In 2022, Major League Baseball (MLB) introduced an expanded playoff format that moved from a 10 to a 12-team format. This meant each conference gained an extra wild-card spot, while the third seed lost its bye to the divisional series. Instead of a single wild-card game between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, the No. 3-6 seeds play two best-of-three wild-card series to earn one of the two open spots in the divisional round.
Switching from one game to a series has had its consequences, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds having to wait about a week between the end of the regular season and their first playoff game. More rest seems like a blessing, but since 2022, there have been upsets in five of eight divisional series. Dominant teams are dropping like flies, as five of the six 100-win teams from the last two seasons have been upset in divisional play, including the 2022 Dodgers (111-51), 2022 Braves (101-61), 2023 Orioles (101-61), 2023 Braves (104-58) and 2023 Dodgers (100-62).
This week, The Daily Illini sports editors are here to determine if MLB should keep their new playoff format or if they should throw it away.
Conor (Keep it): I cannot believe the Dodgers and Braves choking for two straight years has caused this much of a fuss. The only other team who has been upset in the divisional round since MLB switched to a 12-team playoff is Baltimore, which was a young and inexperienced team that would have been susceptible to an upset regardless of playoff format.
Other teams have looked unphased by the week off during the wild-card series. The 2022 Astros steamrolled the Mariners in a sweep, while the 2022 Yankees came back from a 2-1 deficit against the Guardians. Ultimately, it’s in the hands of the top teams to come out victorious. You have a home-field advantage, and you proved to be good enough to earn it during the regular season. It’s time to take care of business.
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There is no reason why a 111-win Dodgers team should be losing to an 89-win Padres team (2022), regardless of circumstances. Especially when more mediocre teams, such as the 90-win Astros, found ways to beat an 87-win Twins lineup (2023).
Ben (Throw it away): I’m definitely coming off as a hater here, but for the third straight week, I say to throw it away. Seriously, though, does the regular season matter anymore?
The NFL, NBA and MLB have all expanded their playoff formats recently. It feels so wrong to allow worse teams into the postseason for pure excitement and money. Plus, the extra rest now for MLB teams is unnecessary and helps the wild-card teams.
In both years of the new format, teams with byes have struggled, and I don’t think it’s an accident. “How is resting pitchers a bad thing?” you might ask. Pitchers on top teams always get rest before their playoff series. The problem now is that these offenses are waiting six days to see in-game pitching.
I say reward the best teams after 162 games with an advantage. The wild-card teams didn’t earn the right to keep the bats warm while also getting two rest days. I don’t care how you do it, whether removing teams or shortening the rest. Regardless, two or three days off is enough for the division winners without getting rusty and keeps it fair to everyone involved.
The wild-card teams had over six months to earn an advantage. If they fail, I believe they deserve to play immediately following the season and be at a disadvantage. But maybe that’s just my opinion because I don’t get a cut of the tens of millions of dollars in added revenue that the expanded playoffs bring.
Tess: (Throw it away): In all honesty, I am not an avid baseball fan like some of the editors in this column. However, I took some time to read up on this and have come to the conclusion that this newer playoff format should be thrown away. For one thing, there are already 162 games in the regular season of the MLB, and instead of adding a mere singular game to determine the wild card spot, they’ve made a whole series for it? This league doesn’t need any more games.
Not only that, but this format makes it seem more challenging for the best team in baseball to actually win the World Series. It comes off as an unnecessary tournament to give more teams opportunities to make it far. They’ve had 162 instances where they could have demonstrated their talents, but the very end of the season is not the time to finally put on a show-stopping performance. Sure, this gives better teams more time to rest and prepare for the postseason, but overall this format is redundant and just a money-making scheme.
Sahil (Throw it away): More games? Baseball already has an extremely long season, and I see no reason for teams to play extra games. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for increased competition and making the playoffs of professional sports more unpredictable. However, adding extra games almost seems like a revenue grab for the MLB, and it has a negative impact on the teams that have to wait. Rest is a good thing, but sometimes when a team is hot, taking even a short break can stop that momentum. A whole week off is almost unheard of for a sport that has so many back-to-back games, and it obviously has consequences on the teams that are given the cool-down period.
Now, for those arguing that rest is more of an advantage than a disadvantage, why not provide the top teams with another advantage that allows them to keep their momentum? This rewards the top teams without a potentially playoff-ending week-long break. Also, I think that having singular wild-card games is more exciting. The stakes are higher, and each team has one shot, so they have to make it count, just as NBA teams do in the play-in-tournament.
