Baseball is currently discussing how to launch the 2021 season. One of the topics is a shorter season with expanded MLB playoffs. Several years ago, I wrote something like this up, showed it to a few friends, and got plenty of laughs. I’m with them, I don’t think MLB would ever do something this radical…..but sometimes you have to start with a radical idea to get any change. So, here is my proposal for the second season (note: I will also write about realignment, expansion, the DH and the regular season at some date). Oh, and I have no idea where my original proposal is…..so this may get an edit or two after posting once I have some time away and can re-look at the numbers….
You’ll note I call this the second season, not the playoffs. That’s because I think MLB should make a big deal about the regular season winner. This is a second season in my mind. A different season than the first. You can call it playoffs, or post-season, or whatever you want (yup, I know that’s likely to be some disparaging phrase…..).
The primary goals of this change:
• Make the regular season matter for every team, all the way to the end of the year.
• Reward the best teams in the regular season with major advantages in the second season.
• Keep the two leagues separate until the World Series.
Right now, way too many fans root for teams that are out of the playoffs from day one, or June, or if they are lucky, August. This plan changes that dramatically. Also, there really isn’t much advantage to teams for being great in the regular season. Or, even ok rather than bad. I’m not going to cover the money aspects here, but the best way to incentivize teams is with money. So, in a future article, we’ll talk about money and the second season. For now, let’s get to the big changes.
• Every team makes the second season.
• The best teams (teams with better records) get byes.
• Teams with better records start with advantages in series.
Every team makes the second season because we are trying to keep fans of every team paying attention during the regular season, and to give every team an incentive to win every game possible. Baseball needs more / new / more engaged fans. In most ways the games should not change (ok, maybe there should be a universal DH…..), but the consequences of the games should change. Surprisingly, letting every team into the second season changes the incentives for teams much more than saying 30-40% of the teams make it.
Teams with better regular season records get advantages, they get real rewards for their regular season success. The biggest advantage is to move onto later rounds with no chance of losing. That’s why certain teams get byes, and not just in round 1. The next best advantage is to have to win less games to advance than your opponent.
With that brief overview, let’s jump into the actual proposal! Each round until the World Series is the same in each league, so we’ll just describe what happens in each league.
(updated to reflect the second and third rounds are best of 2 and 4)
New MLB Playoff Rounds
Round 1 (aka, Play-In Round)
The four teams with the worst records play in round 1. They play a one-game “series” to see who advances to round 2. Team one hosts team four, team two hosts team three (that type of system stays in future rounds, with the teams ranked best record to worst regardless of division winner status once division winners must play). This round takes place two days after the regular season ends. At the end of this round, thirteen teams remain in each league.
Round 2
Round 2 consists of the two teams that advanced, and the next four teams with the worst remaining records that are not a division winner (so, if a division winner is one of the teams that would be in that four, they are not in the round, but the next worst team is), for a six-team field. All series in this round are best of two. This series takes place starting two days after Round 1.
The three teams with the better records host games one and two on back-to-back days and need to win only one game to advance. The three other teams must win both games to advance.
After round 2, ten teams remain in each league.
Round 3
This round also features three matchups in each league, so the next three teams with the worst records (excluding division winners again) play the three advancing teams. This round is best of four, with the three new teams having to win two games to advance (meaning the three that advanced from the last round must win three games). The better team hosts games 1 and 2. This series starts one day after the latest round 2 can go (even if every series goes short, the round starts on the day as if it went the distance).
At the end of this round, seven teams remain in each league.
Round 4
The last of the six-team matchups. The team with the best record in each league gets one more bye! These are five game series, with the three new teams hosting games one, two, and five (if needed). No team has an advantage at this point, other than home field. So, any team must win three games to advance. The round starts two days after the last series in both leagues’ round 3 ends, so the date is variable. If this is not acceptable, start it two days after the latest round 3 can go.
At the end of this round, four teams remain.
League Semi-Finals
Finally, the best team in each league must play. They play the team with the worst record of those that advanced. These are seven game series, with the better two teams hosting games one, two, six and seven (as needed). This round starts two days after the last series in this league ends, so the date is variable and can be different for each league.
League Championships
The two winners advance to a seven-game series. The team with the best record hosts games one, two, six and seven (as needed). This round starts two days after the last series in this league ends, so the date is variable and can be different for each league.
The World Series
The two remaining teams (one from each league) play each other in a seven-game series, as today, starting two days after the last league championship game is played.
In Summary, Too Much Advantage?
At the end of the day, the team with the best record in each division must only play in one round to make the World Series. This might be too much of an advantage……And I’ll post alternative proposals over the next two weeks laying out how to change that. In the meantime, feel free to approve of, or rip, or anything in between, this proposal in the comments.