Fix the Playoff Format

[Centerfield]

Because each there are many saying a division winner shouldn't be eliminated in a best of 3 series following the season. I tend to agree with that. The simple fix is to go back to 3 division winners and 2 wild cards. But I don't see MLB going back to 5 teams.

Sometime last year, I said the best way to make sure the better teams end up in the World Series is to eliminate the WC/DS rounds and make it a round robin. 12 game season following the last day of the regular season. Basically something like this:

Oct. 1-3 (3 games)
1 vs. 6
2 vs. 5
3 vs. 4

Oct 5-7 (3 games)
1 vs. 5
2 vs. 4
3 vs. 6

Oct 9-11 (3 games)
1 vs. 4
2 vs. 3
3 vs. 6

Oct. 13-15 (3 games)
1 vs. 3
2 vs. 6
4 vs. 5

(1 and 2 seeds never play each other)

October 16-24 (LCS)
Top two seeds each league.

October 25-Nov 2
World Series

Over 12 games, you'd see the cream rise to the top. But the downside is there would definitely be some meaningless games at the end. So I don't really this idea taking off.

Alternatively, you could keep more or less the same format, but realign the divisions.

NL East
1 Division Winner
2 WC

NL West
1 Division Winner
2 WC

This would allow you to keep the same playoff schedule you have now. Division champion would have meaning, since each division would be 7-8 teams. The WC round would feature a geographical rival. (No cross country trips to play a WC game).

[batmagadanleadoff]

Over 12 games, you'd see the cream rise to the top.

[Gwreck]

In addition to better rewarding a division winner, there needs to be a bigger incentive to get/reward for wild card #1.

New format:
Day after regular season ends, 6 seed plays at 5. One game, loser goes home.

Next day (no day off), 5/6 winner plays first of two games at 4. 5 seed needs to win both games to advance; if 4 seed wins either, they advance.

Then division series continues as normal: WC at 1, 3 at 2.


—-
Justifications:
-The top wild card is typically a very good team. In the last 3 years, only once has the #4 seed had a record worse than the #3 seed. And twice (including the NL in 2022, of course) the top wild card had a record as good or better than the #2 seed.

-Guarantees that a 5 or 6 seed is playing 3 games before the division series, putting them at a proper disadvantage. Compare to: this year, where the Tigers can use Skubal in the WC series game 1, and and then again in DS games 2 and 5.

-Bye for all 3 division winners.

-Minimizes time off before the division series.

[batmagadanleadoff]

The older I get, the more nonsensical I think all of this is -- no matter what the format. That's because I'm beginning to think, more and more and more, that this whole notion of who's a better team, or who's the best team is almost always an unsolvable, unknowable and elusive riddle. The playoffs are fun and they provide a sense of closure to the season and bragging rights in perpetuity for the ultimate winners. So go and enjoy them. But the idea that we should be able to extract deep and profound and irrefutable meanings written in stone from these handful of games about who these teams are and which team deserved to win the tournament is sounding to me, more and more ridiculous with each passing year. It's all a dressed up coin flip, no matter how it's presented.

[MFS62]

This seems lie a lot of mental gymnastics to fix a problem that I don't feel really exists.
I'm ok with the present format. It gave us down to the wire excitement and that was all I could really ask.
If it ain't broke, why do we have to try to fix it?
Later

[Fman99]

This seems lie a lot of mental gymnastics to fix a problem that I don't feel really exists.
I'm ok with the present format. It gave us down to the wire excitement and that was all I could really ask.
If it ain't broke, why do we have to try to fix it?
Later

Yeah, I mean, if you don't want to have your season end in a best 2 of 3 (wild card or division winner), then, you know, win, or get a bye. But either way, quit yer bitchin

[metirish]

I think my biggest issue with the current format ( aside from all the teams ) is the division winners waiting around for nearly a week to play

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yes. It's hard to really say for sure that that's an advantage.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I'm fine with the format. August and September would have sucked under the old format.