Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 10:11 AM Oct 2023

The crying and gnashing of teeth about how unfair the MLB playoff format is needs to stop.

MLB has a few teams that are not seriously competing. So, some of these 100 win records are somewhat inflated. For example, 14 of the Dodgers' 100 wins came against the LA Angels and Colorado Rockies. Their record against playoff teams is somewhat more balanced. It's not that surprising that they got bounced in the first round bc their record overstated how good they actually were.

Maybe what MLB needs is what the Euro football leagues do, and that is relegation. If teams are not serious about competing, then they should be relegated to a lower league, maybe AAA or AAA+?

21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
1. Baseball is a game of streaks ...
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 10:24 AM
Oct 2023

for both teams and players. The more teams you let into the playoffs, the more those playoffs will be determined by who gets hot. The three-game series may be too short. If every series were best-of-7, streaks would have less to do with the final outcome. Oh, and the Dodgers are overrated. Go Phillies!

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
3. True. But if the teams are relatively equal going in, no one would complain.
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 11:08 AM
Oct 2023

Folks are only complaining bc of the regular season records of the eliminated teams vs teams that are still in the playoffs. My point is that if good teams faced mostly good teams throughout the season, then there wouldn't be that many 100 win teams. The top teams would all have roughly the same records. Thus, it wouldn't be as shocking.

The Dodgers were really a 90~ win team, not 100 win team.

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
6. Relegation!
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 12:24 PM
Oct 2023

Weaker teams get demoted to a lower league, leaving only top teams in MLB.

This may be impractical. So, I would re-balance the schedules so that the top teams play most of their games against other top teams. Next year, the Dodgers wouldn't play the Rockies 13 times. Instead, they would play the Diamondbacks more.

awesomerwb1

(4,544 posts)
4. You could find the same argument for every team in MLB
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 12:17 PM
Oct 2023

That they get a few wins playing against poor teams. This is a silly argument. The angels are in the same division as the Trashtros and Rangers which means they played more games against them than the Dodgers did.

And the Dodgers lost because they didn't have any starting pitching. The past couple years they have lost Bauer (Cy Young winner previous year), Buehler (all star), Gonsolin (all star), Urias (personal issues) and Kershaw pitched hurt and then they had to pitch a rookie and a veteran who gives up home runs like it's Halloween candy (he gave up 4 in one inning vs Arizona lol). Oh yeah, and their hitting got cold.

But you don't win 100 games if you're "overrated". A team can barely make it into the playoffs and then get hot at the right time and it doesn't mean they underachieved for 162 games.

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
7. You can definitely be "overrated" in MLB.
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 12:30 PM
Oct 2023

There are enough really bad teams to run up your win total. When you eliminate wins against putrid teams, the disparity is not that great among the playoff teams.

Also, getting hot in MLB is entirely dependent on your schedule.

awesomerwb1

(4,544 posts)
8. All teams play really bad teams throughout the year, every single one of them
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 12:38 PM
Oct 2023

So the record is what it is for all teams. And getting hot in the playoffs has nothing to do with a schedule. Silly points. Bye

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
9. How is it silly?
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 12:54 PM
Oct 2023

Some teams out perform other teams on poorer competition. Just bc you don't agree with the argument, you don't need to disparage it. Grow up.

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
11. MLB does have a very progressive luxury tax system
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 11:39 AM
Oct 2023

which does serve as a salary cap. The real problem is that there are owners who pocket the revenue instead of putting it back into the team. See the Oakland A's.

Auggie

(31,775 posts)
12. A luxury tax means nothing to a team with billions
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 11:49 AM
Oct 2023

Either meet the cap or forfeit games. And all shared revenue must be spent on improving the team.

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
15. The problem isn't a salary cap.
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 12:43 PM
Oct 2023

The problem is that there are owners who don't put the money back into their teams. A $30 million payroll for a professional sports team today is absurd.

Also, the Mets were horrible this year while the Rays with a payroll in the bottom 25% went to the playoffs. There's no correlation between what a team spends and if they win.

Auggie

(31,775 posts)
16. The Athletics are an exception. Teams like Cleveland will never have the financial resources ...
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 01:08 PM
Oct 2023

to match the spending of the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, etc.

Sure, there are exceptions, and teams like Baltimore and Cleveland can make the playoffs through YEARS of rebuilding via the draft and exceptionally savvy trading. It's still the teams that spend big that are perennially in contention or near contention.

Audit revenue sharing if necessary. Mandate it be spent on farm systems, scouting, player salaries, etc.

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
17. Out of the top 10 payrolls, 6 teams made the playoffs.
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 01:39 PM
Oct 2023

Out of the bottom 10 payrolls, 5 teams made the playoffs. Payroll disparity is not the advantage that you think that it is.

Also, some of the bottom payrolls of teams in MLB are beyond absurd. Steph Curry (an NBA player) alone makes more than the entire payroll of the A's and almost as much as The Orioles' entire payroll.

The lack of competition is not due to payroll disparities. Rather, it's about poor ownership and management of teams which won't be fixed with a salary cap.

Auggie

(31,775 posts)
18. I can't fix poor ownership and management decisions ...
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 01:54 PM
Oct 2023

but I bet well-run franchises -- like the Guardians -- would stand a better chance of contending given the resources.

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
19. In the last 10 years...
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 02:21 PM
Oct 2023

The Guardians have won their division four times and went to the World Series in 2016. Those are better results than what the Yankees did over that same time period.

ProfessorGAC

(69,745 posts)
20. Disagree, Yav
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 06:17 PM
Oct 2023

Baseball is set up as 50+ series per year, that are played with little downtime.
To turn a playoff round into essentially a series doesn't differentiate the marathoners from the sprinters.
I don't think any round of the playoffs should be under 5 games.
If MLB is going to expand playoffs they should set it up more as a second season. Otherwise that first round is nothing more than just another series. Except one team hasn't played for a week & baseball's rhythms don't work that way.

Yavin4

(36,217 posts)
21. Point taken.
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 09:32 PM
Oct 2023

Make the final month of the season a round robin tournament that continues into the World Series.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Sports»The crying and gnashing o...