Bud Selig: MLB Playoff Expansion Possible
November 18, 2010
Filed under: MLB Playoffs
ORLANDO, Fla. — The idea of expanded playoffs seems to be inching closer to reality, with the subject on the agenda for Bud Selig‘s special committee next month at the winter meetings.
Selig, who met with the general managers and owners over two days, said Thursday that both groups had discussed the idea. He seemed to indicate that there was support for the general concept of adding two wild card teams.
“Eight is a very fair number, but so is 10,” Selig said.
Rob Manfred, MLB’s executive vice president in charge of labor relations, had said on Tuesday that it would be tough to implement any changes in the playoffs by 2011 because it is during the current collective bargaining agreement. Selig agreed, although he wouldn’t rule out anything.
“We’ll just proceed, and whatever we decide, we’ll get it done as fast as we can,” he said.
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Bud Selig: No Regrets About Facilitating Cliff Lee Trade
November 1, 2010
Filed under: Rangers, MLB Playoffs, MLB Trade Deadline, World Series
ARLINGTON, Texas — Reacting to Mike Maddux‘s assertion that he was the Rangers‘ MVP for allowing them to “operate without a checkbook” to get Cliff Lee, commissioner Bud Selig said before Game 4 of the World Series that he did not regret the way the situation was handled.
“I understand (the criticism),” Selig said. “I did at the time what I would do again. Absolutely it’s the right thing to do.”
The Rangers were getting support from MLB while the club was involved in bankrupcy proceedings over the summer, before the sale to Chuck Greenberg‘s group. The Rangers added more than $2 million to their payroll with the Lee trade. Selig said the investment the other clubs made in supporting the Rangers has been repaid.
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Bud Selig Open to Playoff Expansion, Will Not Discuss Instant Replay
October 29, 2010
by Ed Price
Filed under: Giants, Rangers, MLB Biz, MLB Playoffs, World Series, Sports Business and Media
SAN FRANCISCO — While proclaiming that a Giants-Rangers World Series proves baseball has more parity than ever, commissioner Bud Selig on Thursday said the playoffs could still expand as soon as next year.
Expansion would likely mean adding a second wild card in each league and having those wild cards play off to narrow the field to the current eight.
Players’ union head Michael Weiner recently said the players are open to expanded playoffs, mentioning 2012 as the starting point, since that would come after the current collective bargaining agreement expires.
But asked Thursday, after presenting the Roberto Clemente Award to Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, if the playoffs could grow in 2011, Selig said, “Yes.”
Asked where those discussions stand, Selig said, “That’s for later. I’ve said that I would consider it and we will.
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Time for Baseball to Get Radical, Go to 16 Teams in Postseason
September 30, 2010
by Joe Lapointe
Filed under: MLB Playoffs
Baseball attendance is down again. Interest is slipping as the playoffs approach. In the post-Steroids Era, the game needs a boost and a bump, some new kind of juice.
Ersatz pennant races — like one between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East — have little drama with nothing to gain but home-field advantage.
With at least a wild-card playoff berth clinched, the Yankees will rest regulars to play backups. The Rays are giving away tickets.
Crisis equals opportunity and baseball should take full advantage to make a change that seems radical but would merely bring the sport into step with its competition.
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MLB Wild Card, Playoffs Just Fine as Is
September 30, 2010
Filed under: MLB Playoffs
Baseball’s greatest strength, and occasionally one of its greatest weaknesses, is its static nature. It is wonderful, to many, that the same basic game, with the same basic equipment and rules, is played in the same basic structure it was 98 years ago when Fenway Park first opened.
And it is abhorrent, to many of those same people, that the game’s power brokers are slow, or just downright defiant, when it comes to embracing instant replay so all future Armando Galarraga-Jim Joyce situations can be avoided.
A jolt of change is likely coming to baseball’s postseason format. If you read the tea leaves, it’s not too hard to guess what might get hammered out when the next collective bargaining agreement is discussed in 2011.
Commissioner Bud Selig has dropped hints about examining playoff expansion again, the possibility of adding two wild cards — one in each league — the pet proposal of many, including Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci, a man who, at least nominally, has the ear of the commissioner, and who suggested it earlier this month.
One way or another, it seems like we’re going to see more playoff games going forward. The 2011 schedule was altered significantly, moving the start of the season up to a Thursday so it will end in September. The changes ensure that the World Series will conclude in October, instead of November as it did last year and will this year. With further condensing of the playoff schedule likely, that move is also probably a precursor to going from a best-of-5 to a best-of-7 format in the Division Series.
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Report: Game 3 of World Series Could Have Earliest Start Time Since ’87
September 29, 2010
Filed under: MLB Biz, MLB Playoffs, World Series, Sports Business and Media
An agreement in the works between Major League Baseball and FOX could move the start time of Game 3 of this year’s World Series up to 6:55 p.m. ET, according to a report by SI.com.
That start time would be the earliest for any World Series game since Game 3 of the 1987 Fall Classic between the Twins and Cardinals, which started at 3:04 p.m. ET.
Game 3 comes on a Saturday this year, typically the weakest night in terms of television viewership. It came on a Saturday last year as well, with a scheduled start time of more than an hour later (7:57 p.m. ET).
The report states that moving Game 3 up is an attempt by commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball to rope in more younger viewers and beat primetime college football viewing options.
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Angels Manager Mike Scioscia Proposes 158-Game Schedule
September 13, 2010
by Tom Fornelli
Filed under: Angels, MLB Playoffs, MLB Rumors, World Series
If the World Series reaches a seventh game this fall — and which baseball fan wouldn’t love to see it — the game wouldn’t be played until Thursday Nov. 4, which is pretty late in the year to be playing a World Series game if you think about it. Especially when you consider that teams like New York, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Cincinnati could be hosting World Series games come November.
Not exactly warm-weather locales once the calendar turns to November.
So it’d be a bit more prudent for MLB if they could wrap up the postseason a bit quicker, and if they’re looking for a possible solution on how to do it, they need not look any further than current Angels manager Mike Scioscia. Scioscia says that playing a 158-game schedule, rather than 162, makes some sense for the game.
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Scioscia: Baseball Will Consider Condensing Playoff Schedule
September 2, 2010
by Ed Price
Filed under: Angels, MLB Playoffs
During the postseason, Angels manager Mike Scioscia spoke out publicly about the nature of the playoff schedule. And on Wednesday, Scioscia said he expressed the same concerns to commissioner Bud Selig.
“I’m very hopeful and confident that they’re going to tighten up that schedule a little bit,” Scioscia said on a conference call after being named AL Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. “I think there’s things that the commissioner is going to take to heart and look at.”
Selig was initially not available for comment on the matter, but has since said he will try to tighten up the postseason schedule.
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MLB Will Condense LCS Schedule
September 2, 2010
by Matt Snyder
Filed under: MLB Playoffs, American League Championship Series, National League Championship Series
After three years of complaining from the masses about an extra off day in the League Championship Series during the Major League Baseball playoffs, the Special Committee for On-Field Matters has put a stop to the madness.
The scheduled off day between Games 4 and 5 of the LCS, which was in place for the last three seasons, has been eliminated, commissioner Bud Selig announced
Recall: Selig formed this committee during this past offseason and proclaimed nothing was sacred, leading to speculation about the removal of the designated hitter from the AL or the addition of it to the NL and talk of radical realignment, among other things.
Losing the extra off day between Games 4 and 5 of the LCS ends up being the first change to baseball’s rules by this special committee. It may not seem like an incredibly significant move here in the third week of March, but it was a necessary one. I only wonder why Selig needed to a special panel to make a common sense move.
One area where this could alter postseason strategy is that teams will likely be unable to use a three-man rotation for the duration of the postseason — one the Yankees employed en route to their World Series championship last season. This isn’t to say it’s better or worse for anyone at this point, but it should — at least in theory — benefit teams with deeper starting rotations, bullpens and benches.
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Selig Reportedly Discussing International World Series
September 2, 2010
by Matt Snyder
Filed under: MLB Playoffs, International Baseball
According to a report from Nikkan Sports — a Japanese news outlet — there is a chance that Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato could team up to stage a matchup between the champions of each respective league. Yes, they are talking about having the World Series champion square off against the Japan Series champion after the seasons end.
“I was surprised, Mr. Selig said he wants to realize the plan before his tenure ends,” Kato told Nikkan Sports.
Japan is the only team who has ever won the World Baseball Classic, but this would be a whole different story altogether. This is not a matter of nationality. In the WBC, the MLB players play a key role in comprising many of the rosters — and some of the best players don’t even play — but Major League Baseball teams are made up of players from all over the globe. It is a true cream of the crop.
There are a good amount of Japanese players who excel in the majors right now, so it’s not like this is an international pride thing. It’s pretty simple: MLB is the league. You don’t see Albert Pujols going to the NPB, but you see Ichiro Suzuki coming to the MLB. Tuffy Rhodes was a failed player in the majors but hit 55 home runs in a season in the NPB.