MLB

[willeyeam]

I'd much rather scrap divisions. Have a 3 game play in series between the 4th and 5th seeds similar to this proposal then off to the "Divisional" round we go

[MWB]

If you read the article, this is all about tv. Some contracts are up after 2021 and they can farm out more playoff games this way. Also creates more drama, which could theoretically bring up sagging attendance.

[Orlando Penguin]

Reduce the damn season by 10-15 games and then we can talk about expanding playoffs. There's already enough teams as it is. If you're not better than the 5th-best in your league, then you don't deserve to be in there. In fact, I like how they have it set up now. If you can't win your division, then you shouldn't have any advantages. Here ya go, one game to get into the tournament for you wild cards. If that's not high drama for baseball, I don't know what is. But hey, if they want baseball going into December and losing even more audience, go right ahead.

[MWB]

[AuthorTony]

If you're not better than the 5th-best in your league, then you don't deserve to be in there.

The same could be said about the NHL, no? But I agree. If they expand the playoffs they need to cut back on the regular season. I'd say chop off 20 games, but it'll never happen of course.

[MWB]

I agree on cutting season. MLB is saying first round would be three consecutive days and end by Thursday, which is when divisional round currently starts. So wouldn’t extend it much.

[shafnutz05]

After 162 games I am not in favor of having anything in play that could lead to a fluke championship. 14 of the 30 teams in the playoffs lessens the meaning of playing 162 ****ing games and the arguable 14th best team could get hot and win a title. Pass

I am not a traditionalist, but I agree with this. The way baseball is set up with the lack of salary cap, there are typically only 3, *maybe* 4 teams that have any realistic shot of winning every year. The season is absurdly long, they don't need to cheapen the worth of individual games any more.

[MWB]

In the last 20 years there have been 13 different World Series winners and 21 different teams represented in the World Series. In the last 20 years of football there have been 13 super bowl winners and 19 different teams represented. MLB often has the same teams in the hunt, but there is definitely variety in who makes it through.

This scenario seems to make it tougher for wild card teams. To win their first series, they’d theoretically have to burn their best two pitchers. If you’re a team that isn’t that good, you don’t have pitching depth and would really struggle in the next round. I like the idea of some added drama. Shorten the season to 150, then go best of 3, best of 5, and do LCS and WS best of 7.

[faftorial]

The first player lawsuit against the Astros over trashcangate:

In what turned out to be Mike Bolsinger’s final major league appearance, the Blue Jays relief pitcher was lit up by members of the 2017 Astros. Now Bolsinger is suing the Astros, claiming that the team’s sign-stealing scheme “resulted in economic harm” to him.

Bolsinger, now 32, was a former starting pitcher for the Diamondbacks and Dodgers who was converted to a reliever by the Blue Jays in 2017. He entered that Aug. 4 game at Houston’s Minute Maid Park in the fourth inning, and got one out while giving up four earned runs, four hits, three walks and a home run, with no strikeouts, on 29 pitches to eight batters.

According to his lawsuit, Toronto “immediately” sent Bolsinger down to the minors, and despite performing well at the Class AAA level he was not recalled and could not latch on with any major league team the following season. Instead, he played in Japan the next two years, and he is “currently a free agent hoping to secure a job in the United States” this season.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2 ... hes-suing/

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Baseball isn't going to be revived by some contrived act like having 3 game series in the playoffs or some overdramatic nonsense like having a team pick an opponent. These are the types of changes that boomers make thinking/hoping that gen Zers will like.

[Dickie Dunn]

The first player lawsuit against the Astros over trashcangate:

In what turned out to be Mike Bolsinger’s final major league appearance, the Blue Jays relief pitcher was lit up by members of the 2017 Astros. Now Bolsinger is suing the Astros, claiming that the team’s sign-stealing scheme “resulted in economic harm” to him.

Bolsinger, now 32, was a former starting pitcher for the Diamondbacks and Dodgers who was converted to a reliever by the Blue Jays in 2017. He entered that Aug. 4 game at Houston’s Minute Maid Park in the fourth inning, and got one out while giving up four earned runs, four hits, three walks and a home run, with no strikeouts, on 29 pitches to eight batters.

According to his lawsuit, Toronto “immediately” sent Bolsinger down to the minors, and despite performing well at the Class AAA level he was not recalled and could not latch on with any major league team the following season. Instead, he played in Japan the next two years, and he is “currently a free agent hoping to secure a job in the United States” this season.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2 ... hes-suing/

Nice try Bolsinger. 90 mph fastball throwing righty with career numbers of 4.92 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, and 279/350/461/811 splits against; 5.49 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 282/378/500/878 splits against in 2017 before the fateful game in question. The Cheating Astros aren't why you're stuck with Chibba Lotte dude.

[faftorial]

Baseball isn't going to be revived by some contrived act like having 3 game series in the playoffs or some overdramatic nonsense like having a team pick an opponent. These are the types of changes that boomers make thinking/hoping that gen Zers will like.

[dodint]

Baseball isn't going to be revived.

Could've stopped here.

[MWB]

I agree, nothing will change the trend of baseball. It’s too slow for most people.

[MWB]

[willeyeam]

Meh. Almost 50% of the league in the postseason just makes the insane regular season seem meaningless.

Which is fine, if we want to shorten the regular season. But if you're playing every day for six months, playoffs should be more exclusive than most sports. Imo

[willeyeam]

I think the biggest return on any change is in game stuff. Speeding the game up. I don't know if I'm sold on a pitch clock, but going back to having the batter keep a foot in the box, less mound visits and pitching changes, etc.. they were on the right track a couple years ago and seemed to have ditched enforcing it.

Also I've said it before, but if there's a way to enforce it - outlawing players adjusting their batting gloves between pitches would shave 15 minutes off each game.

[faftorial]

Baseball isn't going to be revived.

Could've stopped here.

There's a good 15 to 25 years until they slide into irrelevance. The audience won't be there then to sustain the contracts/player salaries of today.

[MWB]

Doubtful, IMO. Local tv ratings are still strong and team values are still high. I also think gambling will help baseball as they move forward with in-game betting options.

[CBear3]

I'm sure there will be more contrition once teams start reporting to spring training

Also:

[Freddy Rumsen]

[willeyeam]

**** that man

[MWB]

Is there an article or more to that minor league stuff?

[Dickie Dunn]

If that’s true, that’s worse than sign stealing. They should get relegated to AA.

[robbiestoupe]

Is there an article or more to that minor league stuff?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/287 ... re=twitter

In fact, as B/R reported in October, 2018, rival industry sources believed Houston's devious behavior cut so deep that the Astros may not have been calibrating their TrackMan (a ball-tracking system) properly throughout the organization, particularly at the minor league levels. Misrepresenting a pitcher's spin rate as too high or too low, for example, could be used to either put an artificially high or low value on prospects during trade talks. At least one club had serious concerns over this matter when completing a deal with Houston in 2018, according to B/R sources.

Pirates traded Gerrit Cole in 2018