The Philadelphia Phillies snatched baseball’s last playoff ticket on Monday as Bryce Harper and company partyed late into the night. ” We are in! We did it! We did it! “Hunter Rhys Hoskins shouted as the celebrations came to a head.
It was Philadelphia’s first playoff appearance since 2011, and no one seemed to care that it arrived via one of three NL wild cards.
This is the first year of the major leagues’ new playoff format — part of the negotiations that led to a collective bargaining agreement in March that ended a 99-day hiatus. Each league has three wild cards, and the playoff team increases from 10 to 12.
Philadelphia sealed its spot after Seattle picked up the AL wild card Friday night for its first playoff berth in 21 years. The other wild-card teams are Toronto and Tampa Bay in the AL, and San Diego and the NL East runner-up in the NL.
“For us, it’s ending the drought, so it gives us an extra chance,” Mariners infielder Ty France said. “But I think it’s a cool, cool structure and setup.”
October’s new look removes the usual tension in the final days of the regular season. But there are still valuable spots at stake for playoff teams.
The top two division champions in each league get a first-round bye, and the remaining four qualifiers play best-of-three in the wild-card round for three consecutive days. The Division III winner is the highest seed in the group, with the other clubs sorted by their records. The top seed from each game will host the entire series.
Gone are the days of winning or going home wild card games in every league.
“It just feels like a wild-card team that just plays one game and all season boils down to one game, and it never feels right,” said Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations for the Cleveland Guardians. Adding some games to the card round makes sense.”
The playoffs were expanded to 16 teams in the 2020 season, which was delayed by the pandemic, as part of an agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ union. But when the majors played a full season last year, the field was back at 10.
Seeking more TV revenue, Major League Baseball proposed 14 playoff teams in recent labor negotiations. But after the players boycotted it, it froze at 12.
“It’s not worth it, understanding reasoning is TV money, and it doesn’t make sense to those who are playing,” said New York Yankees reliever Zach Britton, who serves on the union’s executive subcommittee. “If you keep adding more and more teams to the playoffs, we know exactly what teams will do. There’s no incentive to win.”
It’s hard to say whether the 12-team format has any impact on the playoffs. The Guardians, champions of the mediocre AL Central, are the only playoff team without multiple deals by the trade deadline.
“I think it retains more of the team,” said Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash. “You also talk about rebuilding or the team being positive when it comes to putting young players on the pitch. I think it’s always been competitive. If things change, it’s positive.”
Entering the playoffs for the first time since 2016, Baltimore brought in touted rookie Gunnar Henderson on Aug. 8. 31. The New York Mets promoted catcher Francisco Alvarez to minors in September. 30, giving their top prospects a chance in the pennant game.
The Orioles will join the NL Brewers in the 14-team playoffs. Depending on the results of the final days of the season, a 14-team team could include every major league team that finishes over .500.
“I think that’s going to be too many teams,” Mariners pitcher Robbie Ray said. “You don’t want teams limping in with a record close to .500. I think you should still be close to 90 wins. Yes. go in.”
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Associated Press baseball writer Ronald Bloom and AP sports writers Tim Booth, Christy Rickon and Tom Withers contributed to this report.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
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