As the clock winds down for the official start of the 2020 Major League Baseball season, the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA) has approved a plan that will expand playoffs for the 2020 season. This comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has drastically changed the thematic of the 2020 big league season, which is now a 60-game sprint.
Sources say that in a 16-team postseason, all first-round games in a best-of-3 first round would be played at the home of the higher seed.
So there would be no travel day.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 23, 2020
MLBPA and MLB have agreed on a $50 million postseason bonus pool for players with 16 teams for this year. In negotiations last month, MLB offered $25 million. Players have voted, now up to owners to ratify.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) July 23, 2020
The agreement was voted on that the league will expand playoffs for the 2020 season, and that is for ONLY the 2020 season. It will add six teams to the playoffs. This means it will move to a format similar to what the National Hockey League uses.
Each of these first-round games will be a best of three-game series where the games are played at the home field of the higher-seeded team. This is quite the shakeup from the traditional setup, but it ensures that more organizations will make the playoffs helping the case of teams like the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals who may have been contending for a wildcard spot.
There is now more room for teams to sneak into the postseason and get their shot at the 2020 World Series championship amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As Major League Baseball kicks off its 60-game sprint season with the new schedule they implemented, expect the 2020 playoffs to look different.
