MLB expands playoff format from 8 teams to 10

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Why even play 162 games then??

Oh thats right, to maximize owners revenue.

Win the division and you don't have to worry about it. This doesn't add an extra playoff team; all it does is create a play-in game and slow down the WC winner a bit.

This actually makes those 162 games more important. If you're a WC team, you now have to burn your ace starting pitcher in a play-in game. Now those teams with the depth and overall quality to win their division over 162 games have a far greater advantage than merely having home field in a 2-2-1 series.

This is a good thing for the value of the regular season. This makes winning your division more critical than it has been during the advent of the WC era. It also helps level the playing field for division winners that locked their division up weeks before the playoffs began and need an extra day or two to knock the rust off. Now they don't have to go up against the #1 of the WC squad that was busting its ass just to get in.

The Cardinals run was unprecedented, but we did it via Carpenter and a bunch of scrubs. If we had to burn Carp in a play-in game, it would've been a hell of a lot harder for us to pull that championship off.

And rightfully so, IMO.

Good move, Bud.