Expanded playoffs start this season

[HollywoodLeo]

I say do away with division champions, let top 6 in from each league, shorten the days of the season but not games by adding weekend double headers. Cause owners will never agree to less games.

That's going from one extreme to the other. Divisions foster rivalries, which is half the fun of sports.

[Mach]

Back to 2 divisions each league, the 2 winners in each league get in and then ya'll can figure out how many after that.

[HollywoodLeo]

I wouldn't oppose going back to two divisions so long as there's still two wild cards with it.

The pre-wildcard era was too restrictive. No way should a team be able to win 103 games and miss the playoffs like what happened to the Giants.

[jwmann2]

I'm all for more baseball. Gives teams more of an incentive to lock up the division rather than coast into the playoffs. It would be a shame to win 93 games and get the wildcard only to be eliminated in one game.

[HollywoodLeo]

I'd like to take this moment to point out how exciting the NL Central race this year could be but is not.

Before 2012 it'd be 3 teams fighting for 2 spots.

This year it's 3 teams all going to make the playoffs just trying to race to the one not stuck in the one game playoff.

Also, imagine one team falls back by around 5 games but doesn't lose that 2nd WC spot...but now they can still leapfrog that 2nd place team in one game.

[realmofotalk]

Imagine if this took place in the 2001 season and the 85-win Twins were allowed to go on to divisional round by beating the 102-win Oakland A's in a play-in game.

Cards clinch 2nd WC with a week to spare, rest their starters and set up Wainwright to start WC game. Meanwhile Giants and Dodgers are having to play starters, try and clinch division and avoid a win or go home, anything can happen WC game against arguably the hottest team in baseball.