Some have suggested a 3 game series

Some have suggested 2 games with the higher seeded team only needing 1 win.


What say you?

I'd like to see the regular season shortened and have the post-season start a week earlier than it already does. The Wild Card teams would go best out of 3 with the higher seed getting the last two games at home.

I just don't see owners giving up regular season games and the revenue that goes along with them though.

Go back to the way it was. 3 division winners, one wild card. Top seed plays the Wild Card regardless of if that team is from their division or not.

If you go to a 156 game season, then yes two Wild Card teams play a 3 game series. Top seed gets first two games at home, 2nd one is a day game with the 3rd game being at the lower seed the following evening. Just like the regular season, you play 3 games in row. Then the winner gets one or two days off (depending on how the schedule shakes out) before the Division Series begins.

MLB had and NFL has their playoffs right. Its an accomplishment to make the playoffs in those sports. In the NHL and NBA you can barely be around .500 and make the playoffs.

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Id shorten the playoffs by getting rid of days off during series.


It would be more like real baseball. Play 5 or 7 days straight. 1-2 days off between series.

The way it is now you almost get penalized for having a deep rotation. Or at the very least a strength is marginalized.

September would have been significantly less exciting this year under these rules.


I like the 2nd wild card.

Don't touch the wild card game. That has to be my favorite development in playoff baseball. Creates thrilling entertainment, and offers the perfect penalty for not winning your division.

Completely agree with removing travel days. But I would allow 4 days off between the actual series. Let both teams set their rotation and start rested. Considering some teams are considering a 6 man rotation, why would your playoffs have you remove 40-50% of your starting pitchers. Why not let teams skip their 7,8,9 hitters while you are at it. It's essentially the same thing letting you use your stars as much as possible.

Agreed. I think one off day per series is fine. Maybe two during the World Series.

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The 1 game playoff is awesome.

The only reason people are discussing this is because god forbid the Yankees lose tonight. Same thing happened with the Cubs in 15 until they won it and then everyone stopped talking about it. No one talked about it last season.

It's partially the Yankee thing but also the disparity between the teams. This is the first year in a while that it's been more than 1-2 games.


Here is what Rosenthal wrote. I love the doubleheader idea, that's great.


Rosenthal: If Yankees or D-Backs lose, expect wild-card outrage—and calls for change; more news and notes

Ken Rosenthal
1 hour ago
Hoo boy, imagine the reaction if the heavily-favored New York Yankees lose the American League wild-card game to the Minnesota Twins tonight. The reservations many fans, players, and executives share about a 162-game season boiling down to a one-game play-in will burst out, fueling coast-to-coast debate and setting social media aflame.

Baseball would face immediate pressure to expand the wild-card round and prevent other superior regular-season teams from suffering similar fates. A new format also could include what Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz and many others in the game believe is necessary—a fairer, more rigorous wild-card round that would ultimately provide a greater reward for division champions.

Fans outside of New York would howl in protest over a so-called “Yankee rule,” accusing baseball of kowtowing to the television networks that, in search of higher ratings, want to show the Yankees as often as possible. I work for one of those networks, FOX, and yes, business is better when the Yankees are involved. But outrage will be just as warranted if the Arizona Diamondbacks lose to the Colorado Rockies in the National League wild-card game on Wednesday night.

Both the Yankees and D-Backs won six more regular-season games than their wild-card opponents—the Yankees finished with 91 victories, the Twins 85; the D-Backs had 93 wins, the Rockies 87. Only once since the inception of the wild-card round in 2012 has the spread between wild-card opponents been as large, when the Atlanta Braves won 94 games to the St. Louis Cardinals’ 88 that first year, and lost the one-game knockout, 6-3.

In each of the past six wild-card games—one in each league over the last three years—the difference in victories between the wild-card opponents has been one or zero. No real disparity, no cause for complaint. But the other issue with the wild-card game—that it is not enough of a hindrance for the participants—is a constant concern no matter what the final standings say.

Travis Sawchik of The Athletic recently wrote on Fangraphs about the two-game, wild-card round used by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO); the higher seed needs to win only one game to advance, while the lower seed must win two. Joel Sherman of the New York Post expanded the concept, arguing for the wild-card round to remain one game only if the participants finished within four games of each other; otherwise, the round would follow the Korean format, giving the superior team the edge yet preserving drama for the networks.

Neither concept would extend the postseason, particularly if baseball employed a doubleheader and play the two games in one day. Smoltz, FOX’s lead analyst, offers additional suggestions—a best-of-three with a doubleheader on the second day or a best-of-three played on consecutive days. Either way, the off-day before the start of the Division Series would be removed, putting the wild-card winner at a major disadvantage with its pitching for the next round.

Think about it: If the Twins eliminated the Yankees by beating them twice, no one could rightly say the Yankees did not have a good enough opportunity to win. But if the Twins win a one-game elimination and/or the Rockies knock off the D-Backs, complaints will be justified, and not just from the networks. A team with six more wins than its opponent in the regular season should get a bigger break in the wild-card round.

I know what some of you are thinking: Ken, you would not be writing this if it were the Rays playing the Twins and not the Yankees. I’d like to believe otherwise; the circumstances would be unfair no matter who was playing. If the Twins pull off the upset tonight baseball will get the uproar it deserves—and needs.

Play both wildcard games on Tuesday after the season ends. Start the playoffs on Wednesday.

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Cancel the playoffs. Declare the champion to be the one who wins the most regular season games.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Some soccer leagues are like that, I think.

I've never heard of anyone complain about a 10-6 NFL wildcard team needing a handicap against an 8-8 squad.

Win your damn game. 1 and done.

There's zero chance the regular season is shortened. The owners would want nothing to do with that, and the players wouldn't want that either. Stats would fall off in all categories. There's no reason to have 4 days off after the regular season ends.

Move to a 3 game series for the wild card that runs Monday through Wednesday. If a 1 game playoff is needed to decided who gets in, then play that on Monday, with a double header on Tuesday for the wild card series. Wild card teams should not be rewarded with multiple days off for not winning their division. There are stretches in the regular season where weeks are played without an off day, and the postseason can have a short stretch as well.

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I like the DH idea. Why not penalize the second WC team by making them win an extra game?

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

No sympy from me if Yankees and Dbacks lose. Both teams did not win their division. They're lucky to even have this opportunity.

It's perfect how it is. Have the two top teams who didn't win their division duke it out in a single elimination where they use their ace and are at a disadvantage for the next round.

I love it. It is a huge upgrade from just one wildcard team and needs no further tweaking. With this we are guaranteed at least two Game 7's in a sense.

I agree we need less off days in the playoffs but as far as the Wildcard games go, leave it alone.

Seed the playoffs and if the division winners are 4 and 5 make them do the one game playoff.

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Yeah, they're wild card teams, suck it up. The Yankees and Dbax only won 93 and 91 games, it's not like they won 97 as the 2nd wild card.

That was the year to make the case. 2 of the top 3 teams in MLB were guaranteed to be eliminated before the LCS

I also think it's perfect as is. It provides a reward to the division winner (as the WC teams have to burn their best pitcher) and making it a best-of-three would tip that reward too far the other way in my opinion...and of course, drag out the season even more.

The only other scenario I think would be good is if you had just one WC team but then gave the division winner a one-game head start (so they would start the best-of-seven series up 1 game to 0).

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How about only the 5 teams who made the playoffs had a winning record in the AL.

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In a thread full of bad ideas, this might be the worst.

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Quintana would still find a way to lose that one.

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I prefer this over what we have.

I say- best of 3 wildcard series at the higher seed's park. Go Mon-Wed. Start the playoffs on Friday. Quit staggering games. Baseball is a regional game. Keep an afternoon game but put night games on at the same time. Baseball fans can flip channels.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Japan already does this.

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It would be some bullshit to have the 2 wild card teams tie at 88 wins and force 1 to win a double header on the road. Fuck the yankees, they already get home field advantage.

If they go the doubleheader route, I add a third wild card team into the mix and have another do-or-die game in a day night double header.

Having a game where only 1 team can be eliminated is stupid. On the other hand, I can't have enough 1 game series.

Best of 11 series, 3 innings each game, played over 3 days.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

They also sleep in tiny, stacked cubicles all the time. Have you ever seen the business hotels in Tokyo?

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I think you're mixing a couple ideas here but as for the top seed needs 1 win, lower seed needs 2, Ive seen it suggested that you only enact this when there is a 5 game lead or more.

The two top teams from each league meet in a best of 21 played over 21 consecutive days.