Plan the parade: MLB playoffs WILL expand

[Michael Bradley]

Here is the funny part. Assuming the added playoff team will be the team with the 2nd best record of all non-division winners, here are the five teams that would have made the playoffs in the AL since 2000 had that new format been in effect.....

2000: Yankees, White Sox, A's, Mariners, Indians
2001: Yankees, Indians, Mariners, A's, Twins
2002: Yankees, Twins, A's, Angels, Mariners/Red Sox (both with 93 wins)
2003: Yankees, Twins, A's, Red Sox, Mariners
2004: Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox, A's
2005: Yankees, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Indians
2006: Yankees, Twins, A's, Tigers, Angels
2007: Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Yankees, Tigers/Mariners (both with 88 wins)
2008: Rays, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees
2009: Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox, Rangers
2010: Rays, Twins, Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox

So had the expanded playoffs come into effect in 2000, the Jays with all their great pythags and expected wins and run differential, etc, would have made the playoffs exactly.....zero times.

Keep the freakin' playoff format the way it is (!!!) but change the unbalanced schedule. Problem solved. Instead, they will just add one more playoff team in each league and keep the unbalanced schedule, so the Jays don't benefit regardless.

I hope we don't see a watered down playoffs like the NBA currently has. Two new playoff teams just opens the door for more to be added in the future. Not very exciting, IMO.

[evilRyu]

You can't deny the fact that every team would have played differently if an extra spot was added. The added element of "hope" gives fans, management, and players an extra kick in the arse. What I'm saying is that you can't bring up past results and draw conclusions

In the final weeks of September, if you were the 6th or 7th best team, you would need to leap-frog 2 and 3 teams respectively, a tough task. With this format, you now cut down the number of teams from 1 and 2 teams respectively, a big change in the mindset of the players, fans, and management. That'll generate excitement, and result in more meaningful games.

[jrsmith]

Here is the funny part. Assuming the added playoff team will be the team with the 2nd best record of all non-division winners, here are the five teams that would have made the playoffs in the AL since 2000 had that new format been in effect.....

2000: Yankees, White Sox, A's, Mariners, Indians
2001: Yankees, Indians, Mariners, A's, Twins
2002: Yankees, Twins, A's, Angels, Mariners/Red Sox (both with 93 wins)
2003: Yankees, Twins, A's, Red Sox, Mariners
2004: Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox, A's
2005: Yankees, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Indians
2006: Yankees, Twins, A's, Tigers, Angels
2007: Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Yankees, Tigers/Mariners (both with 88 wins)
2008: Rays, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees
2009: Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox, Rangers
2010: Rays, Twins, Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox

So had the expanded playoffs come into effect in 2000, the Jays with all their great pythags and expected wins and run differential, etc, would have made the playoffs exactly.....zero times.

Keep the freakin' playoff format the way it is (!!!) but change the unbalanced schedule. Problem solved. Instead, they will just add one more playoff team in each league and keep the unbalanced schedule, so the Jays don't benefit regardless.

I hope we don't see a watered down playoffs like the NBA currently has. Two new playoff teams just opens the door for more to be added in the future. Not very exciting, IMO.

This. I would much rather they make everything fair and give us a real shot but I suppose false hope is just as good.

[Shimso]

If this were implemented last year, the Jays would've been just 4 games back of a playoff spot....

[dagger]

If this were implemented last year, the Jays would've been just 4 games back of a playoff spot....

Fortunately it's not being implemented this season, and if some of our young hopes regress (think Cecil, Snider in particular) and Lind/Hill flatline again, it won't be much comfort in 2012 either. This team has a few serious kinks to work out before they can even think of winning enough games to get that extra spot.

[WpgPage]

Really interested to see how they try and work this out, 1 game winner goes to the playoffs??? Can't do a 3 game set would take way to long and be very unfair to one team or the other.

[SharoneWright]

Not sure I like it. To me, the playoffs are already expanded with the extra divisions plus a wilcard. We're gonna play 162 games to whittle away only 66.6% of the teams... I could be talked into it, but I'm left feeling a little lukewarm by this. Different playoff systems have different reasons to be liked - MLB can't ever replicate March Madness.

[Schad]

You can't deny the fact that every team would have played differently if an extra spot was added.

And one thing that this might change is the degree to which middle-of-the-road teams binge and purge in the trade/free agent markets, especially those teams who don't play in the AL and NL West (and are thus in contention most years that they win more than 80 games). That strikes me as a good thing.

On the unbalanced schedule, I agree...that really ought to change. Unfortunately, it's such a profit center that MLB will never even consider altering it, which means that half-measures like this become much more palatable.

[Randle McMurphy]

Here is the funny part. Assuming the added playoff team will be the team with the 2nd best record of all non-division winners, here are the five teams that would have made the playoffs in the AL since 2000 had that new format been in effect.....

2000: Yankees, White Sox, A's, Mariners, Indians
2001: Yankees, Indians, Mariners, A's, Twins
2002: Yankees, Twins, A's, Angels, Mariners/Red Sox (both with 93 wins)
2003: Yankees, Twins, A's, Red Sox, Mariners
2004: Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox, A's
2005: Yankees, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Indians
2006: Yankees, Twins, A's, Tigers, Angels
2007: Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Yankees, Tigers/Mariners (both with 88 wins)
2008: Rays, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees
2009: Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox, Rangers
2010: Rays, Twins, Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox

So had the expanded playoffs come into effect in 2000, the Jays with all their great pythags and expected wins and run differential, etc, would have made the playoffs exactly.....zero times.

Keep the freakin' playoff format the way it is (!!!) but change the unbalanced schedule. Problem solved. Instead, they will just add one more playoff team in each league and keep the unbalanced schedule, so the Jays don't benefit regardless.

I hope we don't see a watered down playoffs like the NBA currently has. Two new playoff teams just opens the door for more to be added in the future. Not very exciting, IMO.

Yep, the extra playoff spot will have no effect at all unless the Jays still become much better than they are. The unbalanced schedule is a killer.

[Hoopstarr]

Here is the funny part. Assuming the added playoff team will be the team with the 2nd best record of all non-division winners, here are the five teams that would have made the playoffs in the AL since 2000 had that new format been in effect.....

2000: Yankees, White Sox, A's, Mariners, Indians
2001: Yankees, Indians, Mariners, A's, Twins
2002: Yankees, Twins, A's, Angels, Mariners/Red Sox (both with 93 wins)
2003: Yankees, Twins, A's, Red Sox, Mariners
2004: Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox, A's
2005: Yankees, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Indians
2006: Yankees, Twins, A's, Tigers, Angels
2007: Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Yankees, Tigers/Mariners (both with 88 wins)
2008: Rays, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees
2009: Yankees, Twins, Angels, Red Sox, Rangers
2010: Rays, Twins, Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox

So had the expanded playoffs come into effect in 2000, the Jays with all their great pythags and expected wins and run differential, etc, would have made the playoffs exactly.....zero times.

Keep the freakin' playoff format the way it is (!!!) but change the unbalanced schedule. Problem solved. Instead, they will just add one more playoff team in each league and keep the unbalanced schedule, so the Jays don't benefit regardless.

I hope we don't see a watered down playoffs like the NBA currently has. Two new playoff teams just opens the door for more to be added in the future. Not very exciting, IMO.

I know you're being sarcastic, but technically with the run differentials, the Jays would've made the playoffs twice in the period and that's excluding the "going for it" factor. I agree that expansion is mostly useless for us if the unbalanced schedule stays.

[evilRyu]

Yep, the extra playoff spot will have no effect at all unless the Jays still become much better than they are. The unbalanced schedule is a killer.

But you can't just look at past year's results, slap on the 5th best team, and conclude that the Jays wouldn't have made it. In fact, it's not possible to conclude that the top-4 finishers that Michael Bradley listed would still finish top-4 (if 5 teams were to make it to the playoffs in those years). More teams will feel like they'll have a "chance", and play more meaningful games, which will alter the results.

[baulderdash77]

The truth is that the expanded playoffs make the Jays buyers rather than sellers for the next several years.

I think that with the playoffs attainable I could us making a big talent consolidation move to get more stars..

[Michael Bradley]

With the unbalanced schedule, teams from the Central and West are far more likely to grab the second Wild Card than the Jays are. In my 2000-2010 example, the only time three teams from the East would have made it in that format was 2008 and 2010, and it took 89 wins from the 3rd place East team to make that happen. If you say "we can't use that because some teams may have added talent at the deadline if they had a shot at the playoffs", that's true, but it works both ways. The Yankees likely folded in 2008 when they knew they couldn't catch Boston and Tampa. So maybe those 89 games they won in 2008 turn into more than that if they cared about securing an extra spot. Maybe if the Jays felt they had a shot to win the extra WC in 2010, they push Brandon Morrow harder than they did and he ends up performing worse than his replacements after he was shut down (i.e. maybe they win less because of it). Of course there will be variables involved in the example. I just put it out there to show that it doesn't really help the Jays make it. They still have to be a 90-ish win team to have a chance, and even then they will have to go through a "pity" round to get to the real playoffs.

I'd rather they can the unbalanced schedule and keep the playoff format the way it is. No sense in even having a Wild Card if they use an unbalanced schedule.

[Dr Positivity]

So good!