There should only be 6 playoff teams

[Greenpastures23]

The play-in game is a joke, but I don't count that as the playoffs since it's a game to get in the playoffs.

 

Were people complaining when it was 4 teams? To me that was the best because it really awarded the best

Edited September 13, 2021 by Greenpastures23

[Yardball85]

When I started following baseball, there were 8 teams, 4 from each league.  I was resistant to the second wild card addition in 2012, but it does make things more interesting and allow more teams to "go for it" at the deadline.  I did not care for what they did last year with 8 playoff teams, but thankfully, that was only due to COVID. 

[ArtVanDelay]

Yeah let’s have 6 playoff teams so the Orioles can make it once every 25 years. 

[waroriole]

I like the system as is. It rewards the division winners and avoids a situation where the best team in baseball isn’t shut out because the Giants won one more game. 

[Can_of_corn]

I'd rather they kill the division and let the best four teams from each league advance.

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, Greenpastures23 said:

The play-in game is a joke, but I don't count that as the playoffs since it's a game to get in the playoffs.

 

Were people complaining when it was 4 teams? To me that was the best because it really awarded the best

In 1989 the Blue Jays made the playoffs with 89 wins.  The Angels and Royals had more wins and stayed home.

[RZNJ]

Let's face it.  The truest form was each division winner making the playoffs.  Before that, it was the best team from each league.   They keep letting more teams in to maintain fan interest and viewership.  It works.     The more teams you let in, the less reward for what you did in the regular season.   A team with 88 wins might knock out a team with 100 wins.  

[Moose Milligan]

I'm fine with the way things are now.  MLB struggles terribly with keeping fans involved and this works.

I wouldn't want them to expand it any more, though.

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I'm fine with the way things are now.  MLB struggles terribly with keeping fans involved and this works.

I wouldn't want them to expand it any more, though.

You don't think the 2015 O's squad deserved a shot at the title?

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

You don't think the 2015 O's squad deserved a shot at the title?

No.

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Let's face it.  The truest form was each division winner making the playoffs.  Before that, it was the best team from each league.   They keep letting more teams in to maintain fan interest and viewership.  It works.     The more teams you let in, the less reward for what you did in the regular season.   A team with 88 wins might knock out a team with 100 wins.  

Yup.  When I was first a fan, there were two ten-team leagues and the winner of each league played in the WS, period.   Even when they went to having two six-team divisions, there were years like 1980 where the Orioles won 100 games but didn’t make the playoffs because the Yankees won 103. 

I kind of like the play-in game because it penalizes the team that didn’t win its division.   When there was only one wild card that team essentially stood on equal footing with the three division winners.   Now they risk being one and done, so there’s a huge incentive to win the division rather than being a wild card.  
 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

29 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'd rather they kill the division and let the best four teams from each league advance.

If it goes that route, I would prefer a return to the balanced schedule if it's going to be the four best records. Playing in a division with a team like the Orioles or Diamondbacks is a good way to boot win totals with the current scheduling format. 

[ShoelesJoe]

I remember one point late in the '84 season where the Orioles in the AL East had a better record than any team in the AL West, but were also farther out of first place than any team in the AL West. When the playoffs involved division winners only it seemed every year some deserving team was shut out of the post season due to the vagaries of geography (Atlanta Braves in the NL West?) or being the second best team in the league but having the best team in your same division. 

I like the current setup with two sudden death games to cull the wild card winners, and then the better division winners having home field advantage. At least it's not the NHL where every team with a winning record makes the playoffs. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

If it goes that route, I would prefer a return to the balanced schedule if it's going to be the four best records. Playing in a division with a team like the Orioles or Diamondbacks is a good way to boot win totals with the current scheduling format. 

Sure.  Would probably make sense to redo the leagues as well to cut down on travel.

[GuidoSarducci]

No. It shouldn’t be easier for teams coming from a weak division. 

I think it’s fine as it is now.

Crazy to think if they added one more playoff team, right now it would be the Blue Jays, so all three wild card spots would come from the Al East.

Yeah, our division is that hard.

Maybe they could just ditch the divisions, balance the schedule and take two teams with the best record from each league.