Mere hours before the truncated 2020 MLB season is set to get going, and the campaign itself could have an even more crazy feel to it.
The MLBPA has approved a plan set forth by owners to expand the playoff format from 10 teams to 16, according to ESPN’s Marly Rivera.
Negotiations picked back up between the two sides earlier in the week. If the owners approve this ahead of first pitch between the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals later on Thursday, it will be the name of the game in 2020.
Expanded MLB Playoff field
Under the proposal, eight teams in each league would earn a spot in the postseason. The first round would be a best-of-three series. From that point on, the regular playoff format would take hold.
Given that the 2020 regular season consists of 60 games per team, this seems to make a ton of sense. Expanding the playoff field would create more interest in the product on the field.
If these rules were in place last season, the New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs would have all played postseason baseball in the National League. Over in the Junior Circuit, the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers would have all played playoff baseball.
As our most-recent power rankings suggest, there’s a number of top-end World Series contenders. After that, there’s a lot of teams grouped in together. At the very least, it should make for an interesting on-field product starting Thursday evening in the nation’s capital.
As for the financials, MLB players will be getting an additional $50 million for agreeing to the expanded format.