Get ready for sudden-death baseball. Â Major League Baseball announced that an additional wild card team will be added to each league, creating a one-game playoff after the regular season ends. Â Read more after the jump.
“It’s an extra playoff game,†Commissioner Bud Selig said after the owners’ meetings were completed. “The one criticism we’ve had is that we didn’t put enough on winning the division. Now we have. Now we have in a big way.”
Selig said the new postseason format could go into effect as soon as the 2012 season, though it’s possible it might not happen until 2013.
Baseball saw one of the most exciting nights in history on the final day of the regular season, as the Rays and Cardinals overtook the Red Sox and Braves for the wild card spots, something that would not have happened with the new format. Selig recognized the excitement of this past Sept. 28, but believes the new format will be beneficial for the game.
“The addition of two wild cards will really help us in the long run; people are really excited about it,†Selig said. “Like everything else in life, you’ve got to take the long run when you look at it.”
The Daily News first reported in Thursday’s editions that MLB would use a one-game playoff format for the two wild card teams. Selig said each member of his 14-man committee was in favor of a one-game wild card format rather than other alternatives such as a best-of-three.
“The only guy that had some concerns about it was me,†Selig said. “It will be dramatic.”
MLB also approved the sale of the Houston Astros to Jim Crane, announcing that the team would move from the National League Central to the American League West beginning in 2013. Crane paid $615 million for the Astros, getting a $65 million discount for agreeing to move the team to the AL, leaving 15 teams in each league.
Each league will consist of three five-team divisions, resulting in Interleague matchups throughout the entire season.
“Like many changes that have gone on in this sport, I’m proud of the changes – but you want to make sure you’re doing the right thing,†Selig said. “It won’t be perfect; I don’t think any schedule is ever perfect. But this will be very good.”
No new collective bargaining agreement was announced, but Rob Manfred, MLB’s executive vice president of labor relations, was optimistic a deal would be done in the near future.
“I’m really confident; I think we will finish an agreement,†Manfred said. “The process, it’s hard to predict exactly when anything is going to happen, but we’ve made good progress and I’m hopeful that we’ll push it across the finish line.”
