[Strikeout King]

Baseball's expanded playoffs could be ready for the 2012 season, commissioner Bud Selig told reporters at SoxFest in Chicago on Friday.


"I really believe we'll have the (extra) wild card fo rthis year," Selig said (via the Chicago Tribune.) "Clubs really want it. I don't think I've ever seen an issue that the clubs want more than to have the extra wild card."

The new wild card round would be one-game playoffs between the two wild card teams. The players and owners have already agreed to the expanded playoffs, with the only question being whether they'd begin in 2012 or 2013. The decision is expected by March 1, according to the Associated Press.

"We're working on dates right now," Selig said. "It looks to me like we'll have it, because I've told everybody we have to have it. It will be exciting. A one-game playoff and it will start the playoffs in a very exciting manner."

Also on Friday, the Associated Press reported that teams tied for the division tittle would now play a one-game playoff instead of using head-to-head record to determine the division winner. That will be necessary because of the new nature of the playoffs -- division winners won't have to play in the one-game wild card playoff, making winning the division more important than in years past.

The new format would also likely mean an end to the rule that doesn't allow two teams from the same division to play in the division series. The winner of the wild card would then play the team with the best record in the league.




http://eye-on-baseball.blogs.cbssports.c...2/34599243