Something that never seemed fair to me...

[Don Quixote]

I like it, but I think maybe there should be some form of a greater incentive to win the league in the regular season than just getting to play the third wildcard team.

If you're hinting at a bye, that would likely mean a contraction to six playoff teams (as opposed to an NFL-style 12) so the season could end before Thanksgiving. The league champion would have a bye and have home field advantage in the LCS, while the #2 seed would host the #3 seed in the division series. I wouldn't count on it, though.

[DrungoHazewood]

I like it, but I think maybe there should be some form of a greater incentive to win the league in the regular season than just getting to play the third wildcard team.

I'd give them a big league championship trophy, a $100k a head bonus, and give them the pennant. Then call the World Series winner the postseason tournament champ.

[Avsfan]

Portland would be worse than a team in Miami or Pittsburgh...there is a reason why the Blazers are the only pro team in Oregon.

[DrungoHazewood]

Portland would be worse than a team in Miami or Pittsburgh...there is a reason why the Blazers are the only pro team in Oregon.

If baseball made it a priority they could set up a system where cities like Portland could easily support a Major League team. They just don't care to, they prefer a top-heavy structure where smaller cities have to fight for scraps to exist. There's really no difference besides history in the baseball market size of Cincy, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Cleveland, Portland, Sacramento, Indianapolis, San Antonio, and probably 15 or 20 other cities.

I think one of baseball's goals should be to craft a system where there's an abundance of cities where teams could thrive, instead of one where there's a threshold where below which you can almost never compete with big markets. I prefer a sport where the most people can see high level baseball and get really invested in their own teams, instead of the current one where success is defined by having the most people root for New York, Boston, LA and Chicago.