Maybe this might get Mike Trout back into the playoffs. Major League Baseball is tossing around plenty of ideas these days to start up a…
Maybe this might get Mike Trout back into the playoffs.
Major League Baseball is tossing around plenty of ideas these days to start up a shortened season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic — a DH in the National League, neutral-site games, personal rosin bags for pitchers.
Now comes a proposal that would truly upend the sport: up to 16 playoff teams.
More than half the 30 clubs advance. No need to finish over.500, probably. In this skewed season, heck, perhaps 35 wins in 76 games or so could be enough to play into October.
What’s next, the Winnipeg Jets in the World Series?
OK, we’ve heard this before, that an extra wild-card team or two represents the NHL-ization of baseball. But to some, an expansion from 10 playoff clubs to 16 would mean the end of civilization as we know it.
More: MLB offers players 76-game season, up to 75% of salaries
Longtime manager Jim Riggleman chuckled at that notion.
“I think that whatever they come up with this year to play, anything goes. That’s fine,” he said. “But moving forward into next year, I wouldn’t be in favor of that many teams making the playoffs. I don’t think many players would be, either.”
“To say that 16 of 30 teams are playoff teams,” he said, “you’ve got to raise the bar higher than that.”
Other sports are accustomed to a plethora of postseason hopefuls.
