MLB Playoff Expansion: Would a One-Game Wild Card Playoff Be the Way to Go?

Recently today, news broke that Commissioner Bud Selig is looking to expand the MLB playoffs from eight teams to 10.

This, as you would imagine, brings some new twists to the 2012 postseason.

The first question that must be addressed is how many games will this first round matchup between Wild Card winners be? Would it one game similar to what we had in 2009 between the Twins and Tigers or could we be looking at a best of three series? Anything longer than that would be quite ridiculous. 

With 162 games already in the books, a one-game playoff, do-or-die faceoff would make the most sense. There is no reason to prolong the season much longer as we already go into November to crown a World Champion. 

On the other hand, those teams who win their respective divisions might welcome a longer series, since it will give them time to heal injured players. The more time off you have at your disposal, the more time you can let you body recover from the bumps and bruises of the season.

While that time to rest and recuperate would look like an advantage, it also would eliminate any momentum you might have had going into the playoffs. Just look at our 2010 champion San Francisco Giants: They had to fight until the bitter end to win their division and they rode that strong play all of the way to a title.

Expanding the playoffs looks like a great way to bring more money to the MLB. The TV revenue created by this move would be quite the pretty penny. It also could help to eliminate the annual fire-sale teams go through to rid themselves of lofty expiring contracts before the season concludes since they are eliminated from playoff contention.

This move by Selig could really capitalize on an opportunity for open for the MLB to inch closer to the NFL for the fight for the most popular sport in the US.

As long as this expansion is done in the correct way, this could be a giant leap in the right direction for baseball and Bud Selig.