Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 12, 2007
Another Reason to Want the Best Record

The AL team with the best record gets to choose if it wants an extra-day off in the first round of the playoffs:

In recent years, one of the four postseason series had an extra off day between Games 1 and 2, and it alternated leagues in the series that didn't involve a wild-card team.

Because there is an extra off day between Games 4 and 5 under the new postseason television schedule this year, it means that the series with the extra off day between the first two games would be played over eight days. Because of that, teams in that series would be able to use their Game 1 and 2 starters on full rest for Games 4 and 5.

It's a nice wrinkle. If a team's 1-2 starters are really strong, but 3-4 are much weaker, they might want the extra-day off. If the starters are fairly even, but the opponent has a strong 1-2, you might not want the extra day off. For example, I could see Boston not taking the extra day if they finish with the best record, so they don't' have to see either Sabathia and Carmona or Lackey and Escobar on normal rest twice.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:06 AM | Post Season | TrackBack (0)
Comments

This could actually benefit the lower-seeded teams, not just this year, but in the coming years. If you think about it, the more well-rounded teams are less likely to have a yawning gap between their second and third starters. It's the Wild Card and other low-win teams that are more likely to rely on the dominance of a couple of starters. Of course this isn't always the case, but in general, it may not benefit the higher seeds.

It's especially true for the Mets. As it is, it's difficult to see which starter goes to the bullpen. Whatever foursome (maybe threesome) gets selected, they're going to have a well-balanced rotation. But if they draw the Padres in the first round, I don't think they're going to want to play four out of five games against Peavy and Young (though if Young starts both games on the road, based on his splits, that's actually an advantage for the Mets). I'm sure they wouldn't mind stretching out the Diamonbacks' rotation either.

Posted by: paul zummo at September 12, 2007 11:36 AM

From what I read in the globe, it's not clear WHEN the team needs to decide if it wants the day off. The league indicated that the team will have 1 hour after it clinches the best record to decide. If this is the case, it's possible that they won't know their opponent.

The Globe article said that the Red Sox were under the impression they would have until their opponent was decided should they clinch the best record.

It seems likely that the "best record" race in the AL will come down to the wire, so the distinction may be moot.

Posted by: Derek at September 12, 2007 02:03 PM
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