The 2012 MLB playoffs will feature 10 teams -- or won't
by Kurt Mensching on Feb 2, 2012 12:15 PM EST
in Detroit Tigers News
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As you probably heard, the MLB playoffs were set to expand to 10 teams in the upcoming season. Each league would have two wild cards play each other in a single game. They'd both officially be playoff teams -- cha-ching go the extra merchandise sales -- but it would be sort of akin to requiring a Game 163 to make the big boy playoffs with their multi-game series.
(Baseball for NFL fans, I like to think of it. Yeah, I'm cynical, so what?)
That plan seems to be on hold for now.
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark wrote yesterday:
Wednesday was supposed to be the day the commissioner's office finished a proposed schedule for the 2012 postseason and shipped it to the players' association for consideration. But sources told ESPN.com that deadline wasn't going to be met -- not because talks have broken down, but because fitting two extra wild-card pieces into the postseason puzzle has proved to be more involved than the commissioner has been willing to acknowledge.
The commish and the players union must agree by March 1 in order for the playoff expansion to happen.
Stark lays out plenty of details that have to be figured out. A key problem is the schedule. With the end of the season and the start of the World Series already locked in, there's not a lot of wriggle room. The last day of the regular season is Oct. 3 and the start of the divisional series is currently Oct. 6. In between, the wild card round must be held, and it may be necessary to play make-up games or even a 163rd game to decide who makes the playoffs or who wins the division. (Stark reported because there's such a huge gap between winning the division and being a wild card team, ties in the standings will now be settled on the field and not by formula even if both teams are already in the playoffs.)
Game times must be set and travel days may be re-arranged to make it all work, but nothing has been settled yet, Stark reports.
However, Starks wrote:
Despite the numerous complications, all parties describe the two sides as making a serious effort to make these changes work for this year. But the various hang-ups have turned out to be so difficult to resolve that one source said this week: "I really don't know if this is going to get done.
So I guess we should all keep an eye on this going forward.
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I hate everything about this
Seriously.
by metatron5369 on Feb 2, 2012 2:49 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
agreed
I think we can all agree that the worst thing to usually happen to a team making a playoff push is days off…the Tigers in 06 and Rockies in 07 come to mind as teams that had to sit for a week in October before playing again.
Even if this is pushed back a year they are clearly still going to try to do it and that means teams that win their division will have to wait 5 or so days to play a game again, which sucks for those teams, a day or two off would probably be fine but they are just extending time off for most teams
by WorldSeriesTiger on Feb 2, 2012 2:53 PM EST reply actions
1968
Last year the pennant winner went to directly W.S. – the change was tough to get used to – but you do…
And 1984
Last year the LCS was a best of five game series. The Tigers swept the Royals, 3- 0.
The Royals won games six and seven in 1985 to eliminate Toronto in the first seven game ALCS.
"King of Minutiae"
So, it's good news that the new format probably won't be ready until 2013?
1968 . . . 1984 . . . 2012 . . .
by rea on Feb 2, 2012 10:54 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
BIG difference between adding another SERIES
and adding a single game to determine if you’re worthy of making a playoff series…. even after 162 games that serve the same purpose.
Big Difference.
by Big Z in Orlando on Feb 3, 2012 11:35 AM EST up reply actions
It would be best if everybody finished the regular season on the same day.
The next day would be the 1 game play off for a tied division, other wise its an off day. Then have the 1 game play off for the wild card. Then go right into the division series games. This way no team is off for more then 2 days.
BS
My biggest gripe isn’t the off days but the fact we could see situations where the 2nd wild card team could have a considerable deficit from the 1st wild card seed and go all the way because they get hot. 162 days should be plenty of time to see who the best team is. No one should have to have a one game playoff to beat another team they came in ahead of after the grind of the regular season. This is just a BS ploy by MLB to increase the odds of the Yankoffs and Red Sux getting in every year. It’s bad for business when Tampa makes the postseason.
I'm okay with expanding the playoffs by one game
I’d prefer if the two wild cards had to be second place teams, rather than maybe the second and third place teams from the same division. But I think it makes winning the division more meaningful.
- It’s the wild card teams that have to play the extra elimination game
- It’s the wild card teams that have uncertainty as the season winds down
- The Wild card will always travel, so no division winner has their plans up in the air
- The Wild card teams might burn up their ACE in an elimination playoff game
I’m okay with giving the division winners an added advantage, and with giving another few teams a shot at making the playoffs.
"King of Minutiae"
True, as the Tigers did last year,
but the “logstics” of having a one game playoff won’t affect that team. They have to travel regardless. It’s the No 1 seed that will just wait one more game to see which team they will be playing, but they know they’ll be at home.
"King of Minutiae"
Thought Wild Card couldn't play team in same division in 1st round...
So only plans up in the air is which team gets the wild card team that used their Ace in game 163…
For instance:
No.1 over all = New York
No 2. over all = Tigers
No 3 over all = Texas
1 WC = Tampa
1 WC = KC
KC wins – Yanks get KC (who used their ACE and Bullpen to win 163) and Tigers host Texas
Tampa wins – Tigers get Tampa (who used their ACE and Bullpen in 163) and the Yanks, with best record – play rested Texas…
Guess it will work out…
I'm fairly confident...
that with the new system there will not be any re-seeding. So the 1st overall seed will play the wildcard game winner, regardless of division. So in your scenario the Yanks play the winner of Tampa and KC even if Tampa wins it. I am quite sure i read that somewhere a while back…
by N*W on Feb 2, 2012 6:33 PM EST up reply actions
They've done away with the caveat about playing teams in their own division now
For instance:
No. 1 Yankees
No 2 Tigers
No 3 Angels
WC 1 Red Sox
WC 2 Tampa
Red Sox beat Tampa, they travel to NY for the first round and Tigers host the lost Angels
The ACE thing isn’t a for sure deal. Clubs could have their ACE pitching at any point due to them having to go down to the wire to win their division. But now, they’ll be extra motivated to win that division, rather than go to a sudden death playoff.
"King of Minutiae"
I'm looking forward to watching a 1 game sudden death play-off
I’d rather watch that than the All-Star game.
I like the All-Star Game
I hate that it counts for anything, but I like it regardless.
Playoffs to me are just stupid. They work for football because of the limited schedule, but they crept into baseball as a pure cash grab. It doesn’t send the best teams, just the ones on the hot streak or the teams that drew the right opponents.
I think playoffs work for hockey too
It’s hard to stay invested if your team isn’t in it, but it takes a lot more than a small hot streak to win the Stanley Cup. There’s a reason that the best teams are usually in the finals.
by Rob Rogacki on Feb 3, 2012 8:14 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Hockey is too easy
to make the playoffs. Even in Hockeytown the regular season doesn’t mean alot. The playoffs are special, but the regular season feels like Spring Training.
We don’t want baseball to lose the significance of the regular season.
by manic in Detroit on Feb 3, 2012 8:57 PM EST up reply actions
Exactly
Just because it’s easy to make it doesn’t mean it’s easy to win it. Like baseball, the best teams are usually in the hunt at the end of the year because they have the depth to overcome injuries and slumps throughout the season. Hockey puts greater emphasis on the playoffs, but this has always been the case.
I think the point being made was
Baseball season is 162 games. At the end of 162, your table may not perfectly reflect true talent level, but it’s going to be pretty darn close.
Then you put the teams together in a five-game series and suddenly the ball bounces on the right (or wrong) side of the foul line or everything goes right for nine innings, and that 6 month regular season means nothing.
Basically, the more randomness inherent in the sport, the more games you need to balance it out. Baseball has a lot of random variation. So a 1, 3 or heck, even 7 game series isn’t necessarily going to tell you who is actually best.
Hockey playoffs are awesome. But 7 games out of an 82 game season means baseball would actually need 13 to have the same ratio.
So, by expanding the baseball playoffs, you’re making it even less likely the team that is actually best wins the title.
I still love the idea of the AL and the NL both being decided by the 162 game season where the teams don’t play each other, then you’ve got 7 (or hell I’d love to expand it beyond that!) games to figure out which league was better.
Sure, fewer playoff games, fewer flags for teams to fly, but the regular season sure as hell would mean something!
by Kurt Mensching on Feb 4, 2012 10:55 AM EST up reply actions
I don't think so
The three division winners won’t be doing anything different. Those are the teams that have a claim to being best over the 162 game schedule. Having the two wild cards “play in” doesn’t change that.
With the new format, the regular season actually means more, because winning the division means more. One extra team in each league gets a shot at the end, but that doesn’t detract one bit from the odds that the division winners have to win it all. The wild card winner will have the same odds of winning the title as the current wild card does only IF they win their play in game.
I like it.
"King of Minutiae"
This is still acceptable
because we will be at 10 of 30 teams. The two wild cards are still likely to be winning teams. I see the added value for the division winner.
Also it provides a better chance for Kansas City, who has just had their window of opportunity clouded by Prince Fielder.
by manic in Detroit on Feb 4, 2012 11:36 PM EST up reply actions
My main point is that
Hockey has 30 teams, 16 of which make the playoffs. So a team can lose as many games as it wins and still expect to make the field. This dilutes the value of a given mid-season game. For example the Red Wings are at Edmonton tonight. I want Detroit in the playoffs as much as anyone, but does this game matter enough to stay awake for? Not really.
by manic in Detroit on Feb 4, 2012 11:15 PM EST up reply actions
I love the play-offs
I can’t think of anything better to do in October than to watch the best baseball teams face off against each other. October is where legends are made. Kirk Gibson’s HR’s off of Goose Gossage and Dennis Eckersley will always be remembered. His fist pump was the king of all fist pumps. Jack Morris throwing a 10 inning shutout. Bill Buckner letting that ball go between his legs. Reggie Jackson hitting 3 homers in one game. Bartman and Cubs. Poor Bartman. The post-season is where all the thrill and and all the celebrating is at.
I don’t watch other sports, for me baseball is a year round sport, where the off-season is almost as important as the season itself.
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