fearthehawk47
Cleveland Rocks
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2006
- Messages
- 369
- Reaction score
- 171
- Points
- 43
So after the Cardinals got swept in 3 games by the Dodgers, I found myself wondering how fair the MLB playoffs were. Now, I understand that if the Cardinals are the great they are supposed to be, they should have beaten the Dodgers and advanced to the NLCS. With that said, too many times teams that dominate in the regular season lose early in the playoffs and when you sit down and look at the playoff system, it's somewhat illogical. A 162 game season comes down to a 5 game first round. Essentially, that means that a playoff game is worth 32.4 games. For comparison, the NBA season is 82 games for a 7 game series for an 11.72 games and the NFL is 16 games for 1 game, which obviously comes out to 16. So what do I suggest to make this system better?
I suggest 6 playoff teams per league. 4 out of 15 (AL-14, NL-16) make the playoffs for a .27 rate, whereas in the NFL, its 6 of 16 for a .38 and in the NBA its 8/14.5 for a .55. By adding 2 teams per league to the playoffs, I don't believe you compromise the integrity of the playoffs. The 2 additional playoff teams this year would be the Tigers and Rangers in the AL (both at least 10 games over .500) and the Marlins and Giants in the NL (both at least 14 games over .500) All 4 of these teams are quality teams that wouldn't lessen the impact of the postseason.
Here are the changes that would need to be made: the season would lessen it's length to 154 games, something that's been discussed for a while. Seeding would be 1-6, with the division leaders getting 1-3 (and homefield) and the #1 and #2 getting a first round bye. The first series would be a best of 3 series. Then, the playoffs would continue as normal.
Then again, maybe I'm just too traditional. A lot of people like how predictable the postseason is, whereas personally, I prefer it to better mimic the regular season. In conclusion, I will give you this graphic, which shows regular season wins compared to actual World Series Champion:
I suggest 6 playoff teams per league. 4 out of 15 (AL-14, NL-16) make the playoffs for a .27 rate, whereas in the NFL, its 6 of 16 for a .38 and in the NBA its 8/14.5 for a .55. By adding 2 teams per league to the playoffs, I don't believe you compromise the integrity of the playoffs. The 2 additional playoff teams this year would be the Tigers and Rangers in the AL (both at least 10 games over .500) and the Marlins and Giants in the NL (both at least 14 games over .500) All 4 of these teams are quality teams that wouldn't lessen the impact of the postseason.
Here are the changes that would need to be made: the season would lessen it's length to 154 games, something that's been discussed for a while. Seeding would be 1-6, with the division leaders getting 1-3 (and homefield) and the #1 and #2 getting a first round bye. The first series would be a best of 3 series. Then, the playoffs would continue as normal.
Then again, maybe I'm just too traditional. A lot of people like how predictable the postseason is, whereas personally, I prefer it to better mimic the regular season. In conclusion, I will give you this graphic, which shows regular season wins compared to actual World Series Champion: