Joel Sherman - Exclusive...
Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement for Major League Baseball are moving at a fast pace and one issue the sides have all but agreed upon is adding two wild-card teams and holding one-game playoffs in each league to determine which of the wild cards advances, The Post has learned.
One person involved in the talks described that scenario as a done deal and another hedged a little by saying it is likely to play out that way, but nothing will be finalized until an entire CBA is inked.
Both sources said because there would be just a one-game playoff added, the second wild-card team could be installed as early as next year, but the new system will go into effect no later than 2013.
The CBA expires this December, but there is hope by both the players and management to announce a new pact during the World Series, which explains the elevated nature of negotiations.
The major hurdle remains issues involving the draft, notably whether to include a slotting system.
There also is a lot of work being done on creating two 15-team leagues, which is tied up with the sale of the Astros because Houston is the club most likely to be moved from the NL to the AL to even the number of clubs in each league.
But the sides do appear in unanimity on how to expand the playoffs. Management has been interested in going from eight to 10 playoff teams to create more contenders in September and to add inventory to sell to a TV network.
The TV networks generally have been uninterested in the other wild-card option -- a best-of-three series -- instead wanting the drama and ratings potential of a sudden-death game. The players also strongly favored the one-game playoff, mainly because they did not want the division winners to have to wait around an additional three-to-five days without playing while a wild-card round is contested.
Nevertheless, there had been a lot of management officials who are concerned that a team would spend six months and 162 games to earn a playoff spot, and be eliminated in one game. This group felt it would be particularly unfair if, for example, one wild-card team won significantly more games than another and was ousted in a one-game playoff.
That is one reason why the sides want to go to two 15-team leagues. Because it likely would mean clubs from different divisions would play more similar schedules, thus, making the competition for wild cards across divisions fairer. Also, there would be six five-team divisions, which would mean all clubs would be competing against the same number of opponents within their division to make the playoffs.
Both sides agree, by adding a second wild card in each league they are bolstering the importance of winning divisions because no club would want to settle for being a wild card and have to play an extra round of playoffs; especially a one-game playoff.
Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement for Major League Baseball are moving at a fast pace and one issue the sides have all but agreed upon is adding two wild-card teams and holding one-game playoffs in each league to determine which of the wild cards advances, The Post has learned.
One person involved in the talks described that scenario as a done deal and another hedged a little by saying it is likely to play out that way, but nothing will be finalized until an entire CBA is inked.
Both sources said because there would be just a one-game playoff added, the second wild-card team could be installed as early as next year, but the new system will go into effect no later than 2013.
The CBA expires this December, but there is hope by both the players and management to announce a new pact during the World Series, which explains the elevated nature of negotiations.
The major hurdle remains issues involving the draft, notably whether to include a slotting system.
There also is a lot of work being done on creating two 15-team leagues, which is tied up with the sale of the Astros because Houston is the club most likely to be moved from the NL to the AL to even the number of clubs in each league.
But the sides do appear in unanimity on how to expand the playoffs. Management has been interested in going from eight to 10 playoff teams to create more contenders in September and to add inventory to sell to a TV network.
The TV networks generally have been uninterested in the other wild-card option -- a best-of-three series -- instead wanting the drama and ratings potential of a sudden-death game. The players also strongly favored the one-game playoff, mainly because they did not want the division winners to have to wait around an additional three-to-five days without playing while a wild-card round is contested.
Nevertheless, there had been a lot of management officials who are concerned that a team would spend six months and 162 games to earn a playoff spot, and be eliminated in one game. This group felt it would be particularly unfair if, for example, one wild-card team won significantly more games than another and was ousted in a one-game playoff.
That is one reason why the sides want to go to two 15-team leagues. Because it likely would mean clubs from different divisions would play more similar schedules, thus, making the competition for wild cards across divisions fairer. Also, there would be six five-team divisions, which would mean all clubs would be competing against the same number of opponents within their division to make the playoffs.
Both sides agree, by adding a second wild card in each league they are bolstering the importance of winning divisions because no club would want to settle for being a wild card and have to play an extra round of playoffs; especially a one-game playoff.
