2023 ALDS: Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles

[LowerWolf]

I know some people hated it, but I liked the one-game wild-card game. Win your division to avoid it.

The only thing I can really come up with under the current format is not giving a wild-card team a home game in the division series. So Atlanta, Los Angeles and Baltimore would have all five potential games at home. Houston/Minnesota would be the normal 2-2-1 since the Twins are a division champion.

The LCS and WS would be like normal if a wild card advances there.

[dickey1331]

Maybe there just isn’t a big gap between a division winner and a wildcard team hence why upsets are happening. Tampa didn’t have any rest and lost. Houston had rest and won. I’d much rather win the division then fly from Seattle to Tampa to Baltimore without playing at home.


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[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by LowerWolf

I know some people hated it, but I liked the one-game wild-card game. Win your division to avoid it. The only thing I can really come up with under the current format is not giving a wild-card team a home game in the division series. So Atlanta, Los Angeles and Baltimore would have all five potential games at home. Houston/Minnesota would be the normal 2-2-1 since the Twins are a division champion. The LCS and WS would be like normal if a wild card advances there.

If reducing the number of games is off the table, here's what I would do:

1. Reduce the number of divisions from 6 to 4

AL East: Blue Jays, Guardians, Orioles, Red Sox, Rays, Tigers, Yankees (all teams in Eastern time zone)

AL West: Angels, Astros, Athletics, Mariners, Rangers, Royals, Twins, White Sox

NL East: Braves, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, Phillies, Pirates, Reds (all teams in Eastern time zone)

NL West: Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Rockies, Padres

2. Change the schedule

8-team divisions: 68 division games (9-10 games vs each), 49 interdivision games (7 games vs each), 45 interleague games (3 games vs each)

7-team divisions: 61 division games (10-11 games vs each), 56 interdivision games (7 games vs each), 45 interleague games (3 games vs each)

3. Change the postseason format

2 Division winners in each league receive byes, seeded 1st/2nd

4 wild cards (best records regardless of division, so in theory all could be from the same division) play best-of-3 (3 vs 6, 4 vs 5)

Wild card winners are re-seeded, NFL style, for the LDS (ie, if the top-seeded division winner always plays the lowest-surviving seed)

The LDS remains a best-of-5, but the division winners play all 5 games at home, and on consecutive days (ie, it's impossible to use a starter twice on full rest)

No change to LCS or World Series format

This wouldn't really require any radical changes. All division rivalries are maintained (except maybe Cubs/Brewers?), division winners get a bigger reward (more home games, greater depth more of a factor), speeds up the postseason schedule a bit by losing LDS off-days, the division restructure is already set up for expansion (especially if neither new team is located in the Eastern time zone). The only complaints I can see would come from wild card teams not being able to host playoff games until the LCS, to which my response would be, "WIN YOUR DIVISION!"

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by dickey1331

Maybe there just isn’t a big gap between a division winner and a wildcard team hence why upsets are happening. Tampa didn’t have any rest and lost. Houston had rest and won. I’d much rather win the division then fly from Seattle to Tampa to Baltimore without playing at home. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Agreed. I don’t know that I would call these “upsets” because it’s a buzzword for a talking point.

The Rangers and Orioles split their season series at 3-3. The Braves bested the Phillies 8-5. Twins were 4-2 vs Astros and Dodgers were 8-5 vs Diamondbacks, and Dodgers are without Buehler, May and Urias.

The format is fine imo


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[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by dickey1331

Maybe there just isn’t a big gap between a division winner and a wildcard team hence why upsets are happening.

There isn't, that's the point. If you're just as likely to win the World Series by scraping into the playoffs than by winning 100 games and your division, why bother worrying about (and spending extra money on) trying to win 100 games in the first place? All you get for your troubles are a few extra days off (that you don't really want or need), and get labelled as chokers if you lose a coinflip.

The NHL runs into this a lot as well. Results aren't as random as baseball, but far more than the NFL or NBA. Being a top seed earns you a big fat target on your back, but few real advantages.

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

Agreed. I don’t know that I would call these “upsets” because it’s a buzzword for a talking point. The Rangers and Orioles split their season series at 3-3. The Braves bested the Phillies 8-5. Twins were 4-2 vs Astros and Dodgers were 8-5 vs Diamondbacks, and Dodgers are without Buehler, May and Urias. The format has a fine imo

You're right, none of these results are really upsets. But if you win 100 games, you're still expected to win by fans/media/organization, therefore the pressure's greater, even if your chances of winning aren't. The Pujols-era Cardinals performed much better in the postseasons in which they just snuck in, as opposed to their regular season juggernauts.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by DrJones

You're right, none of these results are really upsets. But if you win 100 games, you're still expected to win by fans/media/organization, therefore the pressure's greater, even if your chances of winning aren't. The Pujols-era Cardinals performed much better in the postseasons in which they just snuck in, as opposed to their regular season juggernauts.

I understand that but because they don’t doesn’t equate to needing to change the system or give them a greater advantage.

The system isn’t going to revert back to its former self nor will the owners ever agree to a format where the higher seed in the LDS plays every game at home.

Myself I enjoy the parity that the baseball playoffs provide vs that of say the NBA. And I hope the powers at be, don’t find or search for ways to disrupt that parity


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[ImTellinTim]

Not trying to be a dick, but the word you're looking for is "parity".

The spelling "parody" is what Weird Al does with songs.