According to Marly Rivera of ESPN, the Major League Baseball Players’ Association has “approved the agreement discussed with MLB for expanded playoffs, only for the 2020 season”, which would increase qualifying postseason teams in each league from five to eight.
A reported $50 million postseason player pool has been agreed upon, per Evan Drellich, The Athletic. The only hurdle remaining is the ratification of the agreement via the owners.
Expanded postseason play was a prominent discussion point during COVID-19-related negotiations between the Players’ Association and MLB throughout the extended offseason. A 16-team playoff expansion was agreed upon, with a $25 million bonus pool available for players.
Once the union stepped away from the negotiating table, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred put a 60-game season in place but trimmed expanded postseason play from the deal. It now appears that plan will come to fruition.
According to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, sources are indicating “that in a 16-team postseason, all first-round games in a best-of-three first round would be played at the home of the higher seed”.
A wild-card round best-of-three, Divisional Round best-of-five, League Championships best-of-seven, and World Series best-of-seven format appears to be the direction the players and the league have decided to go, per another tweet from Stark.
With a dramatically shortened 60-game schedule and a postseason that will include over half of all MLB teams, 2020 is shaping up to be a wild, wild season.
We’ll keep you posted with more information as it becomes available.
