MLB Wild Card Format Should Be Changed

By Jake Lapin

Full audio: here

The MLB Wild Card game should be a three-game series. Adding the second wild card team has been great for Major League Baseball. It gives more teams reason to compete, makes the trade deadline way more interesting. As of today, July 31, 18 of the 30 teams in baseball are within five games of a playoff spot, great for competition in the league.

However, if MLB is going to claim a team has made the playoffs, they should at least give them a guaranteed home game. 162 games is far too many to ultimately decide a team's fate with just one game.

Last year Pittsburgh Pirates, perfect example, had the second-best record in all of baseball, 97 wins, but wasn't good enough to win the division behind the Cardinals, had to play in the Wild Card game. Their reward for the second-best record in baseball, a one-game do-or-die scenario against the Chicago Cubs, the third-best team in baseball, and a date with Jake Arrieta, Cy Young award winner, dominated them. They lose, season over, that's a flawed system. The Wild Card game needs to be turned into a series.