The Houston Astros will play their final season in the National League in 2012. The change will allow each of baseball’s six divisions to have five teams, at the cost of requiring interleague play throughout the entire season. If the move allows the schedule makers to make sure that each team in a division plays the same schedule as their opponents, I’m in favor of the move. Otherwise, I don’t see the point.
Photo credit: M Glasgow
I’m sure that Astros fans have an opinion on the move, and maybe fans of other National League Central teams have some feelings about their team having less competition for a division title. It doesn’t make a difference to me.
The other big change coming to Major League Baseball in 2013 is one I’m very happy about. I’ve hated the idea that wild card teams go into the playoffs on even footing with the division champs ever since the wild card system debuted.
My preferred way of dealing with this situation – eliminating the wild card – just isn’t viable. But Bud Selig‘s plan to add a second wild card team in each league and force them to play a one-game playoff to advance is almost as good. A wild card berth will be much less attractive to teams if they could be knocked out in one game, and the division winners will gain an advantage in the next round because the wild card teams that advance will have already used their best pitcher.
Having a third of the teams in Major League Baseball make the playoffs every year isn’t ideal, but it’s not a bad compromise. (Now please don’t screw it up by making the wild card playoff series a best-of-three affair to unnecessarily drag out the post-season schedule.)
What do you think about the Astros’ pending move and the upcoming playoff format changes?
I love the WC change for exactly the reasons you outlined. Built-in drama every year and a nice incentive to actually win the division to boot. That fixes the main problem I had when the WC format was adopted.
As for the Astros moving to the AL. I think it will be hard to get used to from a tradition aspect but it makes perfect sense. They’ll have the built-in rivalry now with Texas and it was just bizarre to me all along that one division had just four teams and another six.
I’m against the Astros moving to the AL, just as I was against the Brewers moving to the NL. And, I’m against the wild card system altogether. I’m even against three divisions in each league. This is just a stepping stone to an NBA-type playoff system, where you don’t even have to have a .500 record to be in the playoffs.
None of this surprises me, though, with the man who currently calls himself the commissioner.
If a season ends like this one did, the number one starters won’t always be available for the one game playoff. But, they could be ready for DS.
As for the rest of it, I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
We probably won’t see a season end like this one for quite some time; the new playoff system guarantees two elimination games every year.
Mostly, I like it because it restores some value to winning a division title. I just wish they didn’t have a third of the teams in baseball going to the post-season. Pretty soon, we’ll be into NFL/NBA/NHL territory.
At least with NFL playoff games- they are ALL elimination games. Winner advances/ loser goes home.