For whatever reason, amidst all the other vastly more important things going on in the world of baseball currently, a proposed playoff restructuring was recently leaked.
Predictably, it was met with the usual overdone fervor that endears the sport to everyone over 55 years old. Truthfully, once baseball fans are done shooing all the kids off their lawns, it may dismay them to find out that some of these proposed rule changes ... gasp! ... might be good? Let's take a look:
Expanding the playoffs to 14 teams
This has seemed to be a weirdly tough sell. Making a playoff run is exciting! It's fun! And being in the playoffs? That's even MORE fun. I'm curious how much fans would hate the larger playoff pool when their team is two games out of the seventh seed in mid-August. Exclusivity has its thrills, but Cleveland won 93 games last year and watched from their couches. After that ugly homestand in late August, the Cubs played a month of awkward, meaningless games. Imagine if, after ALL that, they'd *still* be in the hunt. Are the Old Ways so worth protecting that you'd rather tune out with six weeks left? We both know you're not going to be ready to read about Mitch Trubisky's revenge season before you absolutely have to, so let's let baseball matter for longer stretches of time.
Making the first round a best-of-three series
This is a cash grab, which renders any posturing about more TV drama moot. Granted, this gives those great second place teams a chance to not be eliminated before people even know they're in the playoffs, but after a looooooong season, there's something undeniably fun about the immediate pivot into single-elimination games. Since adding a second wild card team in 2012, those opening rounds have consistently been bonkers; think A's-Royals in 2014, Blue Jays-O's in 2016, or even Cubs-Rockies from 2018. Hell, there's a convincing argument out there that the Nats-Brewers Wild Card game is what sparked D.C.'s title run. Maybe making all these matchups a week-long affair would provide some entertaining, 100-calorie Game 7's (Game 3 baby! The second-best phrase in sports!), but injecting some chaos into a sport like baseball isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Picking Your Opponents
MLB
I just cannot find it within me to hate this idea. It's too much fun. It's just so, so messy and out-of-the-box that you almost have to respect the fact that it's reportedly being seriously considered. Just imagine the shade that teams would throw other teams. The subtweets! There are not enough side-eye emojis on the planet for this. Does it make any sense? It does not. Trevor Bauer hates it, but maybe that means it's a good thing? This is a sport that has sat on its hands about every major change for the last 100 years, so if anything, it's slightly refreshing to see there's some ambition in the league offices. Imagine the Yankees picking, and then sweeping, the Twins for the 15th straight season. Professional sports are a business first and entertainment second, and the entertainment factor of picking your first playoff opponent would, frankly, be unrivaled across any of the other three major leagues.
Remember that all of this needs to be collectively bargained, meaning we'll all be 85 when it happens. But as we scroll through grainy photos of bullpen sessions, it's fun to dream.