The American League Playoff Bracket Is A Joke, But Thankfully I Have An Easy Fix For MLB
This is so fucking dumb.
We're less than a week away from the MLB Playoffs getting underway. And we're all but assured to see two of the best three teams in the American League eliminated by the time we get to the ALCS.
A quick review:
MLB awards its top three seeds in each league to the three division winners. Division Winner with the best record - #1 seed. Division Winner with the second-best record - #2 seed. Division Winner with the third-best record - #3 seed.
From there, they award seeds 4, 5, and 6 to the teams with the next-best three records. They're the Wild Card teams.
The issue this year is that the Top 2 Wild Card teams (Red Sox and Yankees) are better than the rest of the field in the AL. And as of right now, you're staring down the barrel of those two teams meeting in the first round of the playoffs.
I love Red Sox / Yankees, but those two teams being the 4-5 matchup seems silly.
And then, then the winner is going to have to face the AL's best team this season, the top-seeded Rays.
While the top three teams in the American League are kicking the shit out of each other in an AL East-Only mini-bracket, you have the three worst teams in the AL squaring off on the other half of the field.
And because baseball does not re-seed, one of those teams will get a spot in the American League Championship Series.
Giphy Images.Thankfully for Rob Manfred and MLB, I have the easy fix.
You award the top two seeds (the two Wild Card byes) to the two division winners with the best records. From there, seeds 3-6 are just determined by record. That ensures the four teams with the best records in the league host home games. Duh.
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So this year - based on today's standings:
1. Tampa
2. Cle/Chi (still not perfect, I get it)
3. Yankees
4. Red Sox
5. Cle/Chi
6. Hou/Tex
Giphy Images.Holy shit, that looks so much better. Top four records in the AL all get a home-field advantage. Sure, a division winner might play on the road. I'm okay with that.
Baseball went to a more balanced schedule in 2023. You're only playing 13 games against each of the other 4 teams in your division - that's down from 19 divisional games before that. They made division play less important, so why are we still guaranteeing a home series to a third division winner, even if they might stink?
Why should a team get THREE home games just for winning a division that probably stinks?
I'm not done there. I would take it a step further after that and re-seed in the Division Series. So if the 6-seed pulls the upset, they take on the top seed.
Giphy Images.A new CBA is coming up. Hopefully, someone from MLB prints out this blog and brings it to the meetings.
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As for the Red Sox…are they trying to lose out the week and avoid the Yankees?
As my man Hogdale points out, last night's lineup wasn't very good. The Sox are already locked into a playoff spot - are they trying to tank these final games? Because if they lose enough and the White Sox win enough, Boston could fall to the 6-seed. That would mean the AL West winner followed by the AL Central winner in the bracket. There is no doubt that is an easier path to the ALCS.
Even Yankees fans are calling for the tank!
It just shows how dumb this all is. It would be much better not to gift the #3 seed to a division winner in a sport that has decided to play fewer divisional games.