Three Ways To Fix The Broken MLB Playoff Format
This is not an attack on the Phillies, Diamondbacks, Astros or Rangers. Those teams have absolutely earned the right to play in the LCS. They won fair and square. I just think the route they all took to get here is broken.
This new format with the extended Wild Card round has led to many of the best regular season teams getting knocked out very early. You have the 2023 teams in the graphic above as well as these 2022 teams: Dodgers (111 wins), Braves (101 wins), Mets (101 wins) also fail to make the LCS. That tells me that something is wrong. The regular season is so long and I think deserves more credit in the playoffs. With each additional round the owners plug in, October becomes more and more of a crapshoot.
No matter who you feel about the current system, it's likely temporary. MLB will be expanding to 32 teams very soon. Now that the Rays and A's seem to have found permanent homes, I think you could even get an expansion announcement as soon as Winter Meetings. With expansion, you're going to see realignment and almost certainly a new playoff structure.
Here are three ideas that I think would be a better format than we currently have.
The Old Way
Wild Card round is just a one game playoff
I liked the old system better. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube so it's not like you'll ever see less playoff games if ESPN and FS1 are going to keep paying for them. But the system of having the WC teams play a one game playoff was at least exciting as fuck. I understand people saying it's not fair to play 162 games and have it come down to one game. My Mets got fucked with this in 2016. But it was more exciting than the half measure of the best of 3 bullshit. Also it's less days off for the teams that earned the bye.
The Doubleheader
Wild Card round is best of 3 but over the course of 2 days. Game 1 is on day 1 and Games 2/3 are both the following day. The LDS would start the very next day.
I believe this is Theo Epstein's idea. I love this because it does punish the wild card teams appropriately. These teams are getting way too much time with all the days off to set up their pitching staffs. Plus those doubleheader games would be exciting as fuck. You'd have to manage so carefully because of the possibility of a doubleheader but yet doing everything you can to win each game. I think this would make for a thrilling couple days of baseball.
The Old, Old Way
No Wild Card. Two divisions and just an NLCS, ALCS and World Series
I almost always lean towards more baseball. I love the idea of the wild card because it does mean more rounds of baseball and more teams being competitive late into the season. But I do miss the playoffs being more exclusive and each game meaning more.
Let me say this right off the bat: this will never happen. The TV money is too much to walk away from. But my pipe dream would be when MLB expands to 32 teams, have two 8 team divisions in each league. Winner gets in the playoffs. It's that simple. It's also not at crazy as our 21st Century brains may think it is. From 1901-60, each league was only 8 teams. Winner went to the World Series.
The only one of these ideas I presented that even could potentially happen is the doubleheader idea. That's only because you aren't losing playoff games. What's more likely is the playoffs keep getting expanded. Maybe you see the LDS get expanded to a best of 7?
Like I said at the top, I am not trying to shit on what the Rangers, Astros, Dbacks and Phillies have accomplished. If anything, I think all of those teams have bright futures and could easily be on the 100 win side of things in short time. It's just about having the playoffs rewarding the best teams and getting rid all of these off days. 6 of 8 series being sweeps is bad for everyone.
These first two rounds have been dreadful for anyone who didn't have a team in the fight. I love baseball more than almost anything and I can't defend them. Hopefully the LCS can get better quick. Carl, Hubbs and I give a preview of the NLCS below.
