Hey Manfred! Listen Up!

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By Donnie Florio

Major League Baseball has had a PR nightmare this off-season. Rob Manafred must feel like he was cast in the next reboot of “The Nightmare On Elm Street” after the Astros cheating scandal unraveled over the winter. Instead of fans getting excited for spring training, people have attacked the commissioner and the Astros for ruining the integrity of America’s pastime. On top of all this drama, the commissioner and Major League Baseball have decided to focus on how to change the game instead of punishing many of the people involved in the sign stealing scandal. A few weeks ago a new proposed playoff format was released to the public and many baseball fans are baffled once again. Fans are not the only ones fuming at the proposal, but many players, including Trevor Bauer, have also expressed their disdain for it as well.

For those of you who have not seen the proposal, let me lay it out for you:

1. An expansion from 10 to 14 playoff teams making the postseason

2 extra wild card team will be added to each league (originally 1)

3. A new first round wildcard format (A 3 game series between division winners and wildcard teams)

4. The team with the best record in each league will receive a first round bye

5. The remaining 2 division winners will pick the team they would like to face in the first round.

6. The top seeded wild card team will face the unpicked team in the first round

Some fans might like the idea of this new proposal, but from what I have seen the majority of baseball fans and players alike disagree with it.

I have many thoughts on the new format and can confidently say I hate everything about it. For starters, baseball has always separated itself with other sports by having only the top teams in the league make the playoffs. Getting a chance to dance in October is no easy task, and that is what made the original format special. I personally have no interest im watching 3rd place teams get a chance to play in October. I understand this format will give more fan bases excitement heading into September, but the idea of almost half the league making the playoffs is not fair to the teams who have flourished for 162 games.

The NBA is a perfect example of why I do not like the idea of so many teams making the playoffs. In the first round of the NBA playoffs, we see 8 seeds get absolutely demolished by #1 seeds almost every year. The idea of teams fighting to be .500 all season making the playoffs just doesn’t make sense to me. It makes the first round of the playoffs extremely boring to watch.

My biggest complaint with the new proposal is not the seeding however, it is the fact that teams will get to pick their opponents they play in the first round. I can already see MLB conducting a 3 hour special where the top seeds choose their opponent. They will drag on a selection show that could easily take 3 minutes and make many teams and fans uncomfortable. Aside from the selection progress, imagine being the team that the #2 seed in each league picks. Imagine the anger and embarrassment a wildcard team would feel heading into a playoff series knowing they are viewed as the weakest link in a 14 team playoff bracket. Yes this might fire up these teams heading into the playoffs, but all in all they will just be viewed as a laughing stock to opposing teams.

The team also picking first will be put into a weird position. Instead of focusing on getting guys ready for the playoffs, they will have to focus their attention on who they would want to face in the first round. Seeding is a part of the playoffs for a reason. Your seeding should correspond with your teams record and have nothing to do with your opponents view with you.

On one of our recent Take Your Base Sports podcasts, our host Matt Wynkoop threw out some scenarios that would make for better playoff proposals. In a span of about 30 minutes, we believe we created some much more interesting playoff scenarios than the one Major League Baseball came out with.

Scenario 1: Keep the original format of the playoffs and have the Wildcard round be a best 2 out of 3 series instead of a winner takes all game.

Even though I was skeptical at first of the one game winner takes all wildcard games, it has grown on me tremendously. The atmosphere of the wild card games has been electric ever since it came into play in 2017. The stadiums have been rocking, the baseball has been good, and the strategy of the game has been very interesting. As a Red Sox fan, I have yet to experience the Sox play in this game, but I already know if they do it would be a roller coaster of emotions. Elimination games are always a blast to watch, especially when either team has the chance to move on in dramatic fashion. Over the last couple of years I have enjoyed cracking open a nice cold beer and watching two teams fight for their playoff hopes.

With that being said, changing the format of the series to a 3 game series would still be just as exciting. A 3 game series would still be packed with intensity and drama and would allow both fan bases to get a crack at a home playoff game. Baseball would also get to add more playoff games without extending the season dramatically and allowing fans to keep interest in the matchups.

Scenario 2: Change the divisional series to a best of 7 format (Currently best of 5)

Like the first scenario, this format would not change the integrity of the game and would also add a few extra playoff games. Adding two games is nothing drastic and would have almost no effect on the winning team heading into the next round. The Championship round along with the World Series are already a best of 7 series and I think baseball fans would have no problems if this change occurred.

Okay now for some more outside the box scenarios….

Scenario 3: My Personal Favorite

1. Eliminate divisions and go back to just the AL and NL format.

2. The best 5 teams in each league make the playoffs

3. The 4 and the 5 seed play in a wild card round (either 1 game or 3 game series)

4. In the second round of the playoffs the #1 seed plays the winner of the wildcard game and the #2 seed plays the #3 seed

So the biggest thing here is eliminating divisions. The rest of the playoff format would be identical to what is in place now. I personally think we should have gotten rid of divisions a while ago and went back to the original setup of just two leagues, the AL and the NL. Obviously this is what baseball used to do until divisions were established in 1969. Obviously divisions have made rivalries that have lasted decades. Unfortunately in today's game though, division rivalries just don’t have the juice they used too. The only real rivalry you could argue that has some excitement is the Yankees and Red Sox. In today's age however, this rivalry just doesn’t match up like it used to.

Eliminating divisions would allow the best 5 teams in each league to make the playoffs without having to worry about how their record is affected by their division standings. This would allow the best teams to compete in October and would not factor into the excitement of September baseball. There will still be competition late in the year for teams fighting to get into the playoffs and the possibility of tie-breaker games would still be in play at the end of the regular season. Rivalries would still be in tact and most importantly schedules would be much more even across the board. What I mean by this, for example, is that teams in the AL East would no longer get to beat up on the Orioles for 19 games and instead would have to face other teams more often. Eliminating divisions would increase competition and transactions across the league. Baseball has the opportunity to be much more competitive and interesting as a whole with this proposal.

Another quick thought on eliminating divisions is that it would allow an easier transition for expansion teams to enter the league. Instead of trying to figure out what divisions will expand to six teams first would not be a problem because expansion teams could be added 2 at a time. One expansion team could get put into the AL while the other is put into the NL. Scheduling would be much easier for these teams and make life a lot easier for any possible new franchises.

On the podcast we discuss these scenarios in much more detail so if you want to hear our thoughts check us out on ITunes, Spotify, and SoundCloud. We also have a few more proposals but I believe these are the most realistic and beneficial ones. Overall, I have no problem with the current postseason format. My biggest concern is the future of baseball and how the league is changing some of the aspects that many fans, including myself, have grown to love. Baseball is not a video game and does not need to be changed every year. While there is always room for improvement people need to realize that not all changes are popular and relevant. I’ve been a baseball fan since I was a little kid. My grandfather and father showed me how beautiful this game is and I do not want to see the pressures of society today change the integrity of the game. Also one final thought, if you run into Rob Manfred by any chance, tell him to read this blog because he needs all the help he can get.