NEW YORK — As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, Rob Manfred will break it.
While Major League Baseball’s previous playoff format included the controversial wild-card game, which usually meant that at least one 90-win team would have their entire season come down to one game, it also was much easier to understand than the new bracket.
Implemented after the lockout, the new playoff format includes six teams from each league and killed the wild-card game in favor of a three-game wild card series. While playing a best-of-three series is a better way to determine a superior team than one game, it also may unintentionally hurt the teams who win their division. Now, the top two teams in each league receive a first-round bye, something that is much more advantageous in other sports than it is in baseball. Rather than just waiting out one game to see who their opponent is, the top two seeds could potentially have to sit around for three games, perhaps disrupting any rhythm they had going.
