MLB playoffs expanding in 2012


K

Kendrick

Well-Known Member
Baseball's playoffs will expand from eight to 10 teams, starting this season, according to major-league sources.

The sport's new collective-barganing agreement stipulated that additional wild cards would be added in each league no later than 2013. But commissioner Bud Selig wanted the expansion to occur immediately, and management worked with the players' union to ensure the switch to a 10-team format this season.

The agreement on the additional wild cards is not yet final, and one source said there are "still a few loose ends" to resolve. But an announcement could occur as soon as Thursday, sources said.

The schedule for this season already was set when the new CBA was reached, but adjustments might be required to squeeze in the new wild-card round.

The final details are not known, but officials discussed changing starting times for the final day of the regular season, the one-game wild-card knockout and possibly Game 1 of the Division Series.
 



Great Job by Bud. This new format will give Division winners a better shot at winning, especailly because of the 1st rounds byes. BAseball season cant get here fast enough. Bless you Bud
 
tweed24 said:
Great Job by Bud. This new format will give Division winners a better shot at winning, especailly because of the 1st rounds byes. BAseball season cant get here fast enough. Bless you Bud
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I don't know, tweed. I mean, the expanded playoffs is just a one-game deal. Not a five or seven-game series. Additionally, the MLB regular season is 162 games. A big enough sample size to determine who is worthy enough to participate in the postseason. I like the way the playoffs are setup right now.
 
kendrick said:
I don't know, tweed. I mean, the expanded playoffs is just a one-game deal. Not a five or seven-game series. Additionally, the MLB regular season is 162 games. A big enough sample size to determine who is worthy enough to participate in the postseason. I like the way the playoffs are setup right now.
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but its gives teams even more reason to win the division. Look at the Yankees last year....they woulda ended the season differently if faced with the possibility of being put in a do or die playoff game instead of a series.
 
8 to 5 said:
but its gives teams even more reason to win the division. Look at the Yankees last year....they woulda ended the season differently if faced with the possibility of being put in a do or die playoff game instead of a series.
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I don't think that's fair to those Wild Card teams. Because you know those teams will more than likely blow out their starting staffs/bullpens.

Let's say the Yankees played the Twins in the one-game playoff. C.C. would obviously pitch that game. However, he wouldn't be able to pitch in Game 1 of the LDS if N.Y. were to beat Minnesota. Heck, he might not be available until Game 3 of the LDS. And it would be a stretch for him to pitch a possible Game 5 of the first-round series.

It would be a tremendous disadvantage for those squads playing the one-game playoff.

The only true way MLB can give teams more incentive to win the division is if they went back to old East-West division setup pre-Wild Card.
 
kendrick said:
I don't know, tweed. I mean, the expanded playoffs is just a one-game deal. Not a five or seven-game series. Additionally, the MLB regular season is 162 games. A big enough sample size to determine who is worthy enough to participate in the postseason. I like the way the playoffs are setup right now.
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1) Adds emphasis on winning your division. (More exciting division races)
(2) Division winners get an advantage over WC teams.(As it should be)
(3) Makes WC teams burn their #1 SP right before the division series.
(4) Gives more teams the opportunity to possibly get into the playoffs.
 
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