MLB response to tanking: more playoff teams?

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

40 minutes ago, waroriole said:

NBA has 16 postseason teams and they’re the poster child league for tanking. Not sure how this helps. 

I agree. I don't really see how more playoff teams would limit tanking. I think the only way to really combat it is if there is a salary floor.

Or relegation. But that will never happen.

[Tony-OH]

21 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

One thing I have heard is that they do want to go back to 154 game schedule. That was tied to going with 32 teams though. 

I used to be against that because of the importance of setting regular season records, but after Barry Bongs sterioded most records out of reach, I'm all for it if it will help the season not end at the end of October.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

26 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Right or wrong Manfred likes to throw ideas out there to get people talking. 

I’m not sure how “fire Manfred!” chatter is encouraging for him.

[oriole]

A bye in baseball is sort of silly. A team can be on a roll and then it’s gone after not playing a full week 

[atomic]

I would like to go back to 4 playoff teams total.  If you play 162 games that should be enough to pair it down to 4 teams.  I don’t see a need for a wild card and bigger divisions would be more enjoyable so you aren’t playing the same team 15 times a year.

[Yossarian]

I would be more in favor of splitting the season up into two seasons (essentially wiping the slate clean halfway through the summer).  Winners of each of the mini-seasons would meet in the end of season playoffs.  If the same team won both mini-seasons, the runners up would be included.  This would eliminate teams tanking in July when they eliminated from contention.  It would also make the mid-season trades more interesting (and more strategic) and perhaps provide incentive for teams to not sell off star players mid-season.  Teams that suffered major injuries or slow starts in the first half of the season would still have a chance for a playoff run in the second half.

[Orioles0615]

Or they could just make a salary floor like they should do if the want to stop extreme tanking. 

[eddie83]

14 minutes ago, andrewochs615 said:

Or they could just make a salary floor like they should do if the want to stop extreme tanking. 

I think it is foolish to make teams like the Orioles sign the available FA’s who aren’t good enough for contenders to want. It is a fake effort to be more competitive. 

If they are going to have a floor it should be tied to a period of time, say 6/8/10 years. I think teams should be able to do what the Orioles are doing. That way teams can’t be cheap over a long period of time. 

[Legend_Of_Joey]

18 minutes ago, Yossarian said:

I would be more in favor of splitting the season up into two seasons (essentially wiping the slate clean halfway through the summer).  Winners of each of the mini-seasons would meet in the end of season playoffs.  If the same team won both mini-seasons, the runners up would be included.  This would eliminate teams tanking in July when they eliminated from contention.  It would also make the mid-season trades more interesting (and more strategic) and perhaps provide incentive for teams to not sell off star players mid-season.  Teams that suffered major injuries or slow starts in the first half of the season would still have a chance for a playoff run in the second half.

This is what most, if not all, Minor League leagues do. It can actually make the season a bit more exciting.

[eddie83]

40 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I used to be against that because of the importance of setting regular season records, but after Barry Bongs sterioded most records out of reach, I'm all for it if it will help the season not end at the end of October.

The fact that they have bumped up the regular season really shows they don’t want to go into November. 

[Beef Supreme]

1 hour ago, eddie83 said:

One thing I have heard is that they do want to go back to 154 game schedule. That was tied to going with 32 teams though. 

That's how they need to revise their playoff format -- 154 games, 2 leagues, two divisions per league, eight teams per division. Season ends @ September 22. The division winners get byes while the four wildcards per league play 3-game series to determine which teams meet up with the division winners. Thereon, all series are best of 7. World Series never stretches into November.

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, oriole said:

A bye in baseball is sort of silly. A team can be on a roll and then it’s gone after not playing a full week 

Well, it's just a 3 game series.   If they eliminate travel days, it's not that long a bye.

Even last year, the season ended on a Sunday.   One wild card game was Tuesday, one was Wednesday, and the league that played its wildcard on Tuesday started its division series on Thursday, while the league that played its wildcard on Wednesday started its division series on Friday.

So even with the 1 game playoff, three teams didn't play between Sunday and Friday.   And they probably rested all their starters on Sunday too.

If you play these division series Tue-Wed-Thu (have to leave Monday for possible tiebreak games as always), you could start the division round on Saturday, so it might only add one day off, and only for the top team in each league.   I don't think it's that big a deal.

[Number5]

1 hour ago, atomic said:

I would like to go back to 4 playoff teams total.  If you play 162 games that should be enough to pair it down to 4 teams.  I don’t see a need for a wild card and bigger divisions would be more enjoyable so you aren’t playing the same team 15 times a year.

$.

[incubus]

If they’re going to do this, add 2 more teams and create a 4 team division system like the NFL. I don’t want to see 4 wild cards in the play-offs, Kinda lame.

4 division winners, 3 wild cards both leagues.

[hoosiers]

A non-competitive team is a non-competitive team - period.  These proposals do little to help smaller market teams compete in anything other than a cycle.  And given how high payrolls go as teams compete, when does MLB expect an owner to make a profit if not during rebuilding years - so IMO a salary floor is artificial and stupid.

The BEST way to insure teams like the Os or Royals or Reds or Padres or similar teams can compete more frequently and perhaps have shorter or less rebuild cycles is to either skew the draft slots toward these teams MORE than the current set-up (either through additional draft picks or more draft $ that can be used to sign better players before or after the 10th round), alter the 40 man roster for smaller market teams (let them keep more than 40) or something in the spirit of the above two ideas that  help smaller market teams build and retain more competitive rosters.   

I think adding more teams to the playoffs simply insures that the LAD, NYY and other high payroll organizations have a lower hurdle to get to the post-season.  To me, nothing hurts those teams more than when they miss the playoffs.