A freak bounce, a missed call, a crazy fan could determine who goes on. Furthermore, there can be huge disparity between the records of the two wild card winners. That being the case, a one game series really isn't fair to what the teams have done all season.
Next up is the absurd idea that the teams with "home-field advantage" have to play their first two games on the road. When the 2-3 format was used (1995-1997), pretty much everybody hated it. The reason Major League Baseball claimed they had to revert back to it because there wasn't enough days to give travel days in between. Also, a side note: there is no travel day for the teams in between the wild card game and the divisional series. The divisional winner has no ability to know where the game will be played, so they have to travel through the night to get there. The same is true for the ALCS. If an ALDS goes to a fifth game, one team will have no idea where or whom they will be playing, while the other will have to play five days in a row.
So obviously there are some positives and many flaws with the new format. MLB has agreed to consider moving up the start of the regular season to allow for travel days and possibly to return to the 2-2-1 format for the divisional series (let's hope so). That being the case I will reserve judgment in regards to the future. How could it be improved? If MLB is so committed to adding two more playoff teams, I think that they need to shorten the regular season. That way the wild card game could at least be expanded to a three game series. One game really isn't fair to the effort both teams put in all year. I've long considered the five game series to even be too short. I would be all for making the regular season a little bit short in order to make the postseason a bit longer. For now though, we will have to settle for this format and hope for the best. One thing is for sure. MLB better start praying for good weather in October.
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