The 2020 MLB season looks like nothing we’ve ever seen in the sport’s century-plus history. A 60-game schedule with 28-man rosters, frequent seven-inning doubleheaders, a universal DH and runners magically manifesting on the bases in extra innings have all been chalked up as necessities to get through a pandemic-shortened season that had a limited ramp-up period and was set to take place in a span of just 67 days. This year’s 16-team playoff field was implemented as a means to help curb some of the broad-reaching revenue losses that have hit all 30 clubs.
Unsurprisingly, however, it seems as though MLB is mulling the permanent implementation of some of these aspects. Speaking at an online event hosted by Hofstra University this week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he hopes to make the expanded postseason format permanent, adding that he believes the opposition to the universal DH is waning and stating that the extra-inning rule has been received better than he anticipated (YouTube link to the entire 71-minute appearance).
“I’m a fan of the expanded playoffs,” Manfred said of this year’s 16-team field. “…I think getting back to that three-game series in the first round is a positive change. I think the initial round could have the kind of appeal you see in the early couple days in the NCAA tournament. It’s going to be crazy — just a lot of baseball in a compressed period of time. We’re going to have a bracket, obviously. People love brackets and love picking who’s going to come through those brackets. I think there’s a lot to commend it. It is one of those changes that I hope becomes a permanent part of our landscape.”
Nothing is set in stone on that front just yet, but the concept of an expanded playoff structure had been discussed and was generally supported by the “overwhelming majority” of owners prior to this year’s implementation, per Manfred.
Postseason expansion has indeed been floated speculatively in the past, although pushing all the way to 16 teams was an even more radical jump than ownership initially sought in return-to-play negotiations. Back in March, the league was reportedly looking at a 14-team structure, although that presumably would’ve served as a gateway to the 16-team format that is now in place. It’s also odd to tie the three-game Wild Card series to postseason expansion, as the league could simply have pushed the existing, sudden-death Wild Card Game into a three-game series without adding more teams to the field.
The league can spin the reasoning however it chooses, positioning the broadened structure as a win for fans — that surely is the case in many instances — but the ultimate goal is the greatly increased revenue associated with extra postseason play. With or without fans in attendance, adding six teams to the field will cause television revenue to soar. It’s been reported that this year’s expansion could generate $200-300MM in additional television revenue, and the potential for broadened gate revenue in subsequent seasons only creates further incentive for teams to endorse the larger field.
Manfred wasn’t so straightforward with his own personal endorsement of the universal designated hitter, but he strongly implied that he feels the on-field product is enhanced by the DH in the National League.
“I think that playing with the designated hitter every day, the best I could tell you right now, has softened the opposition to the DH in the National League,” said Manfred. “The experience of doing it, the offense that it injects into the game, the way it makes it more exciting — I’m not sure it’s going to last, but I do think it has definitely changed some minds in the National League, which is obviously where the opposition to having a single set of rules has been centered over the years.”
Regarding the most radical rule change in 2020, Manfred suggested that placing a runner on second base in extra innings not only has a chance to stick beyond 2020 but has been well-received to this point. The concept has been polarizing, at best, among fans on social media — MLBTR readers were against it four-to-one back in June, though that was of course before seeing it put into practice — and has also been panned by some players.
“The extra-inning rule has been more positively received than I would have expected,” said the commissioner. “I told people, I said publicly before Covid, that I didn’t see this rule coming to the Major Leagues. I think it has a chance now. It’s been good. People see it as a strategic rule. It’s a whole different thought process that goes into handling the extra innings. I think it’s a good thing.”
Not every rule change is likely to stay in place. Manfred cast doubt on whether seven-inning doubleheaders would remain in place beyond the 2020 season, characterizing the traditional nine-inning length of games as something that isn’t likely to be altered on a permanent basis.
Looking further down the road, Manfred again touched on the topic of expansion to 32 teams. The commissioner has long been a proponent of adding two new teams to the league but acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic — the revenue losses and the time dedicated to navigating a season amid it — have likely pushed expansion down the road a ways.
“Expansion makes great sense for baseball, just based on the math,” said Manfred. “Fours work way better than fives. We have five-team divisions right now, 15 teams in each league. Those fives are rough when you go to make a schedule. … Getting to 32 [teams] is a really appealing idea from a schedule format perspective.”
Manfred didn’t delve into potential sites for new teams, though he did go back to a previously stated belief that international expansion beyond the U.S. and Canada would be good for the game’s growth, citing Mexico’s existing baseball culture as a “great opportunity” for the league to explore at some point.
Eventual changes to the rulebook, the structure of the season and the very composition of the league have long felt inevitable, but it’s certainly notable that the league has implemented this many changes to the 2020 season with the looming expiration of the 2016-21 collective bargaining agreement. The impending negotiations on a new CBA undoubtedly played a role in the MLBPA’s decision to only agree to expanded playoffs in 2020, as the expanded format can now be a point of leverage in future negotiations rather than the status quo heading into those talks.
Even if some of the league’s desired changes for the 2021 season don’t come to fruition on the heels of this year’s experimental campaign, don’t be surprised if (or when) they are once again major talking points as MLB and the MLBPA again come to the negotiating table in a year’s time.
This would be the worst thing to happen to baseball since Rob Manfred became commissioner. Teams will have zero incentive to improve or spend or trade. You’re going to kill the sport.
It all comes down to $ of course. Short sighted non-sense, and I expect nothing different.
Why would they have zero incentive if more can get in?
Because the playoffs is basically a crap shoot so why bother spending to be a top team in the regular season when you can just eek in with mediocrity and hope for a hot streak. Expanded playoffs will likely kill my interest in the sport.
What’s really a crapshoot is a three-game playoff. The only way I’d accept an expanded playoff schedule is if only the wildcard teams had to play them.
Absolutely correct. I’ll acknowledge I’m a dinosaur among fans, but what made MLB special vs other sports was that it’s long regular season was more than a seeding exercise. Teams under .500 should not qualify. Eight of 15/league is radical and makes MLB look like NBA/NHL wannabes. If that’s the desire, let’s abandon the 162 game regular season. 80 – 82 is plenty.
First place teams should get a bye for the first round. The problem there is there’s 3 divisions per league, odd number. Maybe we should go back to two divisions, give the winners of each a bye, and make the other 6 teams wild cards (which makes more sense than having 2nd place trophies).
Personally what I’d like to see is actual differentiation between the leagues. Minimal or no interleague play. Make the NL use traditional rules and the AL use every new idea Manfred wants to throw at the wall. I miss being able to watch multiple styles of baseball. No chance of that though.
This is right. Wildcards should play each other in 3 game elimination series, then on to division winners.
Why should the AL get stuck with all of Rob’s idiotic ideas?
DH, no DH, just play the same game in both leagues.
I kinda have always liked the slightly different rules for each league. Remember, the leagues began as entirely separate entities that only met at the end of the season for a “world series” ( really a national series) . I like it that way.
Owners would love to be able to “Naaaaah. I don’t have to spend $230 million to play .500 ball and make the playoffs.”
It can work the other way also, maybe a select few teams won’t be as interested in spending into the luxury tax but more teams might be willing to spend a little more in free agency if they think it’ll be the difference of making the playoffs in the expanded format and essentially throwing their fans a bone
lmao they would actually have more incentive to improve.
They wouldn’t have extra incentive at all. If you can get in the playoffs as a mediocre team why spend the extra money to dominate a diluted, practically meaningless regular season? Baseball, more than any sport, is a situation where any team can beat any other team in a short season. If the playoffs expand like this, I’m out.
Bye
There’s the door, Cosmodeus.
Yea, thanks for the input
No, they wouldn’t.
Here’s a Fangraphs analysis of what happens to playoff odds if the new format becomes standard.
blogs.fangraphs.com/expanded-playoffs-discourage-g…
Great teams have a lower chance of winning the World Series. Mediocre teams have both a better chance of making the playoffs and winning it all. Star players become less valuable because you don’t need many (any) stars to win 85-ish games.
Since divisional play started, many seasons would have been MORE exciting if there was still just an AL and NL champ who met for the series. There have been years when 7-8 teams are within a game or two of each other for the best league record in mid-September.
It’s not exactly a monumental change. The idea that no team is really more than 15% to win the World Series even under previous rules shows that the playoffs are a crapshoot. Always have been. This is a pretty small change in the odds and shouldn’t stand in the way of making change that helps make baseball relevant in August and September for so many more teams.
This would be terrible. Expanding permanently to 16 teams would totally devalue the regular season. Baseball was always about surviving the long season. Might as well just make it 80 games going forward.
Th best thing is leave it at 10 teams, and make the wildcard round (4 vs 5 seed) a 2 out of 3 series. As the article suggested.
If you want fair, crown whoever wins the most games — playoffs were always unfair to the best team and we’ve seen many obviously deeply inferior teams come away as world champs. But if you want the entertainment of nearly every fan getting to watch their team play meaningful games into September, this works.
Maybe someone can make an alternate trophy for the best team.
Sounds like you’re just a fan of a team with terrible ownership. I’m sorry about that but not every team deserves to make the playoffs.
I have read through most comments and seems everyone has missed 2 key points that pose a risk to the game .
1- Teams tanking to get better in the future .
I’m a Jays fan and i have watched them since i was a kid and they came into the league. Had to suffer from 92-015 with them being a good team each year but never good enough to make the playoffs but never bad enough to get high draft picks.
Teams now all seem to want to avoid this ” stuck in no-mans land” and tank . That kills fan interest big time.
2- MLB has the oldest fan base of any sport.
To thrive it has to attract younger fans .
Someone else mentioned this but i like the idea of 14 teams- strikes a good balance of rewarding teams for 162 game schedule but also gives teams hope that they can compete year in and year out without having to tank. Each division winner gets a first round bye, the 4 wild cards play best 2/3.
For the purist to stick his/her head in the sand or howl at the moon is neglecting the reality facing today’s game. Alot more competition for those entertainment $$.
When the purists version of sticking their heads in the sand is to abandon the sport, how does that help the bottom line? This idea that baseball is in dire trouble in the future is a myth. You know this how? Because folks with ulterior motives (owners) say so?
Declining overall attendance might be one clue if you bothered to look, Teams tanking are another,
Howl away cosmo howl away.
A best-of-three Wild Card format would mean at least a 5 day layoff for those teams earning a bye. That is a reward which could backfire in the postseason. In order to avoid this happening only a 16, 8, 4 or 2 team playoff format works.
For this reason alone, I not only favor the expanded 16 team format but also a longer Wild Card round that would at least be a best-of-five with all other series becoming a best-of-seven. This set up ought to give an advantage to teams with the best regular season records who normally win the 162 game marathon season with more talented rosters that include deeper rotations and stronger bullpens. All this would not significantly increase the number of days needed to complete a postseason but if concerns regarding poor weather in late October become an issue then a shorter regular season to the former 154 game schedule could be considered.
A bye awaiting a 3 game series is no different then a team sweeping in a 7 game awaiting the winner that goes 7.
The wait could easily be limited to 4 days and allow the bye teams to set up their rotation better, rest banged up guys etc thus providing added benefit to the bye and extra incentive to win the division.
We all know that is not happening. Even this year MLB has staggered the best-of-three Wild Card Round by having the AL begin on Tuesday and the NL on Wednesday in order to limit the amount of days that 8 games and all 16 teams play on the same day.
My biggest gripe remains the extended bye for teams entering the playoffs with the best regular season records. This doesn’t happen in the NBA and NHL which also has a longer opening round in order to make it less likely a #8 seed defeats a #1 seed, something that has rarely occurred. A bye makes more sense and are a proper rewarding incentive in the NFL because of the violent nature of the game and its higher rate of injuries.
It makes less sense in the other sports and even more so in baseball where teams with the best record generally have the ability to rest their players down the stretch after clinching their top seeds early. The main reason the bye is a bad idea is that it plays havoc with the starting rotations of those best teams. Most starters prefer working on a regular routine with 4 days of rest between starts. An extended bye would effect that routine which could be especially harmful for your TOR pitchers.
Bottom line: I prefer the expanded format over byes. I also prefer longer series over shorter ones. No more one-and-done wild card games. Replace that series with a best-of-five or better yet make all series a best-of-seven and shorten the regular season if need be. If the 16-team format is too much, I’d revert back to the 8 team format. The overriding factor is to have every playoff team playing at the conclusion of the regular season and eliminate byes.
You make some valid points especially about the pitching.
One of the big problems i see is the emergence of 3-4 Super teams and half the league tanking, The “purists” on here seem to want to ignore the harm that is doing to the game.
Half the league tanklng is an overstatement.
If we use 70 wins as the cutoff for tanking, there were only 8 tankers in 2018 and 7 in 2019. Some of those didn’t so much throw in the towel as radically misjudge the talent on their roster.
There are better ways to discourage it than throwing the playoffs wide open. There’s also a legit question as to whether it SHOULD be discouraged. I’d rather my team lose 95 games for 2-3 years if that sets them up to win 88+ for the next five than have them be consistently mediocre.
There are other ways, though being in the playoff races is easily the best and most progressive.
how would the second round work?
What are you talking about? This trade deadline alone was full of big name trades…if anything this incentives’ all the teams in mlb because almost everyone has a chance and it all but eliminates the idea of tanking
Big names….my Padres landed three of the biggest, Clevinger, Nola, and Rosenthal. .
Next biggest name….Marte? Maybe La Stella, in terms of a guy who was doing great, or Jose Martinez, if its name-recognition. After that it’s a bunch of bit parts and relievers and I Really Hope He Stops Sucking SP. It was anything BUT a mad scramble by every potential playoff team to improve. The leaders mostly sat on their hands and so did most of the teams fighting for the last few spots.
Now that could be both a product of “we don’t need to be great to get in” and “this is a weird flippin’ year, let’s not do anything crazy.” But give ANY business the chance for a reward (playoffs) without risk (acquiring players). be ready to watch them keep the money / prospects and soldier on. Expect lots of “We like the team we built” and “we didn’t want to change the chemistry.”
Even if more teams were interested in buying at the deadline, the expanded playoffs REDUCES the number of sellers. You’ll have the agile teams, Cleveland, Tampa. who are comfortable adding and subtracting while competing..But with 16 potential buyers and only 14 possible sellers, there’s simply a smaller pool. Because it’s easier to make the playoffs, the sellers may decide to hold anybody they control. A couple cheap tweaks, some better luck, and maybe they’re buying next year.
This year there are just as many teams with a sub=430 winning percentage, which gets you to 70 wins in a full season, as there usually are. Didn’t seem to affect “tanking.”
Manfred needs to resign.
There is a robust market for spending on off season free agents and acquiring players at the trade deadline in the NBA and NHL which have had 16 team postseason formats for a long time now. Additionally, each of those sports have more stringent spending limitations in place due to salary caps and revenue sharing which has yet to occur in MLB to the same extent. Baseball has a much less restrictive luxury tax system in place and doesn’t have the same revenue sharing system seen in those other sports.
What if each league had an 8-team field as proposed here, but division winners started their wild-card series with one win already notched? Seems like a pretty meaningful reward for winning your division.
tbh I think baseball is overly transactional at the deadline and it leads to the boom and bust that makes teams imminently watchable or completely unwatchable – for that reason I kinda like the expanded playoffs in that it will lessen transactions in order to boost playoff odds and will probably push traansactions to the offseason and during the season rather than at the deadline since the pool of players are thinner and there are more teams that can move on.
NO, NO, NO! Back when I watched it was whoever won the AL played the NL best of 7. Too much money grubbing going on! It’s potentiallt boring!
*potentialy*
simple solution- don’t watch.
The 60’s aren’t coming back.
Most likely won’t watch, watered down playoffs don’t interest me.
Booooo save baseball from manfred
The owners love him.
and that’s basically how it is with commissioners. they’re always going to be an embodiment of the ownership of the league as a whole. anyone who thinks otherwise doesnt understand how the power structure in sports leagues works. any commisioner change – baseball or otherwise – would be a PR stunt.
Doesn’t change how radical manfred is
Manfred isn’t radical anymore than the owners are radical. He’s their mouthpiece. When he says “people” like a new rule or format, he means ownership likes it. Those are the only people with whom he actually communicates because they are the only ones with the power to hire and fire him.
Correction. The cheapskate, never spend a dime owners love him and imagine that’s his powerbase and owners wanting this ridiculous 16 team playoff permanent.
Expected, but still terrible. Sub-.500 teams should not be making the playoffs.
Who’s sub .500 making playoffs this year?
The Astros could go under .500 and make the playoffs because they are “second” in their division. Personally, I’m fine with sixteen teams getting in if Manfred changes which sixteen teams get in. Personally, I would have it where the best eight records in each league gets in.
In a normal season where you play every team in the league, I would be more inclined agree with you. But in a year like this where teams are ONLY playing within their division you pretty much have to take the top 2. The NL Central and AL West have much tougher schedules than other divisions simply because the AL Central and NL West are so strong. The only way I would agree with your idea would be if divisions were basically just abolished and every team played the exact same schedule or as near as possible to the exact same schedule.
The NL central is a joke
What makes the NLC a joke? Aside from the Pirates, it’s a pretty decent, all-around group of teams that constantly beat up on each other while also playing against the toughest AL division. No other division in baseball has such a tight competition in the standings. Not everybody gets the benefit of playing against the relatively weak ALW.
Padres fans sure are cocky for a team that won 69 games last year and haven’t won anything ever.
Hiflew
You neglect a few facts.
1- Teams only play their counterpart division 20 times.
2-There are only 3 divisions that have 3 teams each above .500 AL-E. NL-E
and AL-C .
So the standings show the AL and NL east teams have the toughest schedules,
1- 2 is not a few, it is a couple.
2- 20 times is a full 33% of the season. Seems significant.
3- It doesn’t necessarily mean the East are tougher divisions. It can means there are a couple of bottom feeders that everyone else is basically a .500 team. Can’t really tell until the divisions start mingling.
20 is 50% less then 40 and you made your statement of who had the toughest scheduled based on who in the opposite league had the best record, this isn’t logical. You don’t base a schedule difficulty only on 1/3 the games, you base it on the full slate of games.
Whenever sports writers discuss difficulty of schedule they base it on how many teams above or below .500 any particular team face.
FYI- seeing how you made a point of bring it up.
the actual dictionary definition of “a few” is, “not many but more than one.” So, “a few” cannot be one, but it can be as low as two.
Who’s the second team.in the NL Central?
The giants, Astros, S.t Louis and Phillies are sub 500 and going to the playoffs. I’m tired of watching Manfred ruin the game it’s fun watching the top teams complete for a playoff spot now anyone makes the playoffs. He’s such a horrible commissioner and hope that baseball gets a new one
Doesn’t matter, can’t have 55%-60% of teams getting in on a 162 game season. There is no point then to the long regular season.
who cares? if they really are midling they should get bounced in the 1st round anyway.
And if they aren’t bounced doesn’t everyone love an underdog run?
No, the idea of an 83-win team getting hot for several games and advancing to the World Series after playing mediocre baseball for 162 isn’t appealing to me.. The only changes I’d make to the post season are three or five game wild card series. 2020 is the exception.
The 83 win 2006 Cardinals did that under the old system.
Agreed. But I would do a 3 game series for the two wildcards, because with 5 you’d have the division winners sitting around too long to start their series.
Yeah, but I would like to note that it was essentially the same team that won 205 games from 2004-05. They had a lot of injuries in 2006. They were lucky to get into the playoffs, for sure, but they were better than their record that year.
KC used to win the AL West just about every year playing barely .500 while near 100 win teams in Baltimore and Boston went home in the AL East, so there is a flip side to how it’s been done in 2019 and prior with allowing 2-3 WC teams per league.
It’s the “participation trophy” system of having 16 teams that is poisonous to baseball and total nonsense, not to mention even thinking of adding 2 more teams when contraction would make more sense.
The 1973 New York Mets are another example of a barely .500 team making it to the playoffs and then doing well in the post-season.
They only won 82 games in the regular season, and then defeated the Cincinnati Reds (who had won 99 games) in the fifth and deciding game for the National League pennant.
Then they played the Oakland A’s (who had won 94 games) and took them to Game 7 of the World Series before losing the Series 4 games t0 3.
That was the middle season of Oakland’s three consecutive World Series Championships in ’72, ’73. and ’74.
Baseball is highly random. The best teams still only win like 65% of their games, compared to ~80% in the other sports. Letting bad teams into the playoffs invalidates the regular season and opens up the opportunity for lady luck to give the bad teams a chance.
That said, I like a 14-team playoff, because that way there is still an incentive to be great and not just “good enough” because of that bye. The idea that the Dodgers and the Giants will go into the playoffs on equal footing is honestly sickening.
Cardinals might not even play 60 games. And are currently 21-22.
It’s worth noting that if this were to happen the playoffs would likely go into Mid-late November when it’s like 20-30 degrees out…
does it even get that cold in Minnesota on a regular basis in November?
Have you considered asking what the average highs/low in Minneapolis are?
Not as cold as December/ January but it’s cold
Manfred is terrible. The players hate him. The fans hate him. He is the worst.
He also is a fan of Right Twix. Get him out.
Never thought we’d get a worse commissioner than Bud Selig. Manfred is 10 fold worse
Of course Manfred is a fan of expanding the playoffs permanently. It’s a terrible idea, and he absolutely adores terrible ideas. I wish baseball would get a different Commissioner
Nfl and the nba have more viewership because of the additional pöayoff spots
But they have 80 game seasons. Can’t compare it
I just did. More playoffspots more competitiveness late in the summer more people watching.
Nope. It takes away the excitement of watching the top teams compete for a spot, so decreases the incentive for their fans to watch games as their teams will have their spot locked up by mid July. Also, diehard fans like myself will completely abandon the sport which will be a shell of itself. Have fun catering to fly-by-night fans, who are less likely to stick around. Goodbye baseball.
It totally defeats the purpose then of a 162 game season. That’s more playoff teams % wise than the other sports. It’s ridiculous.
Agreed. It def takes away from the excitement for the top teams. There is no incentive for them to win the division or just coast and get to 500 as the 8th seed.
Watch out all – is Manfred going to reduce the 162 game season so he can implement this ridiculous, watered down playoff nonsense & squeeze it into one season? I understand the NFL ‘s playoff stand because they only play a 16 game season. & every game is crucial & I enjoy the extra games. Doesn’t work for BBall.
Unlikely. Every regular season is Money. The expanded playoffs is just More Money.
No
162 games is already an interminably long regular season in modern times that gives absolutely zero urgency to watch regular season games for all but the most ardent baseball fans (sorry diehard fans, but it’s true). Doing this would make the regular season games even less meaningful
teams that act like regular season games are meaningless are the ones that lose their division by a few games after they slouched to start the season. wins have always added up. the mantra that these games dont count is foolish. the Nats had to have a Herculean run after their early dip to even make the playoffs last year.
That’s a once in a lifetime type of scenario the Nats accomplished. Personally, I’d be fine with a 100 game season.
that’s my point though. 9999/10000 times that comeback falls short. that’s why winning games early should be considered just as important as winning them later on.
Right but that was with 5 teams getting in. If it’s 8 teams getting in then they would not have needed a Herculean effort to get in. Ridiculous to expand playoffs that much.
I watch every single one of my teams regular season games.
And those games will significantly decrease in importance if Manfred has his way.
I’m for a 365 game long season. If you find baseball interminable, go watch something else.
At least give the nl the permanent dh then
I vote no.
Or, instead, don’t
Hell naw. Zzzzz
Also, still hate the NL DH. That hasn’t changed, Robbie. Just begrudgingly accepted it this year because it was the path to baseball.
after seeing it on my team for the first time I dont get the appeal. id take the novelty of the pitcher hitting and the double switch over adding a 9th best hitter on the team to the lineup any day.
If your team’s DH is the 9th best hitter than your team is using the DH spot incorrectly. The novelty of a pitcher hitting is worth nothing once you can add actual hitting depth to the lineup with a DH.
NL teams scored runs before the DH this year, honest. We got offense WHILE getting to see double switches and fundamental baseball. We don’t need pinball baseball.
you don’t get my point. the DH isnt the 9th best hitter, but adding a 9th hitter slot to the order effectively means slotting in the next best hitter who isnt a starter. that’s not going to always be the 9th best hitter, but there arent enough guys who are entirely unplayable in the field (no i dont mean guys like Hosmer or Bohm, i mean guys like Ortiz or Cruz who arent ever going to be asked to field) that would make that player in question a top handful hitter in your lineup.
That’s not how NL teams had been built though so I get what they’re saying. Obviously AL teams plan for the DH spot. They sign guys that can play the field and if they are hampered by injuries or age but they can still hit they’re plugged into the DH role. NL teams didn’t have the luxury of preparing for that and normally don’t sign decent hitters who don’t field.
That’s also because it’s their 9th best hitter now when the DH was added in after the team was already in place. If the DH is added early in the off-season teams can structure their rosters accordingly, via trades or free agency. Something they really couldn’t do this year.
Gross. Someone get this clown out of office.
Thanks for the update, Commish.
The extra inning rule is also a gimmicky pile of steaming hot 3 week old garbage.
The extra-inning rule has been fabulous. It has brought back the excitement, strategy, and small ball that many fans claim has been missing from the sport. When extra innings came along prior to 2020, people tended to look at the clock and decide how much longer they wanted to watch or stay at the ballpark. Now they want to stick around for fear of missing the real action.
my issue is the artificiality of it. if the team that would have won after 11,12,15,20 innings isnt the team that wins in 10 with the new rule, then it’s artifically changing the game’s outcome and that’s not okay in my mind.
Agree 100% Cey Hey. I understood the need at the time it was announced but was sure I’d hate it. I was way wrong.
Joe Says, I hated it up until the first moment I saw it in a game. Now I love it. Edge-of-the-seat excitement and strategic considerations for those fans that think baseball.
I get your point about more strategy and excitement, but I hate the new extra inning rule and I don’t think it’s the best way to accomplish that. A lot of that starts at an early age because young players are conditioned to sell out for power and no one tries to steal bases anymore.
Personally, I think the game needs more base stealers. I’m too young to have been alive during the Rickey Henderson/Vince Coleman days (I’m 22), but even prime Jose Reyes/Chone Figgins would be an upgrade over now. I obviously love guys hitting dingers, but I like the idea of actually stealing bases and bunting.
Michael. You make a great point. It use to be that teams had different types of guys in the lineup. High on base guys, speed guys, sluggers etc. Now everyone swing from their heels trying to hit homers and line ups are more one dimensional..
15 yrs ago a .220 hitter wouldn’t be tolerated.
No. Just no.
while id prefer to not have it, im hardly as opinionated on it as some of the people who act like this is the worst thing that could happen to the sport are.
Don’t get why people hate it. It’s such a weird take when literally every other sport half the teams make playoffs. I don’t get why people think it’s okay to sell the farm just to compete for a wild card GAME 1 game what’s the point to play all those games invest all those hours as fan to maybe get the shot to get a shot at a 5 game series
Because the regular season matters so much more in baseball and the regular season has so many games. By expanding the playoffs, it makes the regular season less valuable and invalidates the hard core fans who follow their team and the game across the entire season.
it makes the regular season more valuable because teams arent eliminated in june
The point of playing all those games is to figure out who the best teams are and reward them accordingly. It doesn’t make sense to play 162 games that can be undone by a highly volatile 3 game series.
It’s always been that way regardless of the format. The team with the best record in the majors rarely wins the World Series. Having the best record doesn’t actually mean the best team. That team could be playing in a terrible division. They might be a team with mediocre talent that just happened to stay healthy and got good years out of a lot of players (fluke). The game itself is highly volatile.
EXACTLY.
It’s all about the # of games per season. You can be a really good football team and finish at or just above .500. Couple breaks either way can massively impact your record. .
After 162 games, we know who the best MLB teams are. Good and bad breaks, injuries, cold and hot streaks, they all tend to even out.
I’d be happier going back to just the AL vs NL champs than keeping this expanded nonsense.
I hate when people say this, 90% of fans have no memory of this time in baseball. Also there was like 14 teams.
Heading straight to the Championship Series was still a thing in 1993, when there were 28 teams competing for four spots, Then the Division Series, a previous one-off, returned and doubled the playoff field to a whopping 8 teams.
You’re thinking of the time when winning the pennant was simply by finishing with the best record in the league, and that team would advance immediately to the World Series. This ended in 1969 with the LCS being introduced, and there were 24 teams in MLB at the time.
I personally like baseball because the season acts as a crucible, it generally does weed out the pretenders from the contenders. I also like that the playoff spots are 33% of the leagues, putting that much more importance on games down the stretch. I don’t mind this year’s format for this year, as the 60 game season doesn’t give all teams a chance to hit their stride. There have been some good teams that scuffled along for half the year, only to turn it on and turn it around, including last year’s champs. But I really don’t like the idea of the 3 game series, except perhaps between the 2 wild cards each normal year. But I actually like the single elimination WC games a lot, I look forward to them every year.
I just don’t want over half the league getting into the postseason, like in the NBA, which is such a player driven league, meaning the lowest seeds rarely advance. I don’t know that expanded playoffs in MLB will mean 7 and 8 seeds will start knocking off 1 and 2 seeds, but it’s more likely than in the NBA.
It will happen a lot, count on it. Any team can win two out of three, a lot more easily than three out of five, and way more easily than five out of seven.
Maybe they should eliminate divisions and the unbalanced schedule.
All the other sports that have as many playoff teams don’t play as many games, that’s why people hate it for baseball.
PitcherMeRolling – I 100% agree. I would be ok with a 3 game series in the single wildcard round (4 vs 5).
People have been saying this-and-that is killing baseball since the 1940s. Guess what? The sport has survived and continues to move forward. I don’t people who pine for the good old days. In most cases, those days were worse and better. Progress is a good thing, not only in sports in sports and in most other walks of life. Either embrace or find yourself caught in the bad old days.
i would agree for the most part, though that logic could too easily allow for changes that would truely hurt the sport to be enacted. for example, even though I hate it, the DH will not kill baseball, but something like the extra inning rule or 7 inning doubleheaders that arbitrarily change the potential results of games might. and really my issue is “why?” do we really need changes? i don’t see how any of this will help the sport going forward, save the prospect of adding more playoff teams. (which is why of any rule changes this year, this is the one id keep and not have much of an objection to)
Other sports have made changes. Why not baseball? I was against the DH initially but came to appreciate that it makes the game better. There is nothing good about having pitchers bat. MLB pitchers batted a collective .119 in 2019. That’s pretty much an automatic out. And don’t bring up strategy, as there is significantly more strategy when the person standing at the plate knows how to handle a bat.
because it makes no sense to make a change that no one wants. even if its not going to do any harm, what benefit do you get out of it? if NL fans want pitchers to hit why force them to have the DH. not saying this is the general opinion, but my point is forcing a change that people dont really want and the sport doesnt need has no real benefit.
Exactly, Darkside. If I remember correctly, the poll on here had a lot of opposition to the DH. Factor in plenty of AL fans voting in it, who I’d think would’ve voted in favor, and the results may have been even more emphatic. Why is this being crammed down our throats? What’s the benefit?
There is much more strategy within the game when a pitcher has to bat! Much more than just one at bat is taken into account. Your statement is extremely short-sighted
Not to mention that it completely removes the bonus of having a Madison Bumgarner or Michael Lorenzen or Shohei Ohtani that can hit exceedingly well for a pitcher. If your pitchers don’t want to practice and learn to hit or at least put down a competent bunt, then you should be punished with a virtual automatic out.
People live with change but it doesn’t always mean it’s for the better. There are lots of instances where change has brought hardship or has plainly made things worse. Something tells me that may be too difficult to really believe though.
Remove this moron immediately! He’s killing the sport I love!
I’d like to see bounce pitching, dogs running bases, points for hitting drones and the hokey pokey. Because that’s what it’s all about. Boybarney needs to go yabbadabbado.
personally, if they keep the expanded playoffs id like to see half-based qualification come into play. for example a team that may have been significantly better in the 2nd half could make it by having the best record in the 2nd half. keeps teams competing even if they might have otherwise been burried. kinda a loose analogy to stage racing in NASCAR.
Is this kind of like what John Smoltz talks about?
#FireManfred
I shot off an email to the owners. They said no.
As someone who has watched every game of my team religiously for decades, I’ve tuned it out this year with all of the bs changes and ideology. I’m sure there are lots of other real fans out there who have had it with manfred and his continual need to change a great game. Good luck codling fair weather fans while you alienate true baseball fans.
Baseball was always America’s past time and #1 sport, but for the last 20 years is way behind football in popularity, and now also basketball. Manfred is trying to turn the sport into something it’s not.
Actually football passed baseball in the late 60’s
boo this man! what incentive would teams have to be great when all you need is to be .500 and get hot in october?
because you still need to win 81 games in a normal year to get into the playoffs and you cant do that without at least some effort.
I for one (recognizing a minority opinion) happen to like ALL the changes. Expanded playoffs generate more revenue; hard stop. Cut the season down if you have to.
7 inning double headers? Should have been done years ago. Same with the extra-inning rule. Now limit pitching changes, and send the “super-balls” back to Haiti or wherever they come from. Shorter games, more action, fewer 3-outcomes; 3-outcome baseball is KILLING the sport.
The NFL changes every year; no one REALLY knows what pass interference is any more. Similar the NBA and NHL. No reason for MLB to be different. Lots of things are different from when you grew up.
why limit pitching changes if you have the 3 batter rule?
I like the expanded playoffs, even though my team the Dodgers is supposedly one of the teams that would be harmed by it. My boys in blue need to stop whining and just play the games. And yes, send the super balls back to wherever. There is nothing more insulting to fans than trying to choreograph records with cheap home runs. As troubling as the strikeouts are, the game and its players will adjust in time as always. What hurts the game most are announcers on national telecasts spending nine innings talking about what’s wrong with baseball. Those telecasts attract many fringe fans who’ve yet to become hardcore. Spending four hours telling them they’re watching a defective product is no way to market your sport.
Your opinion; hard stop!
I guess I see your point but football isn’t quite as “old” as baseball. Baseball has been tinkered with over the years to adapt to changing times. Football is a younger sport that is trying to cater to a television audience and making changes yearly to help that. I don’t think it’s made the sport better though.
I’m not with you on that one. I totally get the changes for this year, but in many ways they water down the game. I think all teams should play the same amount of innings each season (disregarding extra innings), so 7 inning double headers are a no go for me. I like the reduced amount of pitching changes, but the rule is in reality a result of the current statistics-focused climate and not a result of the Covid crisis. No one would have deemed it necessary 20 years ago.
The biggest deal breaker for me is the expanded playoffs. Yes, there are a few more playoff games, but it completely waters down the regular season. The best 4 or 5 teams in each league will have guaranteed their spot in June. After that we’re watching a ‘race’ between mediocre teams. I’d much rather watch good teams battle for the division an wild card with 1 or 2 missing out then watching sub-.500 teams play for the 8th slot.
Furthermore, the 8th best and best team in the league shouldn’t be a good series to watch. The only way to make it competitive is making the series short enough such that the lesser team has the chance to fluke out a couple of wins with their best 2 starters. The shorter the series, the more the reliance on luck instead of skill and team depth.
I don’t like the extra innings rule either. We’ve had something similar in international baseball (it was runners on first and second), and in my opinion it took away from the game rather then adding to it. Yes, it was easier to score a run in that inning, but it involved into 1 tactic (bunt, sac fly) rather quickly. Also, the home team has a big advantage since they know how many runs to score and if they should bunt or swing away, while the away team just wants to score as much as possible.
To be clear, I’m not against change. Replay made the game more fair (and less ‘getting lucky with a crucial call’), shifting Houston to the AL West gave 6 divisions of the same size etc.. It’s just that the changes should make the game and season better, and I don’t see any of these accomplishing that.
Rbase – well said. As far as change goes while I’m not in love with the 1 game playoff they instituted a few years back, I do like how they brought back the importance of winning the division. If the expand the playoffs again permanently like it is this year that will totally undo all that. They should just make the wildcard game 4 vs 5 a 3 game series.
It you do this you need seedings with home field advantage. Also, you need the best eight teams not the top two in each division.
I think this is what we were all afraid of. Manfred got his foot in the door with his ideas and now he wants to make them stick. Much like it’s been stated above I have grudgingly excepted the DH for this season but also figured it was coming sooner or later anyway. But the expanded playoffs I haven’t excepted beyond this season. Playoff spots should be earned and fought for but instead there will be seasons teams will have sub .500 records making it and I REALLY loath the extra innings runner.
I’m so tired of Manfred talking about making baseball more exciting. Baseball does not need higher scores. If Manfred keeps this up he had better hope whatever monstrosity he turns the game into interests new fans because he’s going to lose a lot of us.
List of new rule changes, should go is a (G), stay is an (S):
Expanded postseason: G
DH in NL: S
Three batter minimum: G, but how about only having a 6 bullpen arm limit per game, not 6 bullpen arms, but only use 6 per game, it’d speed up 13 inning affairs too.
Extra innings 2nd base rule: G, and my 6 bullpen arm limit would help that.
i dont think there are enough long relievers to make that change realistic. and that means that veteran relievers without options (cycling arms) would find it even harder then they do now to get jobs, and you run into issues with two-way players when you put a number on RP.
No, after you hit you 6 bullpen arm per game limit, position players pitch. It would also let pitchers that don’t get on the mound too often (closers on losing team) to see the mound regularly.
You’re saying the DH should stay, but you’re an AL team fan Rangers29. I’m an NL fan, I don’t want it. I’m not saying AL fans opinions shouldn’t count, but the NL fanbases should have a stronger voice in this.
Well I’m also a Mets fan, so maybe it is more inviting to the Alonso/Smtih situation with having a DH. Just less frustrating AB’s. I can see the “strategy” with having a pitcher hit, but the truth is most of them can’t.
I mean, if we’re being honest, a lot of Catchers can’t hit that well, either. So if you eliminate pitchers hitting, do you then come for the Catchers next? What is the difference? Catchers also have to call pitches and manage games.
It’s not the calling of the games, it’s how they practice. Catchers are hitters, A.L or N.L. They IMO are the most advanced position because of what you brought up (calling games). Though, catchers don’t throw 100 pitches per game in that repetitive arm motion giving it their all on each pitch. Pitchers do. It’s not a matter of calling a game, it’s pitching itself.
Another thing: A pitcher is twirling a perfect game going into the 7th, and then he comes up to bat. He bunts, and the ball hits him in the face. Now he’s out. That was very preventable. Not to mention the times that I have seen a pitcher just swing a bat, and then he falls to the ground in pain. IDK why it happens, but it does, and again, it’s preventable.
To your defense, I do worry about catcher’s knees, but there are ways to prevent it. Off days, different catching positions, and knee bands just to name a few.
One more thing, pitchers wear out after their starts, they go out each time, and power tons of pitches in there. Now they have to go in knowing they will hit. It’s just another thing to think about.
I just see pitchers hitting with more cons than pros. Not to mention most are awful.
Rangers29 G
Exactly, Cap. Last season I watched probably 100 Braves games. This season I’ve watched 4. Obviously there were only 60 to start, but my point is I’m less invested. I don’t enjoy the changes. I still follow my team, but I’ve done so with the hope that all of this silliness was temporary, as a means to just get this year in.
Same here. I watched pretty much all of last season. I’ve watched maybe 7-8 innings worth of Braves baseball this year. Although, I still check the box scores and watch a few highlight videos everyday. I’m preparing myself from stepping back from the sport entirely. With all of this non sense, combined with toxic political practices shoved down everyone’s throats, It’s going to be a lot easier for hardcore fans to alienate the sport. When we look back at baseball in about 10 years and wonder how it got so bad, we can reference these times as to what killed it.
No Manfred… Stop it Manfred! MANFRED NO! NO GOD NO NO!
We have the Mariners almost in the playoffs. The Mariners! NO. Stop it. Baseball has the most competitive playoff format in it’s great, simple, 10 team format. Don’t change it. I’m open to change, but this is just Manfred taking his happy pills.
Mariners wouldnt be in the playoffs if the rest of their division had decided to show up. I mean your Rangers should be crushing them, and i say that as someone who wasnt a fan of their offseason moves.
Every game we play the Mariners, Kyle Seager and Kyle Lewis demolish us. They could have a two hitter lineup and we’d lose.
As for out moves this off-season: You were right about Lyles and Gibson. I am open to giving Gibson a chance, but only because I want to see him in a routinely 162. Lyles can go away already.
the rangers were a worse team on paper this year then the mariners.
3-game series is such a joke – particularly on the heels of a 162-game season, if they do in fact plan to stick with this going forward.
I have historically been bothered by the 5-game DS, so I don’t even know where to begin with this!
the five game DS is so water under the bridge at this point. you cant have the playoffs go on forever. earlier rounds are usually between mismatched seeds anyways. in this case, if a 1 seed cant clean up an 8 quick then maybe the 1 seed isnt as good as their record shows, ans maybe the 8 seed is better.
I agree. 1 and 3 game playoffs make no sense in a sport where the rotation is usually 5 pitchers deep.
Of course, we probably won’t have a starting pitcher at all in a couple more years. Just a 20 2 inning relievers blowing out their elbows every 3rd year trying to throw 105mph on every pitch so maybe it won’t matter?
How about this: 2 expansion franchises , 1 in both leagues. At the end of the season, all teams make the playoffs! The no 1 seed plays the no 16 seed in the first round, the winner of that round plays the winner of the series between the no. 8 and 9 seeds etc. All series best of 3 until the world series. More playoff teams, more playoff games, more revenue!! #kappa
Gross
Why not?? People love brackets right! It would be crazy!!!!
I agree this assertion!
the fact is that in a normal year you wolnt have .500 teams making it. the .500 teams in now are there due to the small sample size of games. the cream will rise to the top in a 162 game season, and some of the injuries to key players on more talented teams wouldnt have have happened in a normal year.
DarkSide830: except that doesn’t bear out, just looking at the last 10 seasons.
2019 TEX 78-84
2018 MIN 78-84
2017 LAA 80-82
2017 TBR 80-82
2017 KCR 80-82
2017 MIA 77-85
2016 MIA 79-82
2016 PIT 78-83
2015 BAL 81-81
2015 ARZ 79-83
2014 ATL 79-83
2014 NYM 79-83
2013 ARZ 81-81
2013 SDP 76-86
2012 PHI 81-81 or ARZ 81-81
2011 CLE 80-82
2011 CHW 79-83
2011 WSN 80-81
2010 OAK 81-81
2010 DET 81-81
2010 MIA 80-82
9 out of the last 10 seasons a .500 or worse team would be in, and in 7 of 10 there would be multiple teams making it. The only reason it might not be 10 out of 10 is in 2012, a play-in game would elevate one of those 81-81 teams to a game above. That’s assuming there would be a play-in game, which under the 2020 playoff format, there won’t be any.
Overall, I like a lot of the things we are trying out this year.
I like fewer games. Makes them more meaningful honestly. Probably won’t ever change from 162 but definitely think 82 would be a good number.
Love the NL DH. Love the extra innings runner rule.
One long term change I would make is draft going to 20 rounds and rounds 1-10 are tradeable. Teams can only have 30 total picks a year or even 25.
In terms of “speeding” up the game id limit batters leaving the box every at bat. Maybe once an at bat. You can stand there, readjust your gloves, then get right back at it.
Draft pick trades make ABSOLUTELY no sense when you have a farm system full of players to trade. They work in the NFL and NBA because they don’t have 150+ players that are not on their top roster to work with. Draft pick trades would only increase the length of rebuilds and make teams at the bottom less competitive for even longer.
Makes ALOT of sense actually.
But to each their own.
Rule 5 eligible players and roster crunches? Teams can offer a 10th round pick for a guy they like instead of waiting for the rule 5 draft and won’t have to keep him on MLB roster all season long. Keep your current prospects and get a guy you like for an unknown quantity.
You don’t think teams would prefer draft picks to players? I do. Theyd probably prefer a draft pick and a guy they select as opposed to some prospect. Draft picks increase draft pool slots. Theyd get more value out the pick in some instances.
You see it as rebuilds taking longer. I see it as giving teams more chances to hit the lottery on a guy and speeding up the rebuild time. Like I said to each their own.
Also, if a team trades its draft picks away it creates holes in their farm system. Which, allows for more shuffling of players. Which means more guys will be selected in rule 5 and given opportunities elsewhere. Not hard to give each team 2 rule 5 picks instead of 1, also tradeable for cash.
I love the idea of trading for draft picks. Though I do wonder what the value of a number one draft pick is this season for Kumar Rocker. What would you have to trade the pirates for Rocker? Does one super prospect equal 3 top 15 prospects in another team’s farm? It is all speculation.
Short answer: what would it be worth? whatever the price is that whoever gets #1 deems is enough to forgo drafting him.
Long answer: depends on who’s asking….a team in top 10…. their first this year and couple other picks or players. A team that drafts bottom first? Probably. their 1st, a top 100 prospect, and other pieces (players or picks). Like all sports it depends how far back the team has to go back into round 1.
A team like Boston. I can definitely see dangling their draft picks this year for controllable mlb ready pitching.
Same with the padres. I can see them trading their picks given the farm they’ve built to make any improvements to the team. Same with the white sox.
Why don’t we expand the league to 32 teams in 2021 and have a 32 team playoff? Clearly that’s the most fair outcome. Of everyone makes the playoffs then everyone has incentive to spend! Who knows, maybe the 40-122 Orioles will get hot and win it all! /s
#Literallyanybodyelseforcommissioner #JeffLuhnowforcommissioner
I sure hope not
Will all the players get participation ribbons? In seriousness, if they expand the playoffs, they should reduce the numbers of games played in season.
It is simply unbelievable how tone-deaf Manfred is. He wants change for the sake of change, and the sake of the almighty dollar, and could care less what the players or the fans think. He’s reinventing the sport, but not in a positive way.
And yet baseball is 3rd in viewership.
It’s all about the Benjamin’s baby. COVID-19 has blown a multi-billion dollar hole in the MLB and their plugging the dyke with more playoff games which generates more ticket sales (normal year) and TV revenue…
There’s no reason to watch 162 game season if half the teams make the playoffs and ,no matter how well a team does, their season comes down to a 3 game series. No more paying for MLB.TV, no more buying tickets for what will be meaningless regular season games, no more taking Opening Day off, no more watching games on ESPN, no more daily interest in baseball.
Good job, Rob.
List of terrible Commissioners ruining their sport…
1) Manfred
2) Goddell
3) The field
Even if he has done a good job with the restart, Adam Silver and his “let’s have a mid season tournament with no real reward” ranks right up there on the worst scale.
It was inevitable that the playoffs would get expanded. 16 teams is too much though. I’m cool with it for this based on what’s happened. But not next year.
The best would been 12 teams, but that probably won’t happen. So, i think 14 teams should be the maximum. 1st place and 2nd place teams in every division plus 1 wildcard in each league.
I have a better idea. Let all the teams in the playoffs. If nobody wins in the first extra inning go to a home run derby shootout. And have 9 DHs. And let teams carry 3 designated pinch runners that can be used all game. While we are at it, bring the fences in more to add seats. That would be exciting.
Rob, is that you?
Harold Reynolds made a good point during the trade deadline. The extra playoff teams mean more jobs. He talked about teams who were out off it would play their young players for next season and the vets who weren’t apart of the future would be obsolete. If example was Frazier from the rangers going to the Mets. If they keep all the changes including DH I would be happy
It’s a jobs bill? Wow! That would be a new level of disconnection for players and owners. I guess we could hold a Telethon to support those players who can’t find a job in MLB.
Extra playoffs doesn’t mean more jobs. There are a certain number of players who are going to be on MLB rosters regardless of how many teams make the playoffs. Also, I’m not sure what the Frazier to NY example is supposed to illustrate. There are the same number of big league spots regardless of where Todd Frazier is playing.
The amount of teams in the leagues, the amount of teams and structure of playoffs have nothing to do with baseball’s actual rules. shortening games played in doubleheader is not a likeable change but weather and other things have shortened games before. This extra inning rule however, is an abomination. Call a game a tie after so many innings if you will. We’ve had ties before and it’s been fine but this is wrong. When you start introducing rules that go against the structure of our game you turn it into a joke. Next time Manford will propose all games will have “7th inning backwards” where all runners must run around the bases clockwise for one inning for the entertainment value of it, or some other clownish rule because, “Wouldn’t it be neat if…”
I wonder how well received those 3 game series will be if the White Sox, Dodgers, and Padres get eliminated because they happened to run into a.500 teams having a good week and both World Series teams end up as the 7 or 8 seeds. Will THAT be good for baseball too?
One of my main problems with the current 16-team playoff format in a regular 162-game season is that it is too easy for the best teams to get eliminated in the first round in a 3-game series. It is because the edges in baseball are so small that a long season is required to separate the wheat from the chaff, so it seems stupid to have the best teams play 3-game series in the first round. We want to see the best teams compete in the playoffs.
I also don’t like that more than half of the league makes the playoffs. I want the regular season to matter more than that.
That being said, I wouldn’t hate some playoff expansion — e.g., 6 teams per league with the top two teams getting first round byes.
I am all for keeping the National league DH and expanding the playoffs and shorten the regular season
The DH caters to the lowest common denominator to improve ratings, nothing more. It it for simple-minded fans who do not understand or appreciate strategy, and just want to see a glorified home run derby.
So much strategy watching pitchers strikeout.
Case in point…a fan who simply doesn’t even understand what constitutes strategy. What a shock that this comes from a Padres fan. There is so much more to baseball than what a player does at the plate, but apparently all of that eludes you.
Nothing said athletic contest like watching some guy too fat to stand at first base and catch the ball hit. As long as pitchers get treated like 4 year old girls made of glass, all will be well.
Or, you could put an athletic player in as your DH.
Why wouldn’t you put the athletic guy in the field?
MLB needs to make Manfred as temporary as possible.
How about no
The extra inning rule does nothing except drive up the score. It’s about the same as college football’s ridiculous overtime rules. My biggest problem with the rule is that in theory you can pitch a 10 inning perfect game and still lose. A full 9 inning perfect game followed up by two groundouts or sac flies starting the 10th will give up a run while maintaining a perfect game. It’s ridiculous that it is even possible to lose while being perfect.
This can be done in a reasonable manner IF division winners don’t have to play in the “wild card round”. Otherwise its a joke and Manfred should be impeached just for thinking of it.
I’m good with the expanded playoffs. I’m great with universal DH. The extra inning “runner on second” thing is absolutely terrible and needs to go away.
How are you okay with expanded playoffs and more teams making than not???
Mostly because I embrace sports leagues being a business I guess. I’m also in favor of expansion to 32 teams, which would still be half the teams making it. It’s not my absolute favorite playoff format in the world, but I’m “good” with it for the future of the league. I just don’t see what the runner on second adds to the game besides randomizing the outcome a little bit
Manfred sucks
While I kinda hate the 7-inning double headers, I might not mind if there were a fixed number of those games mixed into the regular schedule — and the same number for every team — as a way to create a few more off days during the season, without having to start the season in March.
For example, if each team had one scheuled 7-inning double-header against each of their division opponents, that would free up 4 days on the schedule over the course of the season. I would only want those 8 games to be 7-inning games — i.e., other double-headers due to rainouts, etc, would still be 9-inning games, and if any game of a scheduled 7-inning double-header had to be rescheduled, it would be rescheduled as a 7-inning game, whether as part of of a double-header or not.
The season should start in April, and there should be more off days. If a few 7-inning double-headers help make this happen without reducing the 162-game schedule, I’d be OK with it.
I’d rather have less games and no 7 inning games. This is professional baseball, not high school.
I’m a big fan of getting Manfred out of the position of commissioner..
next in line seems to be even worse than manfraud.
The new format sucks. Makes the regular season worthless. It’s just a money grab. I won’t watch baseball anymore.
see you at the crossroads!
Please don’t. Let’s not be like some other sports were half or more than half the teams get in.
Eh. It’s fine for this crazy season, but I’d rather go back to the old format next year.
I’m having flashbacks to the announcement of Diablo Immortal at Blizzcon
youtu.be/OJy6bJ_RxXg
Eliminate the divisions and just have the top 4 teams in each league make the playoffs…
Manfred’s real feelings – The extra playoffs are a huge cash cow. Casual fams won’t notice the lower quality nor care that the World Series instantly becomes less meaningful in the process.
TV wants postseason games because they can sell ad space for more money.
They’ll make seven-inning doubleheaders the standard and use that to shorten the season.
Rob – Bordon Gekko – Manfred, tone-deaf and caring not a damn about baseball.
Baseball went almost 100 years without playoffs. The ’93 Giants had more wins than both AL teams, and the Phillies, and didn’t make the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Braves had 104 wins. There is nothing sacrosanct about the playoff system. I have no problem with expanded playoffs, if they shorten the season. It would make the end of the season more interesting. It would probably push more player movement.
Go Sox Goooo!
Go Sox Goooo!
Hey Tim-Aaaa, what do you say?
“The Sox are gonna win today.”
More playoff games is more money for Owners. Players are paid for playing playoff games. More money for Players. In 1980’s there were 4 playoff teams. If your was bad, it took forever for the season to end. I am not in favor of too many playoff teams. The season is meaningless and the season starts during the 3rd round of playoffs. Money rules. Since the beginning of time, we have been doomed, because money rules.
Booooooooooo
Never thought I would say this, but I’ve come around to universal DH. Like kmac said, take top 4 teams from each league, or maybe even top 8. Eliminate divisions.
Also, am open to eliminating extra innings altogether, I think. What are pros and cons of having a tie after 8 innings?
*9 innings
No issues with any of the changes with the exception of the doubleheader rule. I can even live with a runner magically appearing at the beginning of extra innings but this seven inning crap has got to go what is this little league!
I hate Manfred and this ridiculous watering down of the regular season, if I wanted to watch basketball I would!
Stop Manfred!
Manfred = trash
I’m all for change, this sport played like it was the early 1900s. Change is good for Baseball.
I love the 7 inning double headers also.
Why is change itself good? Fixing things that ain’t broke is good, cuz change? Expanding the playoffs permanently will cause me to abandon the sport. I can’t be the only one. Are we still going to have 162 games? What’s the point? What will the extra workload do to pitchers arms? Are we going to play into winter? This is ridiculous!
Of course he does. He’s a greedy lawyer.
The problem with expanded playoffs in baseball has to do with the nature of the game. The best team beats the worst team a much lower percentage of the time in baseball than in other sports. In the NFL or NBA, an eighth seed beating a one seed happens, but it happens rarely. It will happen a lot more often in baseball. The MLB playoffs are already a crapshoot. This will increase the crap part of the equation by including teams who haven’t really earned the right to compete for a championship. “October Madness” may sound great to the casual fan, but it will make it far less likely that the best team will be the WS champion. To me, that will make the sport worse, not better.
$ will bring playoff expansion, but how about 12 teams to still have regular season matter?
*Top 2 record division winners in each league get a bye and assigned 1/2 seeds.
*Worst division winner is #3 seed and plays 6th seed according to record in best of 3 series all played at 3 seed park.
*#4 vs #5 best non-division winner records play best of 3 series all at 4 seed park.
*Next round you re-seed where #1 plays worst survivor of first round and #2 plays other team in best of 5 series in normal 2-2-1 travel format
*LCS and WSeries normal 7 game series
**Start regular season few days earlier despite spring weather concerns for sake of playoff cash grab. Top seeds downside is overcoming “rust”.
Who’s surprised by this?
This was Manfred’s plan from the jump. This year gave him an opening to experiment. Give a guy enough power and watch what they do with it. Seeing it with every sport.
Manfred has a bigger problem than playoff expansion; how to make the game more appealing to the younger demographic. The long ball isn’t getting it done. Time to rethink the strategy and perhaps hire a new marketing consulting firm.
The younger demographic overwhelmingly prefers the internet to cable tv… wanna pull them in? Stop blacking out local games on the internet! (Plus, the whole idea that younger folks dislike baseball has always been an overblown lie designed precisely to create an excuse for unnecessary changes like this, which serve exclusively to line the pockets of the already rich owners and players)
There’s that. More has to be done, such as MLB allowing people to post clips and work out a deal rather than blocking and preventing videos from being posted. Other changes have to happen.
Bingo! They hide behind the guise of wanting to attract younger fans, but why won’t they lift the blackouts on the internet? That’s how kids get their content now. It really doesn’t matter what you do if those younger kids aren’t watching it.
Cosmo
A lie is it? A fabrication about the demographic. You don’t let the truth stand in your way much do ya?
I assume you have heard of Gallup?
Pro baseball is more popular among older fans, with 57 percent of those over 50 describing themselves as baseball fans. The sport also appeals more to white Americans than to non-whites.
So by all means let’s ruin it for the core of fans. Ok.
Ruin it for the core according to who? You? I consider myself to be just as much a “core” fan as you. And i’d love to see more teams competing for a pennant as well as seeding rather then all but 3-4 super teams in each league packing it in by the trade deadline.
That’s false, baseball is the top sport in many Latin American and Asian countries.
I was referring to the US market based on polls by Gallup .
Ever been to Latin America or Asia?
I have – lived and worked in both regions
. In Latin America baseball is tops in Cuba and the Dominican, everywhere else is soccer crazy.
In Asia baseball is tops in Japan and S,Korea everywhere else it’s soccer and/or basketball.
2 countries in each region would not be considered many, Want to try again?
You forgot Venezuela, Panama, Taiwan, Curaçao Aruba Nicaragua and Puerto Rico.
As well as growing in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.
Growing does not make it tops -soccer still rules central and south america and yes i overlooked Taiwan and Venezuela .
However in my original comment if you’ll read it , i said American . The stats refer to the USA
vox.com/2014/10/14/6951261/sports-maps-charts
You said it is a white sport.
You make some valid points especially about the pitching.
One of the big problems i see is the emergence of 3-4 Super teams and half the league tanking, The “purists” on here seem to want to ignore the harm that is doing to the game.
Young
No i did not. I said the appeal , Baseball in the USA has a higher percentage of white fans then any of the other 2 major sports, Hockey is on par.
No no no! Manfred must go! He’s killing the sport for diehard fans.
I agree with a 12 team playoff (at most)
That should eliminate any losing teams.
But the format should be this:
teams 1 – 4 get a first round bye
teams 5-12 play a 3 game playoff at the higher seeds home (you don’t want the top four sitting too long getting cold)
winner of 11 and 12 play the 1 seed
winner of 9 and 10 play the 2 seed
winner of 7 and 8 play the 3 seed
winner of 5 and 6 play the 4 seed
You preserve the motivation to win in the regular season to get the easiest path to the world series.
I’m OK with a permanent expanded postseason. In order to have a preferred best-of-three or more Wild Card round MLB would need a 16 team format in order to avoid a long layoff for its top teams if they were to receive a bye. Only formats of 16, 8, 4 or 2 would work with a longer Wild Card round.
I’m also in favor of a universal DH. It’s already been universally adopted at the upper levels of amateur baseball and had been used exclusively in the lower levels of minor league baseball. Up until 2020, only the NL shunned the DH along with AA and AAA games featuring just NL teams. It’s about time that MLB implements the universal DH. If a pitcher has proven to be a good hitter he can always qualify as a two-way player.
As for the third point of the extra inning rule, it SUCKS! It is not baseball and should never be implemented again. Longer games should be less of an issue with expanded rosters set at 26 going forward. MLB would be wise to increase those rosters by another player or two to ensure peace with the MLBPA as they head toward the expiration of the current CBA.
Expansion to 32 teams should also become a reality in the near future ensuring more union jobs along with making a 16 team postseason more palatable. Geographical alignment with long time rivalries maintained should be a priority. Four 4-team divisions in each league makes the most sense with the first place teams becoming automatic qualifiers. The final four qualifiers would be those teams with the best W-L records which ought to eliminate any playoff clubs with below .500 records.
I’m not wild about the 16 team format because it will be random, but I understand the financial/gambling side of it.
Yes to DH. It reduces pitcher injuries.
I like the extra inning rule. Maybe a compromise is to start it in the 11th or 12th, not the 10th.
Expansion is likely delayed due to the pandemic, but it makes sense. I would rather see four divisions of eight teams. Playing the same three teams might get a bit old. Playing seven would actually provide more diversity and limit strong or weak divisions. For example, an AL East with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and whoever… that will be an extremely difficult division. Some central divisions might be soft.
Also, consider this. With expanded playoffs the top tier teams will essentially know they have a spot in the playoffs locked up by mid season. Playing for a higher seed means not so much in baseball. The incentive to win 95 games as opposed to 88 or 89 will fizzle away. Playoff races will be delegated to only the mid- tier teams while top, exciting teams will be merely jostling for the meager advantage of position before august. Good bye pennant races.
All the arguments against expanded playoffs are similar to those made in 1969, when they began. Seems like they worked out.
Huge difference between slightly expanding playoffs due to expansion and increasing it to half the league. Huge. No comparison.
Nobody is talking about the added innings to the pitchers. Pitchers seem to break down quick and easy, many of them have limits placed on them. More games will lead to more innings. What will be done to protect the pitchers?
Manfred and the league won’t help the pitchers. They will go down in droves, leading to more new jobs for pitchers and more business for Dr Andrews and associates.
None of what you say is remotely true if they went to 14 teams and the division champs got a bye. Competition would increase. Far less sellers this deadline why?
This man is really gonna kill the game…
Here’s a relevant story: I used to work for a little bar called Coyote Ugly. The original in the East Village. It just recently closed. They’ll say it’s due to high rent, but the rent has always been high. What happened is this: a while back they decided to take their diehard customers for granted in order to cater to bachelorette parties and fans of pop music, drooling over the temporary bump in revenue. What happened? They drove the diehards away and eventually the novelty of the place wore off and the bachelorettes stopped coming and the pop music fans realized they could get that anywhere. They lost their customer base due to short sighted greed and now? Good bye Coyote Ugly. Goodbye baseball.
Kinda like how baseball caters to offense. Maybe they need to do something to help the pitchers to keep them on the mound longer, stay healthy and subsequently shorten the length of games.
I think you forgot to mention that it just closed after 6 months of limited revenues due to covid. Future prospects for similar establishments aren’t great either until a vaccine is found or it goes away.
Every other bar in the area has the same COVID situation and they’re still open and few of them ever had the revenue or popularity of Coyote Ugly. Your point doesn’t stand.
Imagine thinking that the idea of incentivesing all the teams to do better and improve their teams constantly because there is more of a chance to make the playoffs and thus making the games in general more enjoyable with better competition is a bad thing
I does not incentivize teams to spend when MEDIOCRITY is rewarded. It does the opposite. And it will turn the game into a shell of itself by watering down the impact of 162 games. Goodbye diehard fans. Goodbye baseball.
So 3-4 super teams per league and everyone else tanking benefits the game?
The game is so much better than the bad old days of the Yankees dynasty when the entire American League played to finish second to the Yankees. I am a Dodgers fan. My team is really good. However, I am also a baseball fan who wants fans of other teams to have something to look forward to. I am being honest when I say that I look forward to the Padres becoming a true rival. If anything, it will make the Dodgers work even harder.
Cey Hey i couldn’t agree with you more. Having more teams in races, more fans engaged in the final 1/3 of any season can only be good for the game.
Less fans will be engaged. The mediocre teams whose fans watch will be cancelled out by the bored fans of the top teams whose playoff slot was secured by the all star break. Hardcore fans watch even when their team is out of it. The fly-by-nighters this idiocy brings in will not stick around permanently and the bottom will drop out. Or it won’t. Who cares? By then I sure as heck will no longer be around.
MarkoRock68. Yep. By September, a large percentage of baseball fans tune out their team in favor of football. Things like more playoff teams and the extra-inning rule will keep people interested. I hate those extra-inning games where people start leaving because they fear it will take forever. It’s a terrible look on TV.
Expanded playoffs might have a positive effect on how front offices build their teams, making it more about developing starting pitchers. What are we hearing about this year’s expanded playoffs? That teams with strong rotations will have an edge in a short series. Hopefully, it will also mean that teams can be built with different offensive philosophies instead of what we’re seeing now. Some teams can build around pitching and speed, knowing they will be a pain-in-the-neck in the post-season. Just imagine a team like the Royals with three good starting pitchers. A favorite World Series of mine was the ’82 one between the Brewers and Cardinals. Two completely different styles. Today, we are told there is just one way to win over the course of a 162-game season. Teams will no longer have to think like that. If you think ahead as a fan, you can perhaps see how this can foster a baseball renaissance.
Very well said.
I’ve seen you bang this drum about ‘super teams’ a few times. You do realize baseball hasn’t had a repeat WS Champion since ’99/’00 when the NYY accomplished that. The NBA and NHL have had repeat winners in the past five seasons. The NFL in ’05/’06. If all of these teams are so ‘super’, why does baseball boast the most championship parity?
Dynasties aren’t bad for sports, however. When a franchise stays on top for a prolonged period their fans become more invested, and other fanbases tune in more to see the empire toppled. When people argue that dynasties are bad, I feel like they miss the benefits they bring to sports.
The idea has been done- take a glance over at the NBA. Half the league makes the playoffs, and teams still ‘tank’ the season. The 76ers went through what seemed like a six year process, and they still can’t advance in the playoffs. They’re just letting more average-ish teams in, only to see them get bounced in the 1st round.
In the process they have completely devalued their regular season. They had to specifically make a rule so teams didn’t rest all of their stars during nationally televised games because they don’t care about the season. Imagine Sunday night baseball, Yanks vs. Dodgers, and Judge, Bellinger, Betts, Stanton and Gio are all on the bench because they can go 83-79 and still easily make the playoffs. How is that good for the game?
Yep. Exactly this. What Appalachian_Outlaw said. Perfectly put.
NO NO NO NO NO
MLB needs a commissioner with a brain. It will be the first one to have a brain since 1992
im meh on the playoffs.
i’m ok with the dh. but if they implement the extra inning rule, the 7 inning doubleheaders or automatic strike zone, i will be done with baseball
Good bye.
As well as getting rid of Manfred, how about doing away with inter-league play?
What’s the game coming to? The Black Sox scandal supposedly divorced baseball from gambling (and kept Shoeless Joe from making the HoF).. Early 1980s, both Mays and Mantle were banned because they took jobs as greets for a couple of casinos (they were reinstated). Recently, MLB hooked up with DraftKings. Now I’m seeing NESN broadcasts offering betting during games (one-sided in that fans don’t have to pay). How long will it take before you can bet on every pitch as you sit in your living room chair?
I may be old but baseball’s history is too long to just spoil it so owners )and players) can make more money.
If they make more money, then the changes will be proven successful. Btw, I’m in my sixties and endorse all these changes. I’m sick of people who long for the bad old days. Once upon a time, so-called fans claimed the Jackie Robinson thing would ruin the game. United States history is also long. That doesn’t mean we have to keep all the crappy stuff that has kept us from being great.
Oh for goodness sake, you’re not honestly comparing this to segregation are you? Aside from that bit of offensive nonsense, you seem to arguing for change for the sake of change. What’s the point of a 162 game season then? Ridiculous.
People said divisions would ruin the game. It didn’t happen. They then said the wildcard would ruin the game. That didn’t happen either. And believe me, the Jackie Robinson example is applicable as too many people are against progress. News flash: every aspect of American life is better than it used to be, be it sports, the arts, or daily living. We just need to continue pushing forward. Baseball — and sports — have always embodied that. You being offended by comment is your problem, not mine.
Jackie breaking the color barrier was progress. Expanded playoffs is a preference. Huuuuuuge difference. You’re minimizing an important issue.
Rule changes hurt the game more than segregation ever did. Want to blame the resistance on segregation, blame the media back then. They have changed their targets, but they have not changed.
Bill
Actual many in the media back then such as Wendell Smith of The Pittsburgh Courier were very vocal against segregation. You have a major hate on for media don’t you.
One source. One source makes 100%. One source? One. Really?
Actually, many in the media did not want baseball to break the color barrier. But please tell me why I have some kind of “major hate”? Real question is why don’t you have any skepticism? We are Jays fans. Are you drinking the Rogers koolaid or just slurping bit by bit?
1931, Westbrook Pegler, a sportswriter with the Chicago Tribune
, became one of the first reporters of the White press to publicly criticize Major League Baseball’s color line.
That is another -want me to go on?
You said blame the media for segregation- i’m pointing out that is incorrect.
Who are these many you speak off? I apologize if you were of an age to remember first hand media leanings in the 30s and 40s but that would make you 100-110? Congrats if so.
Bill you have repeatedly made comments about the media and how they are to blame about a number of issues.
Yes Marko. The media was and still is part of the problem. It helped shaped your world views, no? Considering we’ve had to read your crap over the last few days I’d say I’d be 100% correct.
What you fail to understand, again, is the media has an incredible amount of power. It’s one reason why this silly playoff expansion is happening. You like it because the Blue Jays are run by a mediocre company with billions of dollars. The media, being powerful, could have easily pushed equality and de-segregation long before it happened. Media holds a lot more power than you can fathom. They were complicit in the divide and they are complicit in today’s divide. If you do not want to accept it, stay ignorant. Lord knows you’re good at it.
Just love how you make inaccurate claims like you are the wise one but when called out you result to insults.
Just goes to show how weak your arguments are to begin with.
Unlike you when i see/read something i usually take the time to research and form my own opinion. Your sense of reality is so distorted by your far right views its laughable.
Maybe your solution is to censor /control the media, that’s one of the basic tenets of the crowd you hang with is it not?
OH so now the media is to “blame” for the expanded playoffs? Has nothing to do with networks knowing they can increase viewership with more teams involved and the resultant fanbase tuning in?
The media has what brainwashed us all into watching?
Go back on your meds Bill.
Manfred has his head up his ass. This turns MLB into the NBA/NHL, only worse. Sixteen-team playoffs would water down everything baseball has meant for more than a century. Championships will mean nothing. You read his comments and you can see that he misunderstands true baseball fans. But maybe he doesn’t care about the beauty of baseball’s history and how it gets passed from generation to generation.
All of these gimmicky rule changes are terrible. The DH doesn’t make the National League more exciting, it’s monotonous. The automatic-runner-on-second doesn’t make extra innings more exciting, it makes victories feel cheap and scuffs up pitchers’ stats. The expanded playoffs might be worst of all because it’s quite conceivable we’ll have teams with losing records winning the World Series, and that’s just abominable.
Get baseball back to normal as soon as it’s safe to get baseball back to normal. If you want to change the rules, how about an automated strikezone?
Fact check- the runner on 2nd scoring does not count against the pitchers era.
I don’t like it myself, but for this yr with all the double headers it makes sense.
Just love how those who are dogmatic and against any change say they are the only “real” fans.
Another term comes to mind…. Arrogance
The runner on second does not count against era but it does give an L. I know wins and losses are not a great determining factor of a pitchers overall success but getting the L for a runner you are not responsible for feels unfair. I am a nl fan, im ok with dh, ok with 3 batter rule, but i dislike the runner on second and expanded playoffs. Expanded playoffs seems to be a way to get players to play more games for lesser pay.
@MarkoRock68 It isn’t “dogmatic” or “arrogance” to dislike rules or laws that are intended to end the game as quickly as possible.
When you claim to represent “true ” fans or real fans as if your view is the only correct one it is the definition of arrogance. The popularity has been on the decline ever since 1950, well before expansion or expanded playoffs. So some rule changes are likely badly needed to increase the games popularity. And before you deny the decrease take the time to google Sports Popularity Gallup and check out the info for yourself.
So supposedly popularity has gone down since the ‘50s (yet viewership and attendance is up, but whatever set that aside for a moment) but the sport has survived and thrived anyway. Popularity isn’t everything. This isn’t a competition with other sports. It won’t die because more folks like football. By your logic every form of music must conform to pop music, it’s fans be damned. Can’t call yourself a core fan or a true fan if your fandom is dependent on radically changing the thing you claim to be a fan of. “I’m a hardcore fan, but I want it totally changed” just doesn’t add up.
You do realize there has been population growth since the 1950’s right?
Google it – Gallup put out a graph showing percentage of people who identify which sport as their favorite.
And no i am not saying every sport has to be a clone of the other but decreasing attendance in recent years, an aging fan base. the advent of a few “super” teams and 40-50% of the teams tanking in an given year are not good for the sport.
By your way of thinking there would be no change or evolution of anything and we’d all still be hunter gatherers.
Just did some research – From a high in 2007 attendance has dropped by 11 million since then or 13.8% while at the same time US population has increased by 9.6% at the same time,
That is not a good trend for the health of the game. Anyone who doesn’t see that has blinders on.
Doesn’t mean the game is in danger, just less popular in proportion. Again, it’s not a popularity contest. The game is surviving, thriving. You would water down fine art in a rush to compete. Why so concerned about the sport being more popular than football? Who cares? And the hunter-gatherer argument you make is a perfect example of a logical fallacy. If you dislike baseball as it is so much might I suggest you go start your own sport, your own league. And you can radically change it every year just for the sake of change and an irrational desire to be more popular than something else.
I said nothing about radical change. Expanding the playoffs slightly in some format is not radical but i guess to some any change is scary.
You totally ignore all the evidence that baseball has problems.
You do know baseball exists outside LA/NY/Boston and Chicago right?
Anything other then the status quo is inferior in your book right?Your way is best and anyone who disagrees is wrong. There are words for that elitist/dogmatic are but a few.
The world must be a scary place for you. Clinging to the status quo against the tide of history.
Ugh. You’re just one fallacy after another, and then add personal insult to boot. I think I’ve made my point clearly and succinctly. Half the teams making the playoffs is certainly a radical change. But go ahead, explain how me not wanting such a change means I fear all change. Just ugh. I’ve made my point. I’m done.
See there you go again whenever someone has an opposing view- fallacy, inferior, status quo=common sense all dog whistles cosmos.
Just my opinion of course, but making this expanded play-offs format a permanent addition to MLB would be absolutely terrible for the game. In this COVID-19 infested Twilight Zone season, it may have served its purpose, but over a 162-game season? Manfred has got to be kidding us, which I very much doubt since MONEY is his motivation in this proposal.
How is it that in this great game, which used to be our National Pastime, the desire is there to become just like two other prominent sports leagues in America, the NHL and the NFL, where half of the league has very good chances of making it to the post-season? I just think that takes away from players’ motivation to perform at high levels most of the time. Major League Baseball has forever had its own sense of uniqueness but in so many ways Manfred and MLB have sissified the game and this just compounds the problem.
Gnappy
Interesting that you mention national pastime. i was just looking at a graph by Gallup showing the popularity of the NFL,NBA and MLB by decade.
Football passed baseball in the late 60’s
Basketball caught baseball in the mid 90’s and have been swapping 2nd and 3rd ever since.
Would be really interesting to know how that correlates with demographic changes, league expansion and major rule changes.
Football and basketball are more popular now for 2 reasons. First, both sports are easier for children to play. You need a ball, and in one case a hoop. That’s it. Baseball takes more equipment. Baseball costs more to play. Children grow up wanting to emulate their favorite players. It was easier to pretend to be Jordan or Manning in the backyard than it is/was to be Derek Jeter.
Secondly, the NFL and NBA do a better job at marketing. They embrace their stars. They make their games available to stream, even local ones. They interact more on social media. These are things young fans want.
You don’t need to fundamentally change the game to increase it’s popularity. It just needs to be marketed better.
I wouldn’t watch the NFL or NBA if I was paid to. Furthermore, I am not the only one, and that is based on the ratings which have gone down the s bend.
My thoughts are along these lines:
1 – DH: I’m okay with this. Pitchers usually can’t hit any way. For the ones that can, they can DH on off days – essentially making two-way players more common, which isn’t bad.
2 – Expanded Playoffs permanent? The only way I would be okay with that is with the expansion to 2 more teams. Right now, it only makes sense because of what happened this year.
3 – Expansion: I can deal with expanding by 2 more teams, and the thought of going beyond the U.S. and Canada. I like the Mexico idea. I would also consider Puerto Rico. In addition, I think the league should then go to a 4-division format in each league to accommodate the expanded, 8-team playoffs. However, it would be the 4 division champions and then the next 4 best teams – not the 2nd place teams since more often than not, there will be at least one weak division each year.
4 – Roster should be 26 for now and for early parts of an expansion.
5 – This is my personal add with expansion. I think we should have wholesale realignment. I would go to an Eastern League and Western League format, with divisions becoming regional. This helps with travel and it helps with the economics of the game. With the economics, you build regional rivalries which help build interest in smaller markets that don’t exist now. Also, it balances the playing field because markets tend to be similar regionally. An example would be divisions like the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox and perhaps Blue Jays in one division. In another division, you have Rays, Marlins, Braves, and perhaps an expansion team in Puerto Rico. You get Cubs and White Sox into the same division; Dodgers and Angels in the same division; Orioles and Nats in the same division; etc. etc.
Just my opinions.
I like them all I just want a bigger roster like 28 players , I like seeing moves in games..
This makes too much sense for them to do it ..
I wouldn’t have too much of a problem with bigger rosters if that’s what everyone wants.
My main one that I’d love to see would be realignment. The MLBPA isn’t likely to ever accept a salary cap, so making everything regional would make things more balanced, and build the rivalries in areas where baseball can use them.
I’d love a Western League and Eastern League format.
Go to markets where you know you can get a strong fanbase. Don’t go somewhere because it feels good.
Nashville is one. Pick another with a strong AAA fanbase. Indianapolis, Charlotte, Buffalo, Vegas, Louisville….
Definitely East/West with 8 teams per division.
Yeah, Nashville, Charlotte or Louisville could go into a Southeast division with the Marlins, Rays and Braves (if 4 team divisions); Indianapolis and Buffalo definitely Eastern League with Vegas into the Western League.
This would be some great stuff! Fun baseball seasons for generations!
I’d rather see 4 divisions total. Eight teams. Eliminates the 19 games played in the division where a pitcher could face the same team 5 times.
4 divisions or 8 divisions, it certainly will be better than what we have now.
@MarlinsFanBase: “Pitchers usually can’t hit any way.”
Back in the mid-’80s, I did a study on hitting by Red Sox pitchers (and they had a few good ones over the years). There was only one year in which their cumulative batting average was over .200 and that was about 1904.. By the time the DH started in the AL, their cumulative average had dropped into the .170’s. It was based on a study on pitchers’ batting done earlier by Bob Davids, the founder of SABR, and from data compiled by Pete Palmer, so I was able to eliminate things like Babe Ruth playing non-pitcher positions.
Exactly. There’s probably only a few here and there annually that are good enough to get some ABs. For those, they can be P-DHs like Otani.
I would just like to say nooooooo …it’s ok for this season and I want a bigger roster I like different players getting into games . Move the 40 man to a 50 man and rosters should be atleast 28 players next season .
16 teams 20 team playoffs and Pittsburgh bucs will still miss the playoffs every year .
Yeesh, we NBA now. Over half the teams get into the postseason? Why bother with the regular season when every team gets a participation trophy at this point?
I really don’t like this Manfred guy and his “big ideas” for the sport.
Manfred must be repositioned.
Pluto’s good.
I’m ok with keeping the DH in the National League but I’m not a fan of the NBA style playoff format. The NBA sees most of the bottom half of its playoff teams with .500 or worse records getting in the playoffs, if MLB were to do the same i believe it would cheapen the playoffs. MLB has never been about participation trophies to make teams feel special and it should start now
My only question would be is on the Double headers, let say they go to the 7 inning games . it would makes sense to me that they should give the fans 2 games than have the first game finish and empty the stadium and then let the fans in again for a later game like they do for 2 9 inning games . be nice to bring back the old time Doubleheaders with fans staying in the stadium , spending money on drinks and dogs and the players cant` be against it . it can be like playing a nine with extra innings . . 2 ,seven inning games will not kill them. Im for the DH and the International rule with a man on in extras?? they do it in the Olympics and abroad games in Europe so maybe it will be OK. But then again the Unions and the players have to vote and agree on it , and we all know what that’s like!
So why win the division? Why play 162? What’s the point if you can coast to a .500 record and make the playoffs. I get it, some really terrible but lucky teams might win a World Series. But you take the joy out of the regular season to cash in on a playoffs that just isn’t real. Does anyone really think a sub .500 team deserves to even compete for a World Series Championship? It just feels wrong.
OMG, this man is the Commissioner of baseball. WTF.
Woeful, rewarding mediocrity. Straight out of the book of ‘give everyone a prize, even when they’re below the benchmark or standard’, don’t keep score either. It is an utter farce. Get rid of Manfred, as he clearly does not understand.
Manfred understands money. There is money to be made with this idea. It cheapens the regular season without a doubt.
Giving a bye doesnt work. Baseball is more than any sport about repetiton and any lay off will throw hitters timing off. Also balance the schedule as “the True” best team cant be shown when the playing field isnt fair. Its like Man UTD getting to play Bolton 6 times but Liverpool only play them 3x. Nonsense. And while im ranting no more than 4 teams per league in the play offs. 3 Div winners and 1 WC best of 5 then 7 then 7 is perfect
what he really said was by expanding he doesnt have to fix baseball economics. lower market teams will have a better chance to get into the playoffs with the additional teams.
another bandaid on a gaping wound by mlb.
Well, I guess it’s easier than actually fixing the underlying problems regarding economics, how teams treat players on their rookie deals, and the current system that actually rewards long-term tanking and mismanagement.
This wouldn’t kill my interest, but it would make it like the NBA. You’re a playoff team? Big deal; you didn’t even win half of your games.
Manfred should be trying to improve the game itself. The league strikeout rate is 9 per 9 innings. Three teams are batting below .220. The Brewers have zero sac bunts all year. I’d be down to try lowering the mound again as baseball is becoming less watchable the less balls in play there are.
No. Raise the mound back to where it was in 1968. It will force hitters to adjust and become more contact-oriented. It will, I believe, lower TJS and keep pitchers healthy. Need to force the hitters to change their approach. Lowering the mound will cause more scoring, longer games and more injuries on the mound.
When the mound was higher, average velocity was much less and far fewer pitchers threw sliders or split-finger changeups. In 1968 hitters struck out only 5.89x per game, but they also scored only 3.42 runs and hit 237/299/340. MLB lowered the mound because pitching was choking the life out of the game.
Raise it again, and the K rate will go up, regardless of what the hitters try to do. Even if the velocity and movement don’t change (they will, to the advantage of pitchers), the ball will be coming in from a tougher angle, making it harder to put into play. You’d replace a certain % of hits, especially XBH, with Ks and weak popups.
Not sure how expanded playoffs turned into a talk about decreasing strikeouts. If you want to do that, which is not necessarily a good idea, deaden the ball. No matter what the launch angle, if hitters start seeing F8 instead of HR, they’ll respond. You could also try changing the speed of the infield playing surface to increase the chances of ground balls getting through, but technically that could be challenging. A dead ball and a fast infield would seem to work at cross purposes.
What you laid out is exactly what I want to see. Because what you said in paragraph 2 will force the players to adjust their approach.
Today’s hitters are different than 1968 and prior; extra protection on their front arm and optional face guard, they crowd the plate more, better balls and bats, stronger bodies with similar park dimensions. Foul ball areas are smaller these days with the modern parks.
That could lead to shorter games, longer careers for pitchers and more stars on the pitcher’s mound. It could also lead to tighter games with more strategy in late innings (maybe). The longball has become boring. Nearly everyone in the lineup can hit bombs. If it attracted fans they’d all watch the balls fly out like it’s going out of style.
Raise the mound and you increase strikeouts while decreasing every other aspect of offense. Hitters can change their approach all they want, Unless they bunt every time up, they’ll make less contact even if they’re trying to be Punch and Judy. Today’s velocity from 5 inches higher? Today’s explosive sliders from 5″ higher? They’d have to swing canoe paddles.
What would actually happen: Pitching dominates for 2-3 seasons, while strikeouts go up 30% percent, batting average / OBP plummets, and home runs decrease. Scoring drops to nothing. Extra inning games increase, MLB then says “This sucks” and goes back to the 10″ mound.
There’s no more strategy involved in trying to win a 1-1 game in the late innings than trying to win when it’s 5-5.
This would just be awful on so many levels. First off, having watched the NFL’s 17-game season nightmare unfold in real time as the CBA passed just at the outset of the pandemic, it sounds as if this is basically guaranteed to happen because once the horse leaves the barn or, in this case, the owners simply get a little taste, they will not relent until the get what they want. They will flash the dollar signs and players will cave. That has never NOT been the case in pro sports CBA negotiations.
Second, another frightening thought is that these things are ALWAYS one-way streets. The NFL will never go back to 16, only upwards to 18 and maybe one day 20. It’s not as if MLB will suddenly have an Ebenezer Scrooge moment, realize the error of its ways, and compromise back to something more sensible like 12 teams.
Speaking of which, 12 teams in the manner that the NFL did it through 2019 would make perfect sense. Hence, why it will never happen with this worse-than-Goodell puppet Manfred in charge. Again, 16 is in the owners’ heads, so there are never compromises on these things. It’s going to be one extreme or the other (and we know which one).
Okay, to the proposal itself. 16 team MLB playoff format – ARE YOU BLEEPING KIDDING ME?! The sport that has forever promised itself on being different and prided itself on the meaningfulness of its 162-game season? So long, division races. If you have two teams locked into playoff spots and no one-game playoff to be forced into, no one will truly care about winning their division. That will be completely de-incentivized. Mediocrity will be rewarded. Being an average baseball team will become good enough.
Baseball may believe this makes things more exciting but that novelty will fade, and fast. It will turn into the NBA playoffs where even an occasional upset will be met with disdain because a deserving team ran into some bad luck, injuries, etc. Manfred comes off like a little kid raving about how “everyone loves brackets.” Is that a fundamental reason to completely saturate a product that is already alienating fans left and right?
Shortening the regular season won’t happen either, so get that idea out of your heads. The only eliminating of games will be spring training, which is actually kind of a shame because even though they are meaningless, they are fun and enjoyable for the fans who get to attend games.
Fans of good teams will hate it, but will watch anyway. Many fans of the bottom half of the league previously stopped watching/attending most of the games in August when their team fell out of the race, but will now keep paying attention since they remain in the race. No more attendances of 9000 late in a season for a team with a .450 winning percentage. That’s bound to mean a lot more revenue, which is what the commissioner was hired to generate.
Spring training games aren’t going anywhere. It generates revenue, players don’t get paid for it (their prorated salaries this year treat spring training as free), and this season has shown you get more injuries without it. Owners would be happy to make spring training longer.
I second his idea.
How much more empty of an empty suite can Manfred become?
They’ll expand the playoffs and then wonder why no one is showing up for the regular season games.
Of course he does. He works or the owners, not the fans or the players. Players do not get paid for the playoffs. IF their team makes it to the World Series then they get a bonus. If not, they get nothing. About 10% of the revenue generated. So Manfred hopes the owners can continue get a bigger piece of the revenue pie of MLB that the PLAYERS make possible.
There is a reason they pay 162 games. To give us the BEST teams in the playoffs. We lose that with this type of playoffs with more than half the teams in the playoffs. We will have teams with losing records in the playoffs. ANY team, no matter how bad, can get lucky and win 3 out of 5 or 4 out of 7. It becomes about luck, not seeing the best compete.
Happy to see the expanded playoff format being considered longterm as it just makes August and September baseball relevant for so many more fans.
I’ve also been a big fan of the extra innings rule from the start and the execution of it makes me love it even more. Extra innings are now action packed with the game on the line at all times. Just makes more better entertainment product. Way better than the inevitable dead innings that can happen in extended games.
And makes it less relevant for fans of the teams that have all but clinched by August. Not sure it’s any more interesting for the second/third tier team fans, either. Six teams fighting for one of two wild card spots seems just as exciting, often more so, than twelve teams going for five spots. Just example numbers, obvs.
Why play 162 if you’re going to reward teams that finish within a couple games of .500? The regular season is HOW you qualify for the playoffs, it shouldn’t be a warm=up.
I don’t mind the current extra inning rules. Yeah, it’s not traditional. Pitcher lifespans being what they are, seems prudent to cut down on chances to consume an entire bullpen.
Colorado is currently 22-27 & is eligible for the playoffs this year. You want this for next year? Mighty Casey has just struck out.
There are about 6 teams in the NL flirting with 500. It won’t be fair if STL & MIA get
a higher seed because of H2H. STL 24-24 & CIN 26-26. If they fin 29-29 & 30-30
2nd place should go to the winner of yet another game betw them.
Best of 3 in an 8 seed format for each league is legit as the higher seed gets home field advantage. 8 @ 1, 7 @ 2, 6 @ 3, 5 @ 4. Each round is re-seeded based on regular season record. The only home field adv this year is getting to bat last in every game.
No freakin way 16 teams. I will take it for this yr since it’s only a 60 game season. But no more playoff expansion. 3 division winners and 2 wild card teams. only thing I would entertain is wild card teams be a best of 3 series. It’s not fair if you had 2 teams be a wild card teams if they won 90 plus games but one of division winners was 85 wins to have 90 plus win teams face each other in wild card in a 1 in done scenario.
Expanding the playoffs waters down the season as meaningless if 16 teams get in.
Any owners will never reduce the regular season to 154 games. Or will they EVER have contraction of a single team. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars lost per yr. I wouldn’t mind seeing expansion of 2 more teams 1 in Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic or eventually Cuba.
But I doubt them countries will ever be considered since it would hurt USA teams and Toronto talent pool if players would choose there own countries over coming to the state’s and national pride if they can make there same salaries in there home countries.
Good, ruin the game even more..maybe give a team mvp for the best kneelers.
Let’s make them play on roller skates. Seems to fit into Manfred’s plans to turn the game into a joke.
Idiot
Why would you wanna make anything that happened this year to be permanent?