July truly begins the MLB wild card playoff race that is in need of a minor change for the good of the sport. As of right now, a 162 game grind of a schedule ends with a one game play-in between two MLB Wild Card teams in both of the leagues. Each winner then advances to play the team with the best record in the league.
This is an absolute tragic way to end the best regular season in all of sports. A game that all through the regular season and the rest of the entire playoffs that is based on the depth of your starting rotation and bullpen, is reduced to an all-hands-on-deck approach in a one-game, winner-take-all wild card playoff. It simply is not fair to the players or the fans. Both are deserving of a fair way to see who advances. Here are two suggestions that would solve this problem:
Assuming that MLB keeps three divisions in each league with each division winner getting an automatic playoff spot, then two wild cards in each league is a good idea that keeps more of the fan bases in the playoff hunt longer. I’m all for that; the more interest that is kept in smaller markets, like Pittsburgh and Kansas City, the better. With no salary cap, small-market and mid-market teams need a way to stay in the race. The Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees are always going to have the advantage of free agency and big money that keeps their fans interested. So, going back to just one wild card does not help the game at all. The argument of “one wild card team worked fine in the past” is a flawed argument for these two reasons:
A: Salaries are much more inflated than ever before.
B: There used to be far fewer teams.
So, let’s say we take the easy answer and keep the two wild cards with just the one play-in game. Then what has to happen is that they reduce the number of pitchers a team can carry on a roster. Right now it is a 25 man roster that a team takes into the playoffs. Usually it breaks down as eight starters in the field, five on the bench ( one as the DH in the AL ), five starting pitchers and seven arms in your bullpen. The answer is simple. Only allow eight total pitchers on your roster and thirteen position players. That would give a team one starter and a full bullpen that can be assembled however the manager wants to do it. This would eliminate the possibility of a manager playing nothing but match-ups from the fourth inning on. Not only does that slow down the game and bore the spectators to tears, it is also not in the true spirit of what the game is, on any kind of a normal scale.
The best way would be to make the wild card teams play a three game series with normal roster sizes. Opponents of this idea say that it would make the playoffs too long, but that is utter nonsense. The regular season stretches 162 games over six months. Would anyone really say that two or three extra days is what makes baseball season too long? This usually comes from team executives, MLB writers and broadcasters that too are eager to get on the golf course at the end of the season. That is not a reason to fast-forward through the playoffs.
The three-game set could be done a couple of different ways: The first game could be played at the lower-seeded city and the last two in the higher-seeded city. That would allow the lower seed to jump out to an early 1-0 lead, so most might oppose. But, you simply can not stretch it into a three game, three city series. My favorite scenario would have the higher seed host a day-night double header in games one and two with the ( if necessary ) third and deciding game to be played the next night in one league. The other league would start the lower seed at home for game one and the next day the higher seed would host a day-night double header. The wild card playoffs would start on a Saturday and end on a Sunday with the rest of the playoffs starting the next day on Monday. This would also tax your bullpen and reward the other playoff teams for avoiding the wild card round. Television would win also as there would be a chance of two back-to-back triple headers to start the postseason.
No matter which MLB chooses they can not stand pat. Players and fans put sweat and tears into a 162 game season. Every night is a roller coaster of emotion that should climax in October. If the NBA and NHL can have over half their league make a 16 team best of seven series two month marathon work for their fans, MLB owes it to the best fans in the world to not let the MLB Wild Card be a mockery of the regular season. There’s plenty of golf to be played down in spring training come February and March.
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