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2 extreme MLB postseason format ideas to shake up the league

By Colton Stewart |
People line up for a photo with the 2021 Braves baseball World Series Championship Trophy at the Anderson University Softball Complex Wednesday July 27, 2022. The trophy is scheduled for 151 stops in the Southeast, commemorating 151 years of Braves baseball. The World Champions Trophy Tour Presented by Truist will travel throughout Braves Country, featuring locations in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina, according to Braves officials.Braves Championship Trophy Tour Stops In Anderson
People line up for a photo with the 2021 Braves baseball World Series Championship Trophy at the Anderson University Softball Complex Wednesday July 27, 2022. The trophy is scheduled for 151 stops in the Southeast, commemorating 151 years of Braves baseball. The World Champions Trophy Tour Presented by Truist will travel throughout Braves Country, featuring locations in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina, according to Braves officials.Braves Championship Trophy Tour Stops In Anderson
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What are some ideas that could shake up the MLB postseason? Let’s look back in time, as well as to other sports for some inspiration.

I felt like writing kind of a ridiculous article because I think it is fun to experiment with more out-there ideas for baseball to spike more interest in the sport. Now, let’s be clear, I am not delusional. I don’t think either of these MLB postseason ideas would ever really come to fruition, but I think they are interesting to look into to see how they could affect the sport from a game-to-game perspective, from the fan’s side of things, the league, and its marketing.

The playoffs for baseball have changed pretty drastically since the league’s inception. On some occasions, the World Series had up to nine games, with the National League and American League winners moving straight into the Fall Classic.

They have added more rounds, where we will see a 12-team format with six teams on each side.

The two propositions I have are drastic changes in opposite directions.

The 1968 Detroit Tigers World Series championship team is highlighted at Town Peddler.Img 1150
The 1968 Detroit Tigers World Series championship team is highlighted at Town Peddler.Img 1150 /

For the first, we revert to the playoffs before 1969 and have the top team in each league go straight to the World Series.

Not only would this lean into the traditionalist’s idea of the game, but I feel it could give the regular season more meaning each month. Teams would have to treat the whole season like the playoffs to make the postseason and potentially win the World Series.

I am unsure if this would make competitive balance worse or better. On the one hand, teams would have to try much more to make the postseason rather than making it from a wild card spot to the Fall Classic on a hot streak. Teams would have to put a solid effort out every year to try and even taste the postseason, and I think that would be very interesting to see.

However, it might be hard to incentivize owners to spend money with such little chance of winning a championship, but I feel it could work out more as time goes on. Other organizations wouldn’t want teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers to go out and have a lineup full of All-Stars like they do, so they would push harder to get better players on their teams.

I do not believe that something like this would ever happen. MLB would be throwing away all the extra revenue they make from playoff television deals and merchandise. However, I think this could drive up regular season interest, increasing the value of those deals for local markets and even nationally towards the end of the season.

It could also drive more fan interest throughout the seasons with tighter races between multiple teams. Even at the beginning of the season, if they offer contests and betting to see who will be the top team in each league, which could be great for casual fans.

To incorporate this type of format, they would have to operate the schedule differently to ensure it is an even playing field of every team going against each other fairly regularly rather than playing most games in the division.

But even looking back to the 2021 season, seeing the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants fight it out for the final spot to lead into the world series would be an incredible viewing experience.

Mar 26, 2022; San Francisco, CA, USA; The March Madness logo is displayed along the scorerÕs table before the game between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Duke Blue Devils in the finals of the West regional of the men’s college basketball NCAA Tournament at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2022; San Francisco, CA, USA; The March Madness logo is displayed along the scorerÕs table before the game between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Duke Blue Devils in the finals of the West regional of the men’s college basketball NCAA Tournament at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

The second idea, as I mentioned, is entirely in the opposite direction. Think March Madness, but in baseball.

Now I don’t think we should do that many teams as then the whole league would be in the playoffs. But a 24-team, single-elimination tournament would be so exciting and play into baseball’s unpredictable nature that comes with every game.

This format would have 12 teams from each side, leaving out the few bottom feeders that aren’t as close in strength. It would give the top two teams in each league a bye in the first round, but would be absolutely insanity afterwards. From there, I think you have a team play once every two or three days. This way, each team would have to rotate starters more often. They could even hold it as a big tournament event at a few central locations like March Madness.

The “anything can happen” part of the game’s beauty at times makes this idea fascinating because if things fall their way on any given day, a team could pull out an upset victory.

It would not be easy to figure out team flights, game times, and make sure they use more than their number one starter every game. It could also affect how owners look to spend because of the increased chances of winning and unpredictability. Teams might think they can get away on a decent roster and luck alone to win a World Series … or every team might try to get that one last piece to give them the best odds of pushing through to the finals.

Going with this idea would bring down the total potential amount of playoff games from 40, if all go to a full series, to 23. But because of how exciting one-game elimination can be, I think baseball fans would get more invested because of the storylines that come into play and because of the unpredictability.

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I believe that this idea would be a great way to bring more fans into baseball because this type of format has natural excitement for the playoffs. I think people could gamble on it the same way they do March Madness, and there could be just as many potential bracket-breaking games that interest people to pay attention.

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