I also changed to referring to them as conferences, since the old American League and National League merged into Major League Baseball in 1999 with the elimination of league presidents and combining the umpires into one MLB group. They are really the American Conference and the National Conference, each with 15 teams, unfortunately composed of five team divisions, instead of 7-8 team divisions, a point I corrected in 2009.
My 2009 post was written before the addition of the second wild card when only four teams qualified in each "league".
MLB plotting playoff expansion — with reality TV twist
By Joel Sherman February 10, 2020 4:50pm nypost.com
MLB is seriously weighing a move from five to seven playoff teams in each league beginning in 2022, The Post has learned.
In this concept, the team with the best record in each league would receive a bye to avoid the wild-card round and go directly to the Division Series. The two other division winners and the wild card with the next best record would each host all three games in a best-of-three wild-card round. So the bottom three wild cards would have no first-round home games.
The division winner with the second-best record in a league would then get the first pick of its opponent from those lower three wild cards, then the other division winner would pick, leaving the last two wild cards to play each other.
________________________New ideas on playoff structure. Monday, October 12, 2009
One objective is to reward the teams with the best regular season records... They should get a bye. The only reason these silly playoff rounds exist is for MLB to make more money. OK, but the structure should be much more fair.
Eliminate the stupid wild card.
1. Reduce the number of divisions from three to two, east and west in each league; 7 or 8 teams in each division and play many more games in division.
2. Increase the number of playoff teams 50%, from four in each league to six, three in each division.
3. Reward the team with the best record in division with a bye, i.e., it does not play in the preliminary series.
4. Have teams 2 and 3 in each division play a three game preliminary series; game one in the home park of team 3, games 2 and 3 in the park of team 2.
5. In the five game division series, play game one in the park of the winner of the preliminary three game series; play the remaining four games in the park of the team with the best regular season record, i.e., the team that already won the division in the 162 game regular season...
It is more fair and easier to understand.
Geographic concentration would boost rivalries, reduce travel time and cost, and reduce time zone differences.
________________________
MLB: keeps idiotic five team divisions
me: change to 7-8 team divisions with more games in division.
MLB: 7 playoff teams in each league/conference
me: 6 playoff teams in each league/conference
MLB: bye for one team per league; two teams get byes.
me: bye for one team per 7-8 team division; four teams get byes.
MLB: eliminate one and done; three game series with all games in better team's park.
me: eliminate one and done; three game series with game one in lower team's park, then games 2 and 3 in better team's park.
MLB: "reality TV" type show in which higher teams pick opponents.
me: hadn't thought of that but I like a team picking its opponent.
The biggest plus about my plan is that it changes from five team divisions to 7-8 team divisions (there are 30 teams, 15 in each conference).
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