There is now a high profile spokesman against expanded MLB playoffs.

[El Supremo]

Oh wait. It's Timmy Lincecum:

"Personally I think it's kind of funky, just because the game has been this way for so long. Why mess it up, other than for monetary purposes, and that's probably what (Selig) is looking at. That's like, 'OK, don't worry about us as human beings or players.'

"It doesn't seem very fair, and personally I don't know where his head is at. It doesn't seem right to me."

"Nobody wants to have to worry, 'Oh (expletive), now I've got another (expletive) team in the (expletive) mix. Now we have to worry about what that takes and what they're going to do. What if the (second) wild-card team is not deserving of getting in?"

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17912359?nclick_check=1

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. The questioning of where Selig's head is seems right on point.

We know it's up his ass, but casual fans don't know that.

[Renew Deal]

2. I partly agree with Timmy

The players should be payed for the games they play. There's no doubt about that. I don't think they have footballs issue. The question is whether there is a World Series champion in those 2 new spots? Maybe. The wild card has won the world series 4 times, so I guess it's possible. It's basically making the 163'd game an annual affair. The extra games will bring excitement to 2 more cities, but is that helpful to the game besides the cash? I disagree with Timmy about being deserving. If the playoff spot is there, then the team is deserving.

I don't think baseball should weigh money more the effect on the game. The current system with the occasional play in game is great.

[Capt. America]

3. If they add a playoff round, they need to go back to 154 games.

[Upton]

4. Tim is hardly alone..

For example, Mark Teixeira:

“For a team like us, I don’t like it,” Teixeira said told the New York Daily News. ”We battle all year long in a very tough division; if you win the division and have to have five or six days off before the start of the playoffs, or you win the wild card and still have to play another one- or three-game series just to get into the playoffs, it doesn’t make much sense.”

http://bullpen-blog.com/2011/04/24/lincecum-teixeira-adding-teams-postseason/

I like the playoffs the way they are. This has the potential of punishing the wild Card winner with the best record more than anybody else. What if you finish 6 games better than the second Wild Card winner...that can be all wiped out in a single 1 game playoff.

Unfortunately this looks like a done deal. The only question appears to be whether the first round will be 1 or 3 games.

[chelsea0011]

5. I'm looking forward to baseball on Thanksgiving Day

[Auggie]

6. Unless there's a huge fan revolt (unlikely), the players represent

the best chance to stop this nonsense. I hope the Major League Baseball Players Association can unify for an anti-expanded position.

[bigwillq]

7. Unless they're going to shorten the regular season

I am against it. I feel the season is too long as it is. I also kind of like that only eight teams make the postseason.

[KamaAina]

8. Is there an example of a team that really got hosed by the current system?

Last year's Padres, maybe. But their record wasn't really that great.

And if not, why do it? (besides $$$, of course :eyes: )

[joeybee12]

9. You're right...he is a "high" profile spokesman...

:smoke:

[hughee99]

10. "What if the second wild-card team is not really deserving"?

In 2008, the Dodgers made it to the playoffs at 84-78. EIGHTY FOUR F-ing wins, tied for the eighth best record in the NL, and they were in the playoffs. He shouldn't be worried about the best two non-division winners, he should worry about the division winners.

Incidentally, those Dodgers swept the top seeded Cubs in the first round, so they proved more deserving than the team with the best record in the NL that year.