Ah ok, I see what you mean. The tie-breakers in other sports are a series of stats based on what happened during the season. I much prefer the way they do it in baseball, where the tie-breaker is to actually play a game.
Elimination games are the best. They're great for baseball and well worth pushing the start of the first round back a couple days. Even in a scenario where there's a four-way tie for one Wild Card spot, they would only have to add two days to the schedule.
Day 1
Team A and Team B play each other. Winner moves on. Loser is out.
Team C and Team D play each other. Winner moves on. Loser is out.
Day 2
Winning teams play each other. Winner gets the second Wild Card spot. Loser is out.
Day 3
Wild Card game.
That would be amazing. I want to see a four-way tie every year and I never want to see a tie-breaker scenario that doesn't involve playing games.
Difference of opinion i guess. It works out perfectly if you have 2-4 teams tied but if you have 5 then it isnt just 2 extra days. Plus what happens if you have a 5 way tie for the 1st and 2nd wildcard spots - you are looking at a scenario of more than 2 extra days.... where teams have to play for the 1st WC spot then the 2nd. Then what happens if it rains?
What happens to the rest of the playoffs? Does the NL move forward as scheduled or do they wait for everything to be settled? Usually they wait for one round to be settled and they move forward. Either way there is a disadvantage to some team.
You risk snow if the playoffs are delayed by more than a few days going into November. Or if the league is forced to play a game then you are looking at playing in potentially slick conditions which isnt ideal for player safety (Harper's injury). And/or long delays where games are going after midnight - not all that great for ratings or fans who bought tickets (one of the reasons why i think retractable roofs should be mandatory for any new stadiums but i know a lot of people would disagree with this).
I think that would be a disaster. The season is too long - i dont complain as the Rogers centre has a dome but if it gets delayed elsewhere then you are looking at pushing an already long season potentially further into November.
I just dont see a lot of value in elimination games for playoff spots when you have better and the more meaningful (of actually) playoff games coming up. If you want exciting baseball then you have playoff baseball coming. Playoff games vs. games to determine who gets in the playoffs... i know which ones i like/are more important.
This wasnt an issue in years past but the MLB has made a bigger effort with the IFA and luxury tax penalties and with players getting 30-40M salaries it really evens things out. Parity has caused this which is good (parity is great for the game but not under the current tie break system) but can be a potential disaster depending who you asked if you have a multiple team tied at the end of the season.
I know i might sound like a tinfoil conspirator but these are potentially real issues that the game might face at the end of this season that they havent seen before. A pre-wildcard tiebreaker has only happened 4 times in MLB history (2 out of the 4 times the game was played before October which lessen my concern) and only once since the 2nd wildcard spot was introduced. This might be a problem every year due to recent efforts to enhance parity.
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I just like the simple NHL/NBA/NFL format - you know who is in on the last day of the season. Gives teams time to prepare and rest - you have a well rest playoff team vs another well rested playoff team.
I think that is best for competition.
