Royals Is the MLB Wildcard format unfair? - Page 5

Deberg_1990 · 10-05-2015, 03:47 PM

Discuss

The current system offers the Pirates a solution – overtake the Cardinals, win the NL Central, proceed to the best-of-5 Division Series. But the format remains a subject of debate in baseball. Is it fair? Are the proper teams getting rewarded? Should the sport devise a better plan?

Commissioner Rob Manfred, in an interview with FOX Sports on Wednesday, gave a lengthy, detailed answer when asked about the Pirates’ potential predicament.

“If I’ve accomplished anything in the first months that I’ve been here, I hope it is that we have projected a willingness to evaluate and re-evaluate where we are on important topics,” Manfred said. “On this one, if in fact there is sentiment among the clubs that we have an issue here, we will take a hard look at it.

“Personally, I think it is a mistake to get caught up in results. I understand what you’re saying about Pittsburgh and what has happened to them. I get it. But I think it’s a mistake to focus on an individual team as opposed to the system. Where we need to stay focused – but may need to revisit – is on the incentives we’re trying to create. Let’s talk about those.

“When we went to this system, we wanted to try to encourage people to compete all the way to the end of the season to win the division. I think this system does that. No. 2, even within the wild card, we wanted to build in a situation where those two teams continued to compete in order to get what we perceived to be a significant advantage, competitively and from a business perspective – that is, a home game in the playoffs. I think we’ve achieved that.

“Then you get to the question of, what do you do with those two wild cards? That’s the next sequential question. The balance we struck there was that we were trying to disadvantage the wild cards. We wanted the division titles to be more meaningful.

“Our evidence there ain’t so great. We did have that little San Francisco Giant problem last year – they did win as a wild card (Manfred said this with a chuckle). But the reason we got even the most traditional baseball people on board with the one game was that they felt going two out of three put you in a window that probably was going to be five days where the division winners sat.

“They thought that would be such a disadvantage for the division winners, they didn’t buy into it. We may need to re-examine those dynamics. But I think those dynamics are a lot more important than, ‘Pittsburgh played really well, made the wild card, got beat in the first round.’”

The Pirates played the Wild Card game at home the past two seasons, beating the Reds behind Francisco Liriano in 2013, succumbing to the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner in ’14. They currently hold the top wild-card spot in the NL, two games ahead of the Cubs, and would play at home again. But it is possible they again will draw a red-hot pitcher – Cubs righty Jake Arrieta, who held the Pirates to one earned run in eight innings on Wednesday night.

The question is whether baseball could devise a best-of-3 wild-card format that would not produce too lengthy a layoff for the division champions. Theo Epstein, the Cubs’ president of baseball operations, recently told the Chicago Tribune, that he actually suggested one such plan.

“We threw out something a few years ago about making it a two out of three, but with a doubleheader the first day because days are at a premium that time of year, and you don’t want the teams that win the division to have to wait too long and then get cold – it’s not fair to them,” Epstein said. “That didn’t pass. It got rejected.

“But we’ll see. I think honestly, not just kissing up here, but the commissioner and his people have a really good feel for how to appeal to TV and also what’s fair, what respects the integrity of the regular season. And they’re open-minded. So I would expect that it evolves over the years, maybe in the next (collective bargaining agreement).”

“It’s fine the way it is now. You can never come up with a scenario that’s perfectly fair to everybody. In a year like this, theoretically, teams might want to be re-seeded, but in another year that might be a benefit to you. You’ve just got to kind of play the hand you’re dealt.”

By re-seeding, Epstein meant that the team in the Division Series with the best record would play the team with the worst rather than automatically face the wild-card team. Under such a plan, the Cardinals would face the Mets if the season ended today and the wild-card winner would face the Dodgers.

No system is perfect. But if Arrieta eliminates the Pirates, the discussion likely will grow more pointed. A one-game knockout makes for great theater, but the Pirates could reasonably argue that they deserved better. They have played too well for too long.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-...-unfair-091715

cosmo20002 · 10-05-2015, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie

All you would have to do is ensure the teams play each other the same amount of times and end divisions. But I get it, sports are about money and playoffs make more money & generate excitement.

Yeah, but they don't.
And it is pretty much impossible to do so in most sports. I agree that playoffs are getting watered down, but just crowning the regular-season "winner" as champion doesn't make a lot of sense.

**BigRedChief** · 10-05-2015, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPchief

This situation is a rare one and it sucks for CHC and Pit, but I really doubt we see a time were the top 3 teams in a league comes from the same division. Keep it how it is and win your division.

I don't think anyone thinks STL/CHC/Pitt is going to fall away next year. Everyone expects them to remain just where they are now.

jd1020 · 10-05-2015, 06:44 PM

I'm not a fan of the 1 game series. Reduce the season to 156 games or some shit and make a 3 game series.

SPchief · 10-05-2015, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I don't think anyone thinks STL/CHC/Pitt is going to fall away next year. Everyone expects them to remain just where they are now.

So you think it's going to be common place where 3 teams in the same division are going to have the top 3 records in the league?

**BigRedChief** · 10-05-2015, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie

The Cubs are and 85 win team if they play in the AL. It is very helpful getting to play the Brewers & the Reds everyday. There are tons of really bad teams in the NL this year. The worst team in the AL this year was the Detroit Tigers.

Thats just a load of horseshit. Cards wouldn't even make the playoffs in the AL. The NL sucks so bad etc,

If the AL is so superior why has the NL won more WS lately than the AL?

KChiefs1 · 10-05-2015, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

What sucks is you have 98 and 97 win teams, one of which whos season will be over in a heartbeat in a few days. All the hard work of a season shouldnt hinge on 1 single game.

What sucks is the 98 win team is facing the hottest pitcher on the planet.

**BigRedChief** · 10-05-2015, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPchief

So you think it's going to be common place where 3 teams in the same division are going to have the top 3 records in the league?

Did I say that?

SPchief · 10-05-2015, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Did I say that?

It's kind of implied when answering my quote.

cosmo20002 · 10-05-2015, 07:06 PM

Speaking of unfair, how about those years where the west divisions had 4 teams and the others had 5?

cosmo20002 · 10-05-2015, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPchief

It's kind of implied when answering my quote.

Pretty sure he said "next year."
I never really noticed until fairly recently, but you're kind of a dick.

Jewish Rabbi · 10-05-2015, 07:08 PM

Why not just have every team make the playoffs?! That'll solve the problem!

**DaneMcCloud** · 10-05-2015, 07:12 PM

Wow. I shocked at most of the answers. IMO, in a word, the answer no. No, it's in no way, shape or form, unfair.

With a simple wildcard, the drama would be gone in most years. It's pretty uncommon for a division to be as loaded as the NL Central. I can clearly remember the Royals winning 92 games and missing the playoffs. I can also clearly remember the Giants and Dodgers battling until the last game of the season to win the division for a playoff spot.

The WC play in game creates drama, which baseball needs. I can absolutely guarantee that the winning play-in team isn't advocating a bet three of five.

BWillie · 10-05-2015, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jd1020

I'm not a fan of the 1 game series. Reduce the season to 156 games or some shit and make a 3 game series.

I would remove it all together

mr. tegu · 10-05-2015, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Thats just a load of horseshit. Cards wouldn't even make the playoffs in the AL. The NL sucks so bad etc,

If the AL is so superior why has the NL won more WS lately than the AL?

Small sample size and the fact that the playoffs are a coin flip. In 2015 only five AL teams had a losing record to the NL while only four NL teams had winning records against the AL. In 2014 only four losing records for the AL teams verse the NL. Again only five winning records for the NL teams verse the AL.

**Bearcat** · 10-05-2015, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Thats just a load of horseshit. Cards wouldn't even make the playoffs in the AL. The NL sucks so bad etc,

If the AL is so superior why has the NL won more WS lately than the AL?

Madison Bumgarner?

10-05-2015, 03:47 PM
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3914454	Is the MLB Wildcard format unfair? Discuss The current system offers the Pirates a solution – overtake the Cardinals, win the NL Central, proceed to the best-of-5 Division Series. But the format remains a subject of debate in baseball. Is it fair? Are the proper teams getting rewarded? Should the sport devise a better plan? Commissioner Rob Manfred, in an interview with FOX Sports on Wednesday, gave a lengthy, detailed answer when asked about the Pirates’ potential predicament. “If I’ve accomplished anything in the first months that I’ve been here, I hope it is that we have projected a willingness to evaluate and re-evaluate where we are on important topics,” Manfred said. “On this one, if in fact there is sentiment among the clubs that we have an issue here, we will take a hard look at it. “Personally, I think it is a mistake to get caught up in results. I understand what you’re saying about Pittsburgh and what has happened to them. I get it. But I think it’s a mistake to focus on an individual team as opposed to the system. Where we need to stay focused – but may need to revisit – is on the incentives we’re trying to create. Let’s talk about those. “When we went to this system, we wanted to try to encourage people to compete all the way to the end of the season to win the division. I think this system does that. No. 2, even within the wild card, we wanted to build in a situation where those two teams continued to compete in order to get what we perceived to be a significant advantage, competitively and from a business perspective – that is, a home game in the playoffs. I think we’ve achieved that. “Then you get to the question of, what do you do with those two wild cards? That’s the next sequential question. The balance we struck there was that we were trying to disadvantage the wild cards. We wanted the division titles to be more meaningful. “Our evidence there ain’t so great. We did have that little San Francisco Giant problem last year – they did win as a wild card (Manfred said this with a chuckle). But the reason we got even the most traditional baseball people on board with the one game was that they felt going two out of three put you in a window that probably was going to be five days where the division winners sat. “They thought that would be such a disadvantage for the division winners, they didn’t buy into it. We may need to re-examine those dynamics. But I think those dynamics are a lot more important than, ‘Pittsburgh played really well, made the wild card, got beat in the first round.’” The Pirates played the Wild Card game at home the past two seasons, beating the Reds behind Francisco Liriano in 2013, succumbing to the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner in ’14. They currently hold the top wild-card spot in the NL, two games ahead of the Cubs, and would play at home again. But it is possible they again will draw a red-hot pitcher – Cubs righty Jake Arrieta, who held the Pirates to one earned run in eight innings on Wednesday night. The question is whether baseball could devise a best-of-3 wild-card format that would not produce too lengthy a layoff for the division champions. Theo Epstein, the Cubs’ president of baseball operations, recently told the Chicago Tribune, that he actually suggested one such plan. “We threw out something a few years ago about making it a two out of three, but with a doubleheader the first day because days are at a premium that time of year, and you don’t want the teams that win the division to have to wait too long and then get cold – it’s not fair to them,” Epstein said. “That didn’t pass. It got rejected. “But we’ll see. I think honestly, not just kissing up here, but the commissioner and his people have a really good feel for how to appeal to TV and also what’s fair, what respects the integrity of the regular season. And they’re open-minded. So I would expect that it evolves over the years, maybe in the next (collective bargaining agreement).” “It’s fine the way it is now. You can never come up with a scenario that’s perfectly fair to everybody. In a year like this, theoretically, teams might want to be re-seeded, but in another year that might be a benefit to you. You’ve just got to kind of play the hand you’re dealt.” By re-seeding, Epstein meant that the team in the Division Series with the best record would play the team with the worst rather than automatically face the wild-card team. Under such a plan, the Cardinals would face the Mets if the season ended today and the wild-card winner would face the Dodgers. No system is perfect. But if Arrieta eliminates the Pirates, the discussion likely will grow more pointed. A one-game knockout makes for great theater, but the Pirates could reasonably argue that they deserved better. They have played too well for too long. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-...-unfair-091715
Posts: 66,914

10-05-2015, 06:44 PM	#63
jd1020 In Search of a Life Join Date: Nov 2010 Casino cash: $7742645	I'm not a fan of the 1 game series. Reduce the season to 156 games or some shit and make a 3 game series.
Posts: 24,322

10-05-2015, 07:06 PM	#69
cosmo20002 Debunking your bullshit Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: KC area Casino cash: $5220315	Speaking of unfair, how about those years where the west divisions had 4 teams and the others had 5?
Posts: 52,592

10-05-2015, 07:08 PM	#71
Jewish Rabbi What's up braj? Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Placencia, Belize Casino cash: $2148320	Why not just have every team make the playoffs?! That'll solve the problem!
Posts: 15,546

10-05-2015, 07:12 PM	#72
DaneMcCloud Supporter Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Hollywood, CA Casino cash: $10053648	Wow. I shocked at most of the answers. IMO, in a word, the answer no. No, it's in no way, shape or form, unfair. With a simple wildcard, the drama would be gone in most years. It's pretty uncommon for a division to be as loaded as the NL Central. I can clearly remember the Royals winning 92 games and missing the playoffs. I can also clearly remember the Giants and Dodgers battling until the last game of the season to win the division for a playoff spot. The WC play in game creates drama, which baseball needs. I can absolutely guarantee that the winning play-in team isn't advocating a bet three of five.
Posts: 88,960