MLB adds extra Wild Card (Rays fans rejoice)
"Now we don't just make it when the Red Sox screw up!!"
From USA Today-
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Major League Baseball, after month-long negotiations with the players union, will finalize the 2012 postseason format as soon as Thursday, expanding the playoffs by two teams.“We’ll have an answer in the next couple of days,” Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Players Association, told USA TODAY on Wednesday.
The expanded format was approved for 2013 in November, but Commissioner Bud Selig strongly pushed for the extra wild-card round to begin this year. The difficulty was trying to squeeze in the one-game, wild-card round playoff game, with the regular-season and World Series schedules already finalized.
It will be MLB’s first playoff expansion since 1995, adding a second wild-card team from each league. The winner of the one-game playoff between the two wild-card entrants will face the team with the league’s best record in the Division Series. The expansion is designed in part to place a greater reward to the six division winners. The St. Louis Cardinals were the fifth wild-card team to win the World Series since 1997, while 10 wild-card teams have won pennants. Division winners will avoid the one-game playoff in the new format.
“I really think it’s good,” Los Angeles Angels veteran pitcher Dan Haren said. “It would actually reward the team with the best record, and that team gets to play the wild card.”
The new postseason format will eliminate the rule that teams from the same division can no longer face one another in the first round. In fact, three teams could quality for the playoffs from the same division.
“I think we’re all hopeful,” said Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos. “Either way, it gives everybody more opportunity, but it’s still that much more important to win the American League East.”
Both the union and MLB have voiced a preference for adding extra wild cards in 2012, but have been negotiating details for integrating off days into this year’s format.
As much as this will almost guarantee the Red Sox making the playoffs every year I think it will be bad for baseball as a whole.
This new rule completely takes away the importance of the stretch run. If the second place team is five games ahead with four to go - what does it matter? The team in third has the other wild card locked up so they can just focus on getting their guys set for the one game playoff.
The one game playoff is a ridiculous concept in itself. As much fun as they may be to watch if you are the top Wild Card team you have to be pissed about this. All it takes is one pitcher going out and shoving or a hitter running into a ball for a team to advance. There's too much on the line in the playoffs to have it decided by one game and there are too many regular season games already - why make them matter even less?
Instituting this rule will create an atmosphere around the league like their was surrounding the Sox for years. Remember when the Yankees used to be 12 games up in September but the Red Sox were 12 up on the rest of the pack? Well get ready for a lot more of that talk in places like Tampa, Oakland and Minnesota.
Side note: Francona must be pissed. Missed it by that much, eh Tito?
