Chew on this, baseball fans. Despite a myriad of injuries to the likes of 2B Dustin Pedroia, 1B Kevin Youkilis, CF Mike Cameron & C Jason Varitek to name a few this season, the Boston Red Sox would actually be a Wildcard team in the American League, but not this year. They'll be watching the upcoming MLB Playoffs on television like you & me, even though they have a very similar record to the A.L. West Champion Texas Rangers. If MLB "Commissioner" Allan H. "Bud" Selig has his way, the Red Sox or other teams with good enough records might not be sitting at home in October again.

The "Commissioner" is actually thinking about adding a second Wild Card team for MLB's postseason, and made no secret of his feelings before last Friday's St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs' game at Wrigley Field. "It's a fair question," Selig said. "We have less teams than any other sport. Eight teams make the playoffs. One wild card in each league. We certainly haven't abused anything."

Several years ago, Major League Baseball formed a committee to examine such postseason expansion, but Selig said there were several factors that ended the talk originally. With the National League West and the Wild Card races that could go down to the wire this weekend on the final 3 days of the regular season, Selig thinks the time is now to revisit such expansion talk as soon as this winter. We'll see what happens, but I'm not sure how a second Wild Card would work.

So one team would get a bye or what? They would be playing until Thanksgiving if they add another round to the playoffs.

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selig's solution to everything = ape everything the nfl does.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I am content with the current number of teams. I would only like to see the current wild card teams be at more of a disadvantage in their first playoff round. The easiest would probably be to start the season 3 days earlier and make the first round best of 7.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Here is how they could do it.
One conference
5 teams
1st place gets 2 bye's
2nd vs 5th
3rd vs 4th
winners face off to play the 1st place team.
the NL pennant series is with 5 homegames at the
1st place teams park.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Phil, I've got to think the team with the best record would get a bye in Round 1...Then again, this is all talk right now.

That being said, you will notice that the start of next season won't start until March 31st in a few MLB cities and April 1st (No Foolin') for the rest of the teams in Bud Selig's Major League Baseball. It'll be the first time MLB's 162 game marathon would start on a Thursday-Friday since 1976 after many years starting on a Sunday night-Monday opposite the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four and the Men's National Championship games respectively.

In a perfect world, Phil, I wish MLB would trim its schedule from the current 162 games to maybe 140 games or fewer to accommodate the extra playoffs and to also avoid the World Series going into November as it might this year. I'm not so sure the powerful MLB Players' Association would agree to trim an already long enough schedule though...

Spring training is way too long anyways. Its just a half day of work and golf for damn near every player. It can absolutely be consolidated. You could probably easily chop a week off of it. At worst the starting pitchers have to show up or at least start a throwing program at home earlier.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Yeah but playing in late March is going to be miserable. Are you going to want to head out to the ballpark to freeze your nuts off when its 30 degrees out?

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Let's also not forget the idiotic World Baseball Classic...I remember that extended Spring Training quite a few years ago.

Yeah the WBC sucks Shark. Not only did it get Soto busted for pot and totally out of shape for a year but I had to worry about Marmol blowing his arm out in an exhibition game. You need to talk to your boy Allen Selig and get this thing shut down.

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Phil, I know there were a number of teams and players that didn't want to participate in the WBC the last time it took place. It's supposed to return in 2013 as it stands now, but I'm not so sure the Geo Sotos, Carlos Marmols and other MLB players will be participating.