My Case Against MLB Playoff Expansion

When I think about the landscape of baseball people. I don't usually associate myself with the "Old School" baseball folks. I generally view myself as a suave, smooth, James Bond type that aligns with the "New School" ways of thinking and analysis. However, on the topic of expanding the playoffs to include another wild card team, I find myself agreeing with the traditional baseball view.

I already think that the wild card spot that we have is a problem. The unbalanced schedule in the MLB creates an unfair scenario for teams when competing for the wild card. Let's say that the Rays are contending with the Angels for the wild card playoff spot; is it fair that the Rays have to play 18 games against each of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays, while the Angles get to play 18 games against each of the Mariners, Rangers, and Athletics? No, it's not. Ever since the wild card was created in 1995, the MLB has systematically ruined the competitive balance, creating an unfair competition for teams in different divisions. The unbalanced schedule was introduced in 2001, and interleague play was introduced in 1997. The problem with interleague play is the notion of "natural rivalries." The natural rivalries are basically MLB's excuse to make more money by allowing the two New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles teams play each other more often. If the Mets are competing against the Nationals for the NL East, how is it fair that the Mets have to play two series against the Yankees, while the Nationals get to play the Orioles for six games. The schedule changes since the MLB went to three divisions per league handicaps the league, and hurts teams competing for the wild card in stronger divisions.

The other reason I'm not a fan of the wild card, which I think really aligns me with the traditional baseball people, is the lack of importance of winning the division. Last year, the Yankess and Rays both made the playoffs from the American League East. Do you remember who won the division and who won the wildcard? The Rays won the division, and the Yankees won the wildcard. The wild card eliminates the importance of winning the division. This season, the Red Sox and Yankees are going to make the playoffs. Currently, the Red Sox are 2.5 games behind the Yankees, but seven games up in the wild card standings. Without the wild card, we would have an actual playoff race this year. Every time that the MLB expands the playoffs, it dilutes the importance of the 162 game regular season. Baseball has the longest regular season of any major sport. I also think that it's the best, because so few teams make the playoffs. The NFL lets 12 or 32 teams, which is 37.5%, congratulations. The NBA lets over half of their teams into the playoffs, that's why interest int he NBA tails off in February. All the NBA regular season has really been good for in the past 15 years is eliminating the Clippers.

The T.V. schedule for the MLB playoffs is already too busy with only eight teams that make it. Last year, during weekdays, there were MLB playoff games starting at 1PM ET, and others that started at 10PM ET. You lose a lot of viewers by starting games while people are at work or after they go to bed. More games would just congest the schedule, that already leaks into November on a regular basis. One solution that I've heard involved the two wildcard teams in a one game playoff. This is ludicrous to me, because eventually, there will be a situation where the second best teams gets eliminated by the fifth best team in a one game playoff. If we're going to use this system, let's just shorten the regular season, because what your saying with a one game playoff, is that the 162 game schedule doesn't matter at all. A seven game series really is too short a series to determine the best of two opponents in baseball. If Team A finishes 16 games better than Team B in the regular season, that means that Team A wins one more game than Team B out of every ten games played. Sixteen games is a very wide margin, the like of which are rarely seen in the MLB playoffs, meaning that teams are usually more evenly matched than that.

Bud Selig has done a lot in his tenure to create an unfair scenario for teams competing for the playoff spots, because his biggest concern is the bottom line. Tweaking the system isn't the answer, a major overhaul is. If they are going to keep an unbalanced schedule, there should be no wild card. Expanding the playoffs would be a step in the wrong direction. The league show be concerned with putting more emphasis on the regular season, not taking away from it.