October Madness
However, I would love to see the New York Yankees and MLB take this as a real opportunity and install an NCAA Tournament-style playoff system in this tier.
That way every team would be in and seeding would be decided entirely by wins and losses. Winning a division would mean nothing. The three regular-season games we saved would come in real handy to accommodate this format.
Perhaps some of you are thinking no one would care about this sub-par, NIT-level tourney going on at the same time as the “real” playoffs. Well, you’d be right about a national audience. But baseball has been much more of a locals’ sport for some time now.
And so, while no one in Seattle would care that the Mets and the Blue Jays were in a playoff game that had nothing to do with winning the Commissioners Trophy, the folks in Queens and Toronto would.
Besides, Seattlites wouldn’t care now if those two played in the World Series. Most fans of other teams don’t.
Playoff revenue here would likely be smaller, but that is another incentive. The upper tier teams would command more for their playoffs, and they should get to keep that. The lower tier teams will make more than they will from regular season games, but if they want to make more from their product, they will have to move up.
And to do that, they will have to win.