On Monday, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association were in Jupiter, Florida, trying to strike a deal that would end the lockout. This is the first significant lockout since 1994, which cut the regular season and lasted 232 days.
As both the owners and players continue to meet, they want to change the game to make it exciting for fans. The problem is they are doing more damage to the game.
The league needs to take a trip down memory lane and remember what made the game so popular back in the day. But unfortunately, what they are discussing now will not help the game in the future.
Among the owner’s proposals is that they want to expand the playoffs from eleven (including the wild-card team) to 14 teams.
Having fourteen teams in a baseball playoff is way too many. They want to invite mediocre teams to the dance when they should not be in the playoffs. These teams could not even win their division, let alone participate in the playoffs. Look at the NFL. They manipulated the playoffs from 12 to 14, and the results were not competitive-wise.
NFL on FOX broadcaster and Hall of Famer Troy Aikman did not hold back during the Eagles and Buccaneers game. Both the Eagles and Steelers were the seventh seed teams during this year’s playoffs, and both got annihilated.
Aikman had every right to say what he said. Expanding the playoffs was too much for the NFL. They had a perfect system and killed it because of greed. Major League Baseball wants to travel down that same path, and greed will always hurt the product. Baseball does not need an expanded playoff. Instead, they need only eight teams.
Another must-have for baseball is a salary cap. Currently, baseball has a luxury tax where if teams overspend on players, they pay a tax. This is not good for the game because the bigger teams like New York can pay superstars whatever they want, and the smaller teams lose out. So, all the tax does is hurt the game and its fans.
In the eyes of fans, players get paid way too much, and the owners are greedy. As a result, the fans are paying the price for it. Teams outprice themselves to the point that fans can’t afford to buy tickets, let alone buy food souvenirs, and don’t forget the parking fee. Most people stay home.
For the last two years, with the pandemic, many fans have lost their jobs and don’t feel sorry for the players or the owners. Unfortunately, all baseball is doing is driving them away. Adding a salary cap would be a start in trying to control costs. It would be a win for both baseball and fans.
In 2017, I wrote an article about why MLB should end interleague play. In that article, I mentioned that when MLB introduced interleague play in 1997, it slowly started to hurt the sport, from the All-Star Game to the World Series.
If they went back to the glory days of baseball and did not have the American League and National League teams play each other during the regular season, it would be a step in the right direction. You would see people care about the All-Star game and World Series again.
Also, adding two more teams to even the leagues make it 32 teams with four divisions in each league. People don’t want to see bad teams in the playoffs. Here, teams must win their division to get into the playoffs, and four teams are all you need.
Another improvement baseball needs is to reduce the schedule. All these games only add to the injury list. You see it in football, and now with hockey. Teams have five or more players out a game with injuries. Frankly, with all these games, you can lose interest in them and check back in when it comes playoff time. There is an expression that says, “less is more.”
Look at the NFL; they played 16 regular-season games before they expanded. Every game meant something from start to finish. Now, they added an extra week, and fans have to suffer one more week, especially for those out of the playoffs.
In 1962, Major League Baseball increased its games from 154 to 162 while adding ten teams to the league. Each team plays its rivals 18 times a year. So first off, you can cut the number of games to twelve (each play one another twice at home and away).
The current schedule means that fans don’t have to watch the beginning of the season and wait until after the All-Star break to watch baseball.
If baseball wants fans to watch all season long, cutting games is necessary. In addition, cutting games would allow flexibility during the regular season if they need to make up games if a game is rained out.
Another benefit of cutting the games is player injuries. Last season, injuries were up 168% from 2019, which saw superstars like Fernando Tatis Jr. miss the season because of injuries.
Yes, injuries are part of the game, and it is up to the players to take care of themselves. However, by cutting games, players also have time to rest between their next games.
MLB owners hate starting the season in April because some places are still cold, like Colorado, and don’t sell many tickets. So, why play those games and risk further injuries when they can cut some of the games and wait for the weather to get warmer. MLB should play anywhere from 100 to 120 games a season.
These changes can go a long way to improving the game. A shorter season means more rest for players and fans, resulting in a better product on the field.
