Yesterday I laid out my first proposal for changing the MLB playoffs. Today, we look at a bracket-style system. The goals remain pretty much the same: Incentivize teams to win more in the regular season; reward division winners; increase fan interest (and playoff revenue). This system resembles the NCAA basketball system, which seems like a good idea given its popularity. It has two game series, and gives the better teams byes.
One reason for this version: In the first version the best teams sat out too long, mostly from a fan perspective, but also IMO, it gave the best team too much reward for its post season success.
The leagues start one day apart, so that there are no days without baseball for at least six days, more likely at least two weeks. So, one year the A.L. starts on day one and the N.L. starts on day two. Then, the next year, the N.L. starts on day one…..et. cetera. Teams are seeded by record, with the exception being that the three division winners are seeded 1-3 (by record). Team 4 is the team with the best record that did not win its division, and so on. In this case, assume the A.L plays day 1 and 3 and 4 (etc.) and the N.L. plays days 2, 4 and 5, etc.
MLB Playoffs – The first two Bracket Rounds
Day 1
On Day 1 (or 2 for the other league), four teams meet at a neutral site. To make sure it is neutral, the A.L. teams play in an N.L park, and vice versa. Team 12 meets team 15, and teams 13 and 14 meet. The winners play 90 minutes later to see who advances to Day 3..
Round 2: Days 3 and 4
On days 3 and 4, the winner from day one and the teams with the next seven worst records, excluding any division winner, meet for two game series. This could be another double header, but I don’t love that idea…..Just as with the NCAA brackets, the best team meets the worst team, so team 5 meets the winner from the previous bracket, team 6 meets team 11, team 7 meets team 10, and teams 8 and 9 meet. This is a two game series, meaning the better team needs to win one game, while the worse team needs to win two games to advance. The better team either hosts both games, or just the first game.
Round 3: Days 6 and 7
The last of our two-game series starts on day 6. That gives the three division winners and the next best team 5 days to rest before they have to play a game. The lowest seeded team that advanced from the last round plays team 1. Team 1 must win one game, or team (we’ll say 8) must win two games to advance.
League Semi-Finals and Championship:
(Days 9 – 12 (or 9 – 15) and then days 14 (or 17) or sooner if desired)
The semi-finals is either a best of three or best of five series between the four remaining teams. The last two teams standing then play in the league championship on day 14 or 17 if pre-scheduled, or two days after the previous round ends. The finals are a five or seven game series between the last two teams standing.
Summary of games needed to advance
Any of the four worst teams would need to win 4 series, meaning 6 games (in 7 days) in a row to make it to semi-finals. They need to win two one-game series, then two, two-game series in a row. They can’t lose any games to get there.
The next three would need to win two, two-game series, meaning 4 games in a row, to advance to the semi-finals. They start as the lower seed in any round, so they need to win both games in two, two-game series to advance. They cannot lose any games to get there, but don’t have to play in round 1.
Teams 5 -8 need to win one game in their first round (in two tries if needed) and then two games in their next two-game series. So, they could lose their first game and still advance. In any event, they need to win three games in a row to get to the semi-finals.
Teams 1-4 need to win one game in their first round (in two tries if needed) to advance. This is a good-sized advantage, but they can still lose.
Each team needs to win the same number of games the rest of the way. In the brackets below, we assume the better teams wins to show who advances. Teams are re-seeded after round 2, so the order we show that table in doesn’t really matter.
| Day 1 | ||
| 15 | ||
| 12 | 12 | |
| 14 | 13 | 12 |
| 13 |
| Days 3 and 4 | |
| 12 (must win 2) | |
| 5 (needs 1 win) | 5 |
| 11 (must win 2) | |
| 6 (needs 1 win) | 6 |
| 10 (must win 2) | |
| 7 (needs 1 win) | 7 |
| 9 (must win 2) | |
| 8 (needs 1 win) | 8 |
| Round 3 | |
| 8 (must win 2) | |
| 1 (needs 1 win) | 1 |
| 5 (must win 2) | |
| 4 (needs 1 win) | 4 |
| 6 (must win 2) | |
| 3 (needs 1 win) | 3 |
| 7 (must win 2) | |
| 2 (needs 1 win) | 2 |
| Semi-Finals (Best of 3 or 5) | Championship Round (Best of 5 or 7) |
| 1 | |
| 4 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 2 |