Thread: MLB 2023 Season
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Old 10-15-2023, 05:15 PM   #1184
Le Grande Orange
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Another follow-up:

Assuming 12 teams in the post-season is desired, the four 8-team division arrangement has the benefit of a streamlined playoff system: the top three teams in each division makes the playoffs, with the 3rd place team playing the 2nd place team in the first round, the winner of that then facing the first place team. The winners of those play in the LCS.

This division-based qualification makes the divisions more important, and division rivalries more meaningful since clubs are competing directly against those division opponents for a post-season berth. The simpler tie scenarios means tie-breaking playoff games can be reinstated — if two clubs are tied for third place, a tie-breaking game determines which team advances to the post-season; if two teams are tied for first place, a tie-breaking game decides which team goes directly to the second round and which will have to play the third place team in the first round (this is similar to what happened in MLB in 2018).

Division-based playoffs also means reduced travel since contesting teams are closer together with fewer time zones to traverse, meaning a travel day could be eliminated from the post-season schedules thus shortening the overall length by a couple of days.
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