As the league prepares for a lockout when the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the MLB Players Association expires on December 1, it is simultaneously keeping the bargaining discourse in the public eye.
A dubious strategy when the postseason is going on, but I suppose MLB wants the extra eyeballs when it announces new proposals:
MLB has proposed returning to a 154-game Regular Season, best-of-seven Division Series, and opponent selection in the Wild Card and Division Series Starting in 2029, shortening the season to a 154-game schedule would create a standard weekly off day benefiting player health, and it would allow the addition of up to 8 more Postseason games by moving to a best-of-seven Division Series format Beginning in 2027, higher-seeded clubs in the Wild Card and Division Series would select their opponents
— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2026MLB is proposing enhancements to the Wild Card and Division Series t.co/fRCG8c2mOC
— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2026First, the reduction in regular season games, returning to a 154-game schedule, would be a notable concession to the players. It’s a 5% reduction in game action, which not all players would want, but most would probably gladly accept as a respite for their bodies. If the pay is the same, of course.
In exchange, the league gets to beef up the postseason, which is arguably about fairness, but is mostly about having additional inventory to sell in the disproportionately lucrative national broadcast packages. To me, this combination seems like a no-brainer for both sides to want, though I can understand if fans don’t want to see eight regular season games chopped off.
As for the postseason changes, I don’t mind the expansion of the NLDS, or the opportunity for more primetime games. I don’t love having more off-days in the postseason, however, because that will only further exacerbate the idea that the postseason is played so differently from the regular season when it comes to pitching.
The whole picking-opponents thing is fine by me. If you remember, this idea of allowing top seeds to pick their opponents has been floated before. It sounds like madness on its surface, but (1) it solves the re-seeding problem we see currently when the best team may have to play a much tougher opponent in the second round than the other side of the bracket, and (2) it would make for a heckuva lot of fun drama.
What matters most in all of this, however, is the part that only barely gets a mention: once again, all of these proposals that MLB submits are subject to a cap and floor system. Which, of course, is the one red line for the Players Association. So maybe none of this matters, however compelling we fans may or may not find it. I expect the MLBPA to soon issue a public response to these MLB proposals, which will be almost entirely about the cap/floor aspect, and how they are not going there.
That said, in this instance, I suspect these changes might be compelling to both sides, regardless of how the rest of the bargaining process plays out. In other words, this kind of schedule and playoff tweaking may very well wind up on the table in the months ahead, even if the cap and floor system never gets over the hump.
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