MLB Adding One More Wildcard Team

[Lewdog]

So it looks like there will be 2 wildcard teams per league starting this year. So now there are 5 playoff teams per league now.

[url="http://eye-on-baseball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/35034180"]http://eye-on-baseball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/35034180[/url]


[quote]Report: MLB playoffs expanding for this season
Posted on: February 29, 2012 2:25 pm
Edited on: February 29, 2012 2:35 pm



By Matt Snyder


Major League Baseball will expand the playoffs to include 10 teams, five from each league, beginning in 2012, reports Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com.The expansion of the playoffs to include two wild cards per league was agreed upon by the MLB Players Association and the owners in the new collective bargaining agreement, but the decision hadn't yet been made whether it would start in 2012 or 2013. Commissioner Bud Selig had set a deadline of March 1 on when there would be an announcement, so evidently he's taking full advantage of Leap Day.
The new playoff format is expansion in the number of teams, but it also puts more emphasis on the regular season, in terms of winning the division. With this new format, the two wild cards will play a one-game playoff. The winner will then have to turn around -- possibly after having to use their ace -- and play the team with the best regular-season record in the LDS.
This new format should appease most clubs. The titans will be happy that a wild card can't slip in on equal footing (see the Phillies vs. Cardinals series last season) and clubs in loaded divisions like the AL East and NL East have a shot at getting into the one-game wild card round. [/quote]

[jwmann2]

I'm all about more baseball but the possibility of a 90 win team losing it all in one game is pretty silly. I guess it gives teams the incentive to lock up the division quickly.