Leiter Favors Plan To Restructure Baseball (2 Divisions, 4 Wildcards per League)

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Not many details here, but I'm all for it. More emphasis on the regular season, and we get traditional rivals like Cleveland and Detroit back in the division.

YES' Al Leiter is in favor of breaking the leagues into two divisions - AL East and West for example - and having four wild cards in the playoffs.
Under Leiter's idea, the two division champs would receive first-round byes, while the four wild cards would play best-of-three with no days off.
The format would give more weight to the regular season, while increasing the amount of playoff teams. Leiter, who was a member of the Bud Selig's Commissioner Initiative for the 21st Century, thinks this plan will eventually come to fruition.
"I think it is just a matter of time,'' Leiter said.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/66268.htm

[BrooklynBotz]

That doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. I just want them to find a system that works and stick with it.

[Casey37]

They'll never go for it. Makes too much sense.

[Kulish29]

If that happend, wouldn't they have to make the regular season shorter?

Personally, I like things the way they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it

[Spiker101]

the idea sounds good on paper, except that a bye can actually be a disadvantage. Hitters who don't see live pitching quickly lose their timing. The same is true, though to a lesser extent, for relief pitchers. If I understand the proposal the division winners would have at least six days off. That's a long time in baseball.

[flymick24]

a bye would also mean less money being made from less games being broadcasted, no?

[gdn]

Hitters who don't see live pitching quickly lose their timing.

Oh man. Now if only people could apply that principle to Andy Phillips and cut him a little slack when he doesn't play more than two days in a row.

[SoCal Pinstriper]

If that happend, wouldn't they have to make the regular season shorter?

Personally, I like things the way they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it

I really feel like it is broken.

The unbalanced schedule and interleague play create inequities in the Wildcard, and there is no real reward for finishing at the top of a division or with the best regular season record. Home field just doesn't mean that much in baseball.

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

a bye would also mean less money being made from less games being broadcasted, no?

How would there be fewer games broadcast? In the first round you still have two series, they're just all wildcard teams instead of 3 division winners and a wildcard. Then the second round would be like the current first round, with four teams, then the LCS, then the WS. It would be more games. The timing of it might be hard with an extra round, but it wouldn't be fewer games.

[jonnyc39]

I'm confused - four Wild Card teams per league, or four total?

Six playoff teams per league seems like a bit too much to me.

[guboogi]

a bye would also mean less money being made from less games being broadcasted, no?

I think this system ends up with more playoff games once you factor in the games from the extra playoff teams (6 teams per league instead of 4). You would have two best-of-three series before you even start with the traditional 4 team playoff structure.

[destro]

more wild cards mean more interest in teams. a little harder for teams to be completely "out of it" and will create more fan interest down the stretch. it's a marketing idea. how do we take our existing system and make sure that the fans will sustain interest late in the season.

around aug/sept it's obvious with the existing system that some teams cannot make up the divisional or wild card deficit up, so by creating additional wild cards, you keep more teams involved later in the season. you keep ratings up and asses in seats.

it's a smart business move to increase playoff eligibility.

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

I'm confused - four Wild Card teams per league, or four total?

Six playoff teams per league seems like a bit too much to me.

Compared to other sports, it's downright modest.

[sprucemoose]

more wild cards mean more interest in teams. a little harder for teams to be completely "out of it" and will create more fan interest down the stretch. it's a marketing idea. how do we take our existing system and make sure that the fans will sustain interest late in the season.

around aug/sept it's obvious with the existing system that some teams cannot make up the divisional or wild card deficit up, so by creating additional wild cards, you keep more teams involved later in the season. you keep ratings up and asses in seats.

it's a smart business move to increase playoff eligibility.

This would really benefit a team like the Blue Jays. Their fans usually have no hope when the season begins because they know they have to finish ahead of New York and/or Boston to reach the post-season.

[Roctiz]

No more playoff teams please! If anything, this makes the regular season even less important, because more teams get in. Don't make it llike basketball were teams get in that have ZERO chance.

This would really benefit a team like the Blue Jays. Their fans usually have no hope when the season begins because they know they have to finish ahead of New York and/or Boston to reach the post-season.

[JDPNYY]

The only Wild Card Team plans I favor are those that have a one game playoff for one wild card team to get into the regular playoffs.

[sprucemoose]

No more playoff teams please! If anything, this makes the regular season even less important, because more teams get in. Don't make it llike basketball were teams get in that have ZERO chance.

I agree with you. I was just saying that Jays fans would like this idea......

I do think something needs to be done with the unbalanced schedule though. Why do the Jays get to play Colorado this weekend, and we don't play against the Rockies at all this year?

[SoCal Pinstriper]

No more playoff teams please! If anything, this makes the regular season even less important, because more teams get in. Don't make it llike basketball were teams get in that have ZERO chance.

You don't think that teams would play hard to win their division if it meant that they got a first round bye? The regular season division champs would get a huge break over teams that had to play a preliminary series on consecutive days.

[IronCaballo4]

sounds good, but Pavano will come off the DL before that happens

[JDPNYY]

You don't think that teams would play hard to win their division if it meant that they got a first round bye? The regular season division champs would get a huge break over teams that had to play a preliminary series on consecutive days.

Actually that's the basis for what I want. I want a reward for winning the division and a big hardship for winning the wild card.

I think 4 or 5 days off would not help a team, you get out of routine. 2 or 3 days off after the season ends gives you a little rest and helps you set up your pitching. The Wild Card Teams would have to win a one game playoff (who the heck would want that) and they would be in a poorer position heading into the regular playoff round. The team with the best record in the league would then play that Wild Card winner.

[RhodeyYankee2638]

I've heard ideas floating about of having 2 teams in a 3 or 5 game series to battle it out for the 1 wildcard spot

[Spiker101]

Oh man. Now if only people could apply that principle to Andy Phillips and cut him a little slack when he doesn't play more than two days in a row.

Yep. It's the ultimate Catch-22. If you want to play every day, you have to show us you can hit. But it's hard to hit unless you play every day. That's why normally it's hard to break in on an established team like the Yanks.

[YankeePride1967]

Not a bad idea. I am heavily in favor of making the division winner more meaningful. There should be some reward for winning the division vs. finishing second in the division. But I like the idea though of keeping the divisions as is but have a second WC team and the two WC plays a winner-take-all one game playoff at the team with the better record.

[Viktor Fratrenko]

It would be difficult to implement a plan like this because it would almost certainly mean that baseball would be played in November, and it would not work well in frigid climates.

[LeapsNbounds]

they will do anything to attract fan interest, generate ticket sales, and increase TV revenue.

That said, I like it the way it is.

[__starr69]

the idea sounds good on paper, except that a bye can actually be a disadvantage. Hitters who don't see live pitching quickly lose their timing. The same is true, though to a lesser extent, for relief pitchers. If I understand the proposal the division winners would have at least six days off. That's a long time in baseball.

Thus creating an advantage for whoever wins the WC series.
In football, it's an advantage to have an extra week off before starting the playoffs. Anything more than three days in baseball, and hitters lose timing, and pitchers (especially our staff) are also negatively affected.

I'm confused - four Wild Card teams per league, or four total?

Six playoff teams per league seems like a bit too much to me.

I agree. Six out of 14 or 16 teams (close to half the league) do not need to make the playoffs. This is not football with a 16 game season or even basketball or hockey where only 82 games are played. 162 games is enough to determine division winners.

a bye would also mean less money being made from less games being broadcasted, no?

As I understand it:
Round 1: (best of 3)
Series 1:
WC team 1 vs. WC team 4

Series 2:
WC team 2 vs. WC team 3

Round 2: (best of 5) (today's LDS)
Series 3:
Division Leader vs. Series 1 winner

Series 4:
Division Leader vs. Series 2 winner

Round 3: (best of 7) (today's LCS)
Series 3 winner vs. Series 4 winner

Round 4: (best of 7)
World Series

I also think it would be interesting to see how this would affect rivalries like NYY/BOS, who wouldn't be the only two teams to matter in the AL East for eight years. Thus FOX, ESPN, etc., and subsequentially MLB, would probably lost a lot of money if heated divisional rivalries got watered down.

[burke615-RSN]

I really feel like it is broken.

The unbalanced schedule and interleague play create inequities in the Wildcard, and there is no real reward for finishing at the top of a division or with the best regular season record. Home field just doesn't mean that much in baseball.

But it isn't the post season that is broken; it is the regular season. Dump the unbalanced schedule (or at least make it LESS unbalanced) and get rid of interleague play altogether.

I also disagree that penalizing the WC team makes sense, particularly when that team often has a better record than at least one division winner, if not two. If anything, I would dump the divisions altogether, play balanced schedules without interleague play, and send the top four teams to the playoffs. If those four teams are the Red Sox, Yankees, Jays, and Orioles - so be it!

[26 and counting]

They use the unbalanced schedule in other sports, yet nobody complains about wild cards and playoff seeding. Why is that?

I kind of liked it when baseball only sent the division winners to the postseason - it gave the game a special feel, and there were true, dramatic pennant races.

[Stick Michael]

the idea sounds good on paper, except that a bye can actually be a disadvantage. Hitters who don't see live pitching quickly lose their timing. The same is true, though to a lesser extent, for relief pitchers.

I agree with Spiker in this case. I think this idea would make more sense if the four wild card teams played one game to determine who gets to play the division winners in a best-of-seven LDS, which would start the very next day. Ideally, I think the best scenerio would look something like this:

Sept 29: last day of regular season
Sept 30: wild card winners play each other in a best-of-one to determine who advances to LDS
Oct 1: LDS best-of-seven series starts

James

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

They use the unbalanced schedule in other sports, yet nobody complains about wild cards and playoff seeding. Why is that?

Well, people do complain about it in football. But with so few games, it's just accepted that you can't have balanced schedules across the conferences. In hoops and hockey, so many teams make the playoffs that it hardly matters.

[JP22]

It's probably a good business move, and if that's what it takes to keep people interested in baseball, ok. I don't like 6 playoff teams per league, though. Once you get to the playoffs, anyone can win. I only want very good teams in the playoffs, so no fluke teams win the championship. Even the wildcard, I only like in view of the unbalanced schedule- it's good that good teams playing in teh hardest divisions have a shot, but I can't help feeling that the truly great teams should have no trouble winning their divisions.

[BigCheese]

I think it sounds pretty cool. But it'll never happen.

We can't even fix the All-star game, for chrissake.

[brosiusbuddy]

This is a little off topic, but when you think of how competetive baseball is now with teams vying for playoff spots with 3 divisions and a wildcard, imagine how hard it must have been to earn a spot when there were just 2 berths per league. And to think that the yanks won 22 world series with that type of playoff structure and made the playoffs a seemingly countless amount of times.... its just pretty damn amazing

[donniesrecordholdsup]

Actually that's the basis for what I want. I want a reward for winning the division and a big hardship for winning the wild card.

I think 4 or 5 days off would not help a team, you get out of routine. 2 or 3 days off after the season ends gives you a little rest and helps you set up your pitching. The Wild Card Teams would have to win a one game playoff (who the heck would want that) and they would be in a poorer position heading into the regular playoff round. The team with the best record in the league would then play that Wild Card winner.

yeah, that is the best idea

[Stick Michael]

I want a reward for winning the division and a big hardship for winning the wild card.

The Wild Card Teams would have to win a one game playoff.

If I understand what you're saying correctly, JDPNYY, you're in favor of keeping the current three division format and having two wild card teams play a best-of-one for the right to face the team with the best record in the LDS. I don't see a problem with that proposal either. It would certainly put wild card teams at a disadvantage, which I think is fair. Division winners would get a day or two to rest and wild card winners would be forced to use their best available pitcher / play an 'all hands on deck' game before advancing to the LDS.

James

[burke615-RSN]

It would certainly put wild card teams at a disadvantage, which I think is fair.

Let's look at an example that shows how fair this is. In 2001 the Cardinals and Astros had the same record at 93-69. The D'backs won the West with 92-70, and the Braves won the East at 88-74. Obviously it is fair to punish a team that had the best record in the LEAGUE just because they are in a division with another strong team instead of in a weaker division.

Where's that rolleyes smiley when you need it???

[Stick Michael]

Where's that rolleyes smiley when you need it?

Hey, don't make me bust out the 'oh, please' smiley!

Personally, I don't have any major issues with any of the playoff scenerios, including the current one. While I wouldn't mind some tinkering here and there I think there will always be critics of whatever's in place.

For what (little) it's worth, this is what I'd like to see:

-regular season ends on or about Sept 29
-the following day, four wild card teams from each league play a best-of-one to advance to LDS
-best-of-seven LDS starts the day after that, with division winners obviously getting home field
-I'd also consider giving division winners an extra home game (5 total) in the LDS, especially if they finished 10 or more games ahead of their opponent in the regular season. Games 1-3 at division winner ballpark, 4-5 at wild card survivor's ballpark and 6-7 back at the division winner's

...so yes, I'm a strong advocate of making wild card teams have to face a very uphill battle!

James

[Hitman23]

Personally, I like things the way they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it

5 game 1st round. it needs to be fixed. it's absolutely terrible.

[jimmyclark]

No more playoff teams, please. I have lost interest in the other sports because the regular seasons mean little and they STRETCH the plyoffs out for months.

[mjdlight]

No more playoff teams, please. I have lost interest in the other sports because the regular seasons mean little and they STRETCH the plyoffs out for months.

Couldn't agree more. But then again, I'm a hard core tradtionalist: I want the return of the balanced schedule and the elimination of interleague play.

I really think the ideal sized league is 24 teams, playing in divisions of 6 teams each. No wildcards.

I know, I know. We're never going there because of $$. But I can dream.

[Mark19]

So the AL East would be:

NYY, BOS, TOR, BAL, TB, DET and CLE

and the AL West would be:

LAA, SEA, OAK, TEX, KCR, MIN and CHW

Thus creating an NL East of:

NYM, PHL, ATL, FLA, WAS, CIN and PIT

and an NL West of:

HOU, SFG, LAD, SDP, COL, CHC and AZ


The teams in the West would certainly protest having to go from SoCal to Minnesota or Chicago as inter-division play.

[donniesrecordholdsup]

Let's look at an example that shows how fair this is. In 2001 the Cardinals and Astros had the same record at 93-69. The D'backs won the West with 92-70, and the Braves won the East at 88-74. Obviously it is fair to punish a team that had the best record in the LEAGUE just because they are in a division with another strong team instead of in a weaker division.

Where's that rolleyes smiley when you need it???

so what ?? its only bo sox fans who care because theyve been sneaking in the past few years. but last year the yanks couldve easily been the wild card and i wouldve had no problem playing the one game playoff. ok, the red sox had a much better record then the twins in 04. they also had a much bigger payroll. spare me the "fair" stuff. whats not fair is working all year to stay ahead of a team and then it meaning absolutly zero in the postseason.

if your division is good then tough. the al this year will have 6 teams that might all be better then the mets. but only 4 will make it and the mets may end up in the world series. thats tough. not to mention the other 3 teams that make it in the nl. should we change it so that the 2 good teams left out, get in the postseason over the nl teams ?? the yankees wouldve made the playoffs a few years in a row if they played in the al west in the 80's but guess what, they didnt. so they missed the playoffs with a 97 win season. nobody cared.

[In Mo I Trust]

Sounds like a pretty good idea to me.

[buckyjacobson]

Couldn't agree more. But then again, I'm a hard core tradtionalist: I want the return of the balanced schedule and the elimination of interleague play.

I really think the ideal sized league is 24 teams, playing in divisions of 6 teams each. No wildcards.

I know, I know. We're never going there because of $$. But I can dream.

If you're a hardcore traditionalist, why not 2 leagues, winners meet in the WS?

[brosiusbuddy]

So the AL East would be:

NYY, BOS, TOR, BAL, TB, DET and CLE

and the AL West would be:

LAA, SEA, OAK, TEX, KCR, MIN and CHW

Thus creating an NL East of:

NYM, PHL, ATL, FLA, WAS, CIN and PIT

and an NL West of:

HOU, SFG, LAD, SDP, COL, CHC and AZ


The teams in the West would certainly protest having to go from SoCal to Minnesota or Chicago as inter-division play.

Why? They make the trips anyways with the current set up

[__starr69]

Why? They make the trips anyways with the current set up

They'd have to go more often than they do now (with or without an unbalanced schedule).

[burke615-RSN]

so what ?? its only bo sox fans who care because theyve been sneaking in the past few years. but last year the yanks couldve easily been the wild card and i wouldve had no problem playing the one game playoff.

Wow, there's nothng like a well-reasoned argument. And as Groucho would say...

ok, the red sox had a much better record then the twins in 04. they also had a much bigger payroll. spare me the "fair" stuff.

I am just awestruck by a Yankee fan bringing up payroll size. Awestruck.

whats not fair is working all year to stay ahead of a team and then it meaning absolutly zero in the postseason.

So you believe home field advantage means "absolutely zero"? The Yankees are 8 games above .500 at YS this year (25-17) and only 4 games above on the road (20-16). The division leaders in the AL are a combined 74-41 in home games, and 72-60 in road games. To claim that this means "absolutely zero" is ludicrous.

if your division is good then tough. the al this year will have 6 teams that might all be better then the mets. but only 4 will make it and the mets may end up in the world series. thats tough. not to mention the other 3 teams that make it in the nl. should we change it so that the 2 good teams left out, get in the postseason over the nl teams ?? the yankees wouldve made the playoffs a few years in a row if they played in the al west in the 80's but guess what, they didnt. so they missed the playoffs with a 97 win season. nobody cared.

The flaw here is the word "might". What is your basis for determining that there are 6 teams better than the Mets? Of those 6 teams, how many will have played the Mets? Even if they all did (which they won't) how does a single three-game series in mid-season (two in the case of the Yankees) prove superiority? In my example, the Astros & Cards had a record as good as or better than every other team in the league over a 162 game span. There is much less room for luck (or doubt) in that case.

Look at the standings in the AL right now. The AL West leading A's would be fourth (FOURTH!!!) in either the AL East or Central. If the season ended today, why should they be given an advantage over the White Sox?

[NYYFAN]

And you thought 5 game series were stressful...

[CTSoxFan]

So the AL East would be:

NYY, BOS, TOR, BAL, TB, DET and CLE

and the AL West would be:

LAA, SEA, OAK, TEX, KCR, MIN and CHW

Thus creating an NL East of:

NYM, PHL, ATL, FLA, WAS, CIN and PIT

and an NL West of:

HOU, SFG, LAD, SDP, COL, CHC and AZ

The teams in the West would certainly protest having to go from SoCal to Minnesota or Chicago as inter-division play.

I can't be certain, but I think the biggest protests of all would come from St. Louis and Milwaukee, since you seem to have contracted the Cards and Brewers.

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

I can't be certain, but I think the biggest protests of all would come from St. Louis and Milwaukee, since you seem to have contracted the Cards and Brewers.