MLB is contemplating expanding the playoffs for the 2022 season with a pick your opponent TV show:
MLB is considering a significant restructuring of its playoff format, one which would begin with a dramatic live television show during which two teams from each league would have the ability to select their first-round opponents.
The proposed format, which has been gaining traction among owners and within the Commissioner’s Office, would see the total number of playoff teams in each league increase from five to seven, with the Wild Card round expanding from a one-game playoff to a best-of-three series. The new format could go into effect as early as the 2022 season.
MLB.com
Basically, add two more wild cards to each league. The best record in the league gets a bye for the wild card round. The other teams play a best of three to determine who goes to the division series, with the team with the better record hosting all three games.
The twist is that the 2-3 seeds in each league, the division winners without a bye, get to pick their opponent from the 5-6-7 seeds. Seed four, the highest ranking wild card team, plays whoever is remaining.
I’m not sure how dramatic the choices would be. Most of us could figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the team and know which match-up would magnify the chance of advancing. All the drama would need to be faked by the anchors, or by close ups of GMs sweating, or by lots of dramatic music. It would not change anything about the games if the anchor just opened an envelope in the first minute and read the choice.
If you want drama, make the 2-3-4 seeds bid for the opponent! The money could then become part of the World Series winner’s take. So if you bid high to get a weak opponent, and win the World Series, your players get the money.
I would hope if they did this, they would somehow shorten the season so the playoffs are over by the end of October.
This is a nightmare waiting to happen if there are multiple ties that have to be resolved. You could have a tie for the best record among two division winners, so you’d have to have a playoff game to see who gets the bye. You could have a tie for the final wildcard spot(s), which could take days to resolve. The rest I suppose could be settled with tiebreakers. The opponent selection show could easily have to be moved to a different day. Teams could have to make travel plans literally the same day – or the same night after the prime time selection show is over. Teams on the coasts would have an advantage in that they could force another team to travel cross-country for a 3-game series starting the next day. Chaos. I can’t imagine the player’s union going for this.