I don’t see them ever breaking up the NL East so really if your worried about who we are competing on that level then this extra wildcard really is a step in that direction. They could go completely to the Hockey mode where the top teams get in and the make the division meaningless but then why bother playing 162 games at all?

It was much better with two divisions!
Wildcard made some sense then.
the more teams they add the less relevant the Division and Regular season become!
Unless they start scheduling like Football where the strong teams play the strong teams more and the weak teams play the weak teams…

And then we have 10 West Coast trips while Philly has two!
Can’t really win here!

I don’t like the idea of a one game playoff. They will happen occasionally anyway with one more playoff team being added.

My suggestion would be to make the season 160 games and add another round of playoffs – the first round would pit the two wild card teams in a best of three with the divisional winners getting a bye.. The next round would be best of five. Third round (league championship) – best of seven and then the world sereis.

Interleague is flawed enough but when you have 3-4 weak teams in one division it makes it easier for that divisions leader to make the playoffs IE the 2006 Cardinals winning it all with 83 wins.

No divisions means we’ll never have to go home with 89 wins and a team with 84 wins makes the playoffs because they’re in a weak division.I don’t like 15 teams in each league. I don’t want to see interleague everyday.Moving Houston to the AL makes no sense just to even out the divisions to 5 teams each but I hate divisions alltogether.

Like I said inmy other post,only the lockout in 94 prevented a team well under 500 from winning their division and the season ended on August 12th so it’s not like they just got off to a bad start and had time to get to 500.They were a horrible team with even worse teams in that division.

Even if it happens only once it still cheapens the season if an under 500 team ever makes the playoffs.Leave that for the NBA and NHL when one year the Minnesota Northstars nearly won the Stanley Cup with an under 500 record.They lost in the finals.

We going to start having Bye Series?
The season wouldn’t get done till December!

Besides this is also a Moneyplay!

It makes one series everyday an interleague series.
And personally I would rather see that then us just playing the yankees twice while the Phillies play Seattle if you get what I mean there.

Yes the Yanks Mets is a great series for New Yorkers but it does make our schedule immediatly tougher than our competition’s

This way just about everyone in our Division will face the Yankees at some point. Maybe just not as often as we would.

1994 we would’ve had the Texas Rangers win the AL West 11 games under 500 if not for the strike/lockout whichever it was.Get rid of 3 divisions and get the best teams in the playoffs.I guess the 4 and 5 seed are going to play a 1 game play in game then I hope they go to 7 game series for the LDS or at the very least go with a best of 3 with the 2 WC teams and keep the LDS’ at 5 game series. I’m not crazy about a 5th team but if they’re gonna do it then I hope they get it right.

I hate the expansion of the Playoffs.
One Third of the league is in now?
What is this Hockey?

I know WHY they want it, more TV money, More Playoff games to sell! More Playoff Tickets to sell!

And if they do that guess what the October series moves to November eventually!

That would be good the first World Series snowed out!

Money Money Money…
And we accuse the Players of being greedy bastards!

I think the inter-league play all year will be fine. I don’t mind inter-league play, but it doesn’t need to have it’s own “special times” of the year. Let’s be honest, IL play hasn’t been special in over ten years.

As for” teams losing Type-A free agents benefit from their former player leaving by receiving compensatory draft picks. Now, it appears that this will no longer be the case for teams who are not able to re-sign their players” What does ” able to re-sign their players” mean? did they get rid of the whole Compensatory draft thing, or do they determine that some teams are exempt because of whatever reason?

Have to chuckle at the Astros moving leagues, when the Brewers used to be in the AL not too long ago. Given that fact that the Brewers are Selig’s old pet team, them moving again wouldn’t be happening and the sale of the Astro’s gave him the prime opportunity to push that move. I probably wouldn’t be too happy about that if I were an Astro fan.

A couple of interleague series are fine. Anymore than what we have now…what’s the point? Why even have two different leagues?

Not believe we need another WC series but we all know what that is being added for. Revenue for MLB, pure and simple.

Changing the free agent compensations…..I can see the need for change here as it actually hurts some lower type A’s, type Bs, especially relievers. I’m not sure of all the details on this one so I won’t offer an opinion right now. What little I have read about it, I wonder if it’s going to have the opposite effect – going 180 degrees in the opposite direction?

For the WC teams, depending on exactly how they structure it, could lead to more excitement. That is assuming it is some kind of “play in” game.

what it could do is give more incentive to fight for the division. Now, there is not that much difference winning the division vs. taking the WC (heck, in some cases you are better off as the WC depending on matchups). You still play the same length series at the same time.

but, if the options are a bye vs. a 1 and done play in game, darned right you are shooting for the division!

the compensation issue is tricky. While yes it is supposed to help the downtrodden teams, in reality, just as often money teams (red sox say) take advantage by “renting” FAs to be, then getting picks out of them. And it has not seemed to stop rich tems from signing FAs.

I suppose it will also lead to more trades. If you have a guy that you aren’t planning (or expecting) to sign, it makes it more likely to move him for prospects at the deadline.