A Premature Rant About the Baseball Post-Season

It seems that every year, Bud Selig is talking about wanting to expand the MLB post-season by adding two more Wild Card teams. Right now, MLB only has 8 (out of 30) teams make the post-season while the NFL has 12 (of 32), and the NBA and NHL have 16 (of 30). Selig justifies this by stating that MLB will still have the lowest number and smallest percentage of post-season teams in amongst big four sports. The idea is that it will make for more meaningful games late into the season and and allows for more variety of teams that make the playoffs. Oh, and will make lots more money for the League.

Forgetting the fact that more games in the postseason means playing well into November (which the World Series consistently threatens these days), I fail to see what expanding the post-season would really add to the game, except favoring the top teams more. So we have some sort of playoffs between the Wild Card teams then they get to join the others? Why bother? Plus, right now, the Tampa Bay Rays are in third place (fourth in the league overall) of the toughest division in baseball (just compare run differentials to see that) and would barely make the second Wild Card spot even though they are a game and a half up on the first place Detroit Tigers. I've got enough issues with the current baseball post-season system to add more ridiculousness.

Right now, barring any team going on a terrible losing streak (which has happened, but I doubt will), the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Braves, and Brewers are going to make the playoffs and it's not even September. That's five out of eight spots. Expanding the post-season adds a few more teams to the mix, but also secures the odds of the five teams already on their way. The chance of historic collapses shrinks as more teams are let into the playoffs. And collapses are just as exciting as dog fights for the playoffs.

Of course, I don't understand why the top four records don't make it to the playoffs. It avoids years like 2005 when the Padres made the playoffs with an 82-80 record. Sure, the schedules aren't balanced, but with Interleague Play, that's the case as it is (and boy is that a feature that's worn itself out). As I stated earlier, right now the Rays have the fourth best record in the American League. They play the Red Sox and Yankees (combined run differential:+332) a total of 35 times! Can anyone suggest that if they have the fourth best record in the AL at the end of the season that they don't belong in the playoffs? There's only one team in the AL East with a record under .500! Before Selig starts adding more teams unnecessarily to the baseball post-season, let's at least make sure that the teams already making it deserve to be there.