MLB: A real wild card

Spring training has started. Pitchers and catchers have arrived in Florida and Arizona, where they are loosening up stiff arms and knees. The rest of the position players are now joining them in order to whip their bodies into playing shape. Managers and coaches will be evaluating up-and-coming rookies, fading veterans, and those recovering from injuries. All thirty GMs will be working the phones, hoping to pull off this year’s Jim Edmonds-like deal that will propel their teams into October.

Hope springs eternal…for some. For the upper crust of baseball – the Yankees, Braves, and about eight or 10 other teams – spring is a chance to prepare for the assault on the post-season. It is a time to tweak the roster, adding a relief pitcher here, a utility player there, until the mix is right for a run at a World Series championship. For the other 20 or so teams in baseball, spring training is the time of year to hope and pray that injuries are avoided, promising youngsters exceed expectations, and every break goes their way.

If these things happen, then these so-called “small market” or “small revenue” teams just might make the playoffs.

This isn’t how baseball ought to be, and it isn’t how it has to be. I have a solution that will allow every team a shot at the playoffs. Its simplicity is undeniable, its premise patently ridiculous, but it certainly would have the desired effect. If you’re ready, here it is. Award the wild card based solely on random chance! Yes, make the wild card truly wild. For each league, throw every non-division winner’s name into a hat and draw out a team as the fourth playoff representative. This way everyone, from the lowly Twins and Devil Rays to the miserable Expos and Brewers, would have a chance to play in the post-season. No team would be eliminated from contention until the regular season is completely over. How’s that for maintaining interest in baseball?

But wouldn’t such a plan render the efforts of the regular season, the grind of a 162-game schedule, moot? What would motivate teams to battle to season’s end? Once a division title is out of reach, wouldn’t teams simply pack it in, rest their starters, and wait for the raffle to be held? Would others, especially those “small revenue” teams, decline to even put a major league caliber squad on the field, saving money on player salaries while hoping to cash in on a brief playoff appearance? These things are possible, but safeguards could be put in place to prevent them. Similar to the NBA’s draft lottery, more chances at the playoffs could be awarded based on performance. Give each team one ping pong ball for each victory, or extra chances for finishing higher in the standings. These incentives would force each team to make an effort to win, and the more successful teams would receive the final post-season birth the most often.

“Absurd!” you say? “Blasphemy!” you cry? Well, yes, the idea is nuts, but so what? Is it any worse than the status quo, where the majority of players and fans go into the season knowing their team will not be in the playoffs? Sure, it’s an insane idea, but in the crazy realm of Major League Baseball, it just might work.