If the expanded playoff format Major League Baseball is expected to adopt in the next day or two had been in effect last season, Bobby Valentine might not be managing the Red Sox. Terry Francona might still be in charge and we may never have heard a word about the Boston pitchers’ in-game chicken-and-beer bashes.
Yes, the Red Sox would have reached the playoffs under the proposed plan, which would increase the number of teams in the postseason field from eight to 10. Under that format, which remained under discussion yesterday as both MLB and the players’ union worked to iron out the final details, the Braves — who also collapsed down the stretch — also would have qualified for the playoffs.
As it was, each team missed the postseason by a game and has had to live with the stigma of a promising season gone terribly wrong.
Under the proposed expansion, a second wild-card team would be added in each league. The wild-card teams in each league would meet in a one-game playoff to determine which team advances to meet the division winner with the best record.
“You don’t want to be in that one-game playoff,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said yesterday in Tampa. “Your motivation is to win the division.
“I like [the proposed format]. It gives more of an advantage to the division winners, which I think they deserve.’’
Across Florida in Port St. Lucie, David Wright said he wished the imminent change had come about sooner.
“It would have been nice five years ago, but I think it will be good for the game,” said the Mets third baseman, alluding to his team’s historic 2007 fade in which it went from seven games ahead in the NL East with 17 games to play only to miss the playoffs completely.
“Any time you get that win-or-go-home mentality, it’s good for the players and good for the fans. You obviously don’t want to dilute the playoffs, but I think this is good … and will make things very exciting.”
Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson knows the excitement the one-game playoffs would generate.
While with the Tigers in 2009, Granderson played in a one-game playoff against the Twins. Minnesota won in 12 innings, 6-5, and went on to face the Yankees in the AL Division Series.
“I am excited about it because it was exciting in 2009,’’ Granderson, the Yankees’ player representative, said. “I think the fans and the players will enjoy it. One more team gets a chance to move on.’’
While Mark Teixeira said he wasn’t “a big fan’’ of the idea, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez each said he didn’t know enough about the proposed expansion to comment.
When players and owners reached agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement in November, the sides established a March 1 goal for deciding whether the playoffs would expand this season or in 2013, when the Astros will move to the AL and create two 15-team leagues.
While that deadline was not set in granite, all indications are an agreement has been reached in principle with an announcement expected soon.
Adding two more teams to the playoff mix this season will not be foolproof, however.
The 2012 regular-season schedule was put together last summer with the final day of the regular season set for Oct. 3. The World Series is scheduled to start Oct. 24. MLB will have to find a way to drop those two one-game playoffs into the first week in October without compromising the start date of the World Series.
To make it even more challenging, the players and owners have already decided any ties for division titles will be broken on the field and not by head-to-head records as has been the norm since 1995. Shoehorning those potential games in could also prove tricky.
“I don’t think there is a perfect system,” said Girardi. “The only way you can have a perfect system is if the schedules were completely balanced.
“I don’t think they are looking for a perfect system. I think they are looking to create excitement.’’