SoutheasternOhioPreps.com

Nov 17, 2011

MLB adds two wild cards, moves Astros to AL


Two wild card teams will be added to Major League Baseball's playoffs no later than 2013, the same year the Houston Astros will begin play in the American League.

Commissioner Bud Selig announced Thursday that baseball's owners unanimously approved Jim Crane as the Houston Astros' owner. As part of his agreement to buy the club, Crane will shift the Astros to the AL after 2012, creating two 15-team leagues.

"It's a historical day," said Selig, whose new format ensures that an interleague game will be contested "from opening day on."

Selig did not offer specifics on the schedule or playoff format, but said his committee for on-field matters favors the one-game playoff among wild-card teams in each league, saying it would be "dramatic."

Crane's Astros will move from the NL Central to the AL West after next season, a result he originally was not pleased with due to the bevy of West Coast road games added to the Astros' TV schedule. Crane is to receive a refund of approximately $70 million of his $660 million purchase price to mitigate the potential crimp on the Astros' local TV ratings.

"I was in the air freight business," Crane told reporters at baseball's general managers' meetings. "I've always flown a lot ... we'll be flying a lot.''

If the 2013 playoff format had been in place this season, the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox would have met in a one-game playoff, with the winner advancing to the AL Division Series. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves would have met in a one-game playoff.

The new format would have doused much of the last-second drama that created, in some observers' eyes, the best final day of the regular season in baseball history this past September.

That a 162-game season could also come down to the vagaries of a one-game playoff has also raised some concerns.

"People can be critical, I understand that,'' Selig said, "but this is fair.''

There will be upsides to the format, as well.

There will be a greater incentive for teams to win their own division, so as to avoid the one-game playoff. In recent years, clubs have expressed ambivalence, at best, over going all-in to win a division title when a wild-card berth was available.

Schedule proposal
Comparing the current schedule, which features 14 teams in the AL and 16 in the NL, with USA TODAY's proposal for 15 teams in each league:

Current format
Intra-division games range from 15 to 19.
Games against other teams in your league range from five to nine per opponent in the NL, six to 10 in the AL.
AL teams play six three-game interleague series. Four NL teams play six interleague series, the other 12 NL teams play five. Teams with an obvious rival meet each season.

USA TODAY format
16 games (eight home, eight away) against the other four teams in your division.
Eight games (four home, four away) against the 10 teams in your league in other divisions.
One three-game series against all the teams in one division from the other league. The divisions would rotate each year.
One three-game series against your geographic rival from the other league. Teams without an obvious rival could be set up in four-team groups so the designated rival alternates from year to year. (An example could be Cleveland and Detroit with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati) Total games: Three.

Current calendar
A 26-week season with 51 series, generally allowing for two series per week plus the All-Star break, though a few weeks have two two-game series and one three-game series.

USA TODAY calendar
Our format could be handled in 50 series, allowing the season to be shortened by half a week.
The games against opponents in your division would be split into three home and three road series -- two three-game series and one two-game series at each site. That's six series against each of four opponents for a total of 24 series.
The games against other teams in your league would be one four-game home series and one four-game road series against each of the 10 teams. That's 20 more series. Using four-game series increases the equity of the schedule. For example, if the Brewers and Cardinals are battling for the NL Central, they're more likely to face the same pitchers from opponents in other divisions.
Add the six interleague series and the total number of series is 50.
Having 20 four-game series could create seven-game weeks in as many as 20 weeks, which would create problems adhering to collective bargaining requirements for off-days. However, the eight two-game series within the division could reduce the seven-game weeks to as few as 12.

Current interleague play
Games are played in blocks that include all teams except two from the NL because that league has two extra teams. This year's blocks are one weekend in May and 2 1/2 weeks in June.

USA TODAY interleague play
Fifeteen teams in each league requires at least one interleague series at all times. The number of interleague series across the majors for the entire season in this format is 90. Spread over the 51 series on our calendar, there would be no need for major blocks of interleague games. This would help alleviate managers concerns about playing a week or more at a time under the other league's rules -- with or without the designated hitter.