MLB proposes expanded playoff format in CBA talks, according to report

Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, a contract that allows MLB and MLBPA to conduct business, expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on December 1. It is not expected that the two sides will be able to reach an agreement. before that point, at which point the owners would likely lock out players, bringing baseball to its first shutdown since the 1994-95 players’ strike.

Among the many things discussed during the collective bargaining negotiations was a post-season expansion format, something MLB has been looking to increase sales for many years. Last year, during the pandemic’s 60-game season, MLB used an expanded 16-team post-season format, although all participants agreed that there were too many teams. It’s more than half the league.

During recent collective bargaining sessions, MLB again proposed an expanded format of 14 post-season teams, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers report. It’s the same format as the floating tournament in the 2019-20 season, before the pandemic. Here’s how it will work:

• Seven teams from each league perform after the season.
• The teams with the best records in each tournament get to say goodbye to the round.
• The two other division winners and the top wild card team hold all games of the three-game series in the wild card round.
• The two other division winners get to choose their wild card round opponent from three other wild card teams.
• The three series winners and the goodbye team advance to the split round.

Here’s what the 2015-19 back yards will look like with the proposed 14-team format. 79-82 Marlins will be post-season in 2016, and 80-82 Light ray and Angel will certainly succeed in 2017. Needless to say, no one wants teams under .500 in the post-season period.

Here’s the post-season bracket that the 14-team format will have in 2021 (matches are based on merit as we don’t know which opponent the division winners will pick):

American style tournament
FEELING: Rays (100-62)
WC1: Astros (95-67) vs. Mariners (90-72)
WC2: White Sox (93-69) vs. Blue jay (91-71)
WC3: Red Sox (92-70) vs. Yankees (92-70)

National Federation
FEELING: Giant (107-55)
WC1: Brewer (95-67) vs. Phillies (82-80)
WC2: brave (88-73) vs. Red (83-79)
WC3: Dodgers (106-56) vs. Quantity (90-72)

Pretty sure matches in the US National Championship. 90 winning teams around. In the National League though? We were able to get close to dangerously close to a .500 (or even under .500) team in the aftermath of the season.

And that’s the risk with an extended post-season arena. You reduce the post-season competition, reduce the importance of the often 162-game season (what makes baseball so great and separate it from other major sports), and increase the role of randomness in the post-season. Post-season is enough of a crapshoot. Do we need to take it one step further?

Part of MLB’s concern is that by lowering the bar for entering the post-season, it’s discouraging teams from trying to improve because hey, 84 wins could get you into October. that means less dollars spent on freelancers, less urgency to call those leads, etc. Those are concerns that are very relevant to the anticompetitive behavior we see today. .

It should be noted that MLB sold the rights to broadcast the Wild Card Series to ESPN, follow New York PostAndrew Marchand’s, so they have a lot going on here. The MLBPA knows that and can take advantage of it, at least in theory. Currently, the league is trying to expand the post-season period once again. For now, what the expanded format will look like is a bit uncertain.