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MLB Expand Playoffs from 10 teams to 16 for 2020 Season

Get ready for some mediocre teams getting into the Major League Baseball playoffs this season (if the season is completed this year).

MLB and the Players Union agreed to expand the playoffs to 16 teams, eight teams in each league as a way to increase financial incentives (a $50 million pool) and competitive incentives for teams that normally would be out of it. 

The change guarantees that all second place teams will qualify for the playoffs. A seventh and eighth team will be determined in each league by best remaining record.

This will create a crowded and controversial playoff format where the first round will consist of four series that are all a best of three. The winners of the first round will advance to the Division Series, which will remain a best of five.

The League Championship Series' and World Series will remain a seven game series.

The controversy with the decision means that you could see a team(s) that are hovering around .500 get to the postseason. Moreover that team could potentially eliminate the team with the best record in baseball by winning two of three in the first round. It could happen, and it is something that is bound to bother baseball purists.

The question will be whether or not the expanded playoff is here to stay. Rob Manfred is extremely progressive when it comes to making changes to the sport - implementing the international rule for extra innings and installing the DH in the NL. Expanded playoffs like many other nuances to the 2020 season could become permanent, and certainly a discussion point for the next collective bargaining agreement which comes due at the end of 2021. 

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