Major League Baseball proposed changes to both the regular season and playoffs to the MLB Players Association on Thursday.
MLB offered a revised regular-season schedule of 154 games, down from 162, that provides a standard off-day every week, beginning in the 2029 campaign. The altered slate — which was used almost exclusively between 1904-60 — would then allow for the AL and NL Division Series to expand from best-of-five to best-of-seven sets, thereby adding as many as eight more postseason games.
The expanded playoffs would allow for more off-days, thereby reducing weekday daytime postseason games.
Also, the proposal allows for higher-seeded clubs in the wild-card and division series to be able to select their opponents, beginning in the 2027 season. The No. 3 seed in each league would choose its foe among the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds for its wild-card series, while the No. 1 seed in each league would select its opponent in the next round.
“Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly off-day, which is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said. “A shorter regular season unlocks making October even better for our fans — with fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer division series and more opportunities to see the game’s best pitchers on the biggest stage. And allowing the top seeds to select their opponents in the first two rounds would create compelling storylines, intensify existing rivalries and create new ones.”
The scheduled off-day would be every Monday with the exception of a few games that would be shown in an exclusive national broadcast window. Per MLB, the teams that play on Monday would then have an off-day on Thursday.
“The league made multiple scheduling proposals today,” MLBPA said in a statement. “We are reviewing these materials, including the proposed changes to the playoff format. Players will weigh in on these proposals and we will respond at the bargaining table.
“Unfortunately, the league once again made clear that all of its proposals are contingent on players’ agreement to a salary cap, a system that guts player rights and compensation, as well as its other anti-player proposals.”
