Rob Manfred Has No Concerns Over MLB Playoff Format: 'It's Been 2 Years'

Early postseason exits by the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers, who combined for over 200 regular-season wins, haven't led MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to question the league's playoff format.

"It's been two years," Manfred said, per the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes.

The 12-team postseason instituted in 2022 leaves top seeds with a first-round bye, necessitating a five-day break between the end of the regular season and the playoffs for teams like the NL's No. 2-seeded Dodgers and the AL's No. 1-seeded Orioles.

Manfred noted that any changes to this format would need to be collectively bargained. The league's current CBA is set to expire on December 1, 2026.

This is the second year in a row the Dodgers have been knocked out of the postseason following the first-round bye. After suffering a 3-1 NLDS loss to the San Diego Padres in 2022, the Dodgers were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday.

Manager Dave Roberts had discussed the five-day break as an obstacle for the Dodgers, but a good thing for the league, prior to the postseason.

"It's hard," Roberts said about the upcoming bye at the tail end of the regular season, per the Los Angeles Times' Jack Harris. "Five days is different than what we're used to. The All-Star break is three, maybe four days, and that's long. The format works for baseball. The fanfare, the teams involved, it's great for baseball. But when you're living it, it's an adjustment."

This wasn't the first time in recent years a dominant regular-season Dodgers team has suffered a surprise first-round loss. The 2019 Dodgers, who won 106 games in the regular season, were eliminated by a 3-2 division series loss to the Washington Nationals.

There are plenty of reasons to pick as to why the Dodgers lost in 2023, with the most obvious being a lack of pitching caused by the absences of four starters and reliance on a struggling Clayton Kershaw.

But the simultaneous sweep of Orioles by the Texas Rangers, as well as the series deficit faced by the title favorite Atlanta Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies, will call attention to the league's playoff format and how it impacts these top teams. It remains to be seen if that will be enough to call for a CBA update over the next three years.