With the start of the MLB postseason, it came to my mind an idea that has been talked about between baseball fans about the current format and a possible future change. No, the idea isn’t to have an expanded postseason you and I can agree that’s a bad idea, me, personally, I don’t wanna see the juggernaut 106 win Dodgers against the 83 losses Padres, neither you, unless you’re a San Diego fan.
The Change
What I’m suggesting it’s not a major change to the format itself, I think it’s good the way it is, 5 games for the Divisional Series, then best of 7 for both Championship and World series, that’s awesome, I love it, however 1 game for the Wildcard, it’s not enough for me, I want more, I want more postseason games, a best of 3 for the WC series would be incredible with 1 game at home of the lower seed and the next possible 2 at home of the higher seed.
This would push back the division series for few days to see the winners of each series giving some extra rest to the teams that already there while the winners of the wildcards are a little taxed for playing 2 possible 3 games at their maximum which could give the highest seed of each league an advantage at the start of the series.
MLB has been struggling with viewership for a few years and keeping the fans entertained, but having the most postseason games that you can give to the fans without making a major change to the format itself would be a fantastic idea in my opinion.
I think Manfred doesn’t believe enough in the product that he’s currently managing which is why I think MLB wants to end the season before they have to fight for viewers when the NBA and NFL are starting their seasons and with the fear they don’t reach the numbers of viewership that they want.
Can the MLB Evolve
I don’t know if Manfred is willing to make such a change, mostly because he’s been focusing on having a faster game, and trying to change the strategy of the game which is Strikeout or homer. I like it, it’s a change that I do every-time I start a new save on OOTP(Out of the Park Baseball) . It’s not too much but it isn’t too little either, a good balance. Going from 20 possible games of MLB postseason to 22 it’s something that a lot of fans would love to see, in this case, you could say the more the better.
The last time a change was made to the postseason format was in November of 2011 with a new collective bargaining agreement and the change was implemented in 2012, the current CBA expires on Dec.1 Will they talk about the postseason in this new agreement? I hope they do, but this isn’t a priority to be honest it’s a change that could be made but the current format works.
