51 minutes ago, asindc said:

With due respect, so?  If a team doesn’t want to be out of it by June or July, play better.  If I am ever elected Czar of Sports, one of the first rules I would enact is that no more than 25% of teams in any sport can make the playoffs.  That is one of the things I love about baseball, it is damn hard to make the playoffs.  At that point, any team that wins it all is deserving.

For 2020, it’s ok, though they should be seeding the non-division winners by record.  After this year, go back to what works.

I get it, but it's about more than playing better.  It's about putting together better teams.  Too many teams are tanking each year, and some seem to be always tanking.  I just think that more availability to post season play will create more competition.

Anyway, if there ever is a Sports Czar, I'm throwing my hat in the ring.

1 hour ago, hogan873 said:

I get it, but it's about more than playing better.  It's about putting together better teams.  Too many teams are tanking each year, and some seem to be always tanking.  I just think that more availability to post season play will create more competition.

Anyway, if there ever is a Sports Czar, I'm throwing my hat in the ring.

I think its actually the opposite problem that is bigger. Most teams that are out of the playoffs by July chose to be. This year, 7/8 playoff teams had a 95+% playoff odds by the midpoint of the season. It works because of 60 games, but it will suck when the last 70 games of a marathon season don't matter because playoffs are all but a lock. 

On that note, another reason I hate the expanded playoffs is because it has made me realize how few fans value a division championship. Many fans here have been saying the remaining games don't matter once we clinch the playoff spot. At least with normal playoffs those fans still care about the division because it is the most common way into the playoffs.

I think it was fine for this season but I (probably futilely) hope that we go back to the old playoff system in 2021. Can you imagine how intense this September would be if MIN/CLE/CWS were fighting for one playoff spot and maybe a play-in game spot, instead of just seeding that isn't even necessarily better for the top seeds anyway?

15 hours ago, Chisoxmb35 said:

And they have to face Giolito and the 2020 Murderers Row. What are you even talking about? We'd be the heavy favorite's, especially if the Indian's continue to play like this.

What do you mean by "What are you even talking about?"  I mean what I said. And I'll re-quote myself. It should be the 3 division winners by record 1-2-3 and then the other 5 should be ranked strictly by record!! Houston is only a .500 team. Cleveland, though slumping right now, is still 4 over. So our draw should be the team with the worst record if we can keep the best record in the league. Right now, the team with the third best division winning record gets to face a team with a worse record then we do. And though we may have a better all around team than Cleveland, which by the way I was arguing we were even when they were ahead of us in the standings, they are still a VERY dangerous draw. Facing Bieber and their pitching is something no one's going to want to face in a miniscule series. So my whole point is because of our record, we shouldn't have them as a draw when someone else has a worse record than them. 

4 hours ago, gusguyman said:

I think its actually the opposite problem that is bigger. Most teams that are out of the playoffs by July chose to be. This year, 7/8 playoff teams had a 95+% playoff odds by the midpoint of the season. It works because of 60 games, but it will suck when the last 70 games of a marathon season don't matter because playoffs are all but a lock. 

On that note, another reason I hate the expanded playoffs is because it has made me realize how few fans value a division championship. Many fans here have been saying the remaining games don't matter once we clinch the playoff spot. At least with normal playoffs those fans still care about the division because it is the most common way into the playoffs.

I think it was fine for this season but I (probably futilely) hope that we go back to the old playoff system in 2021. Can you imagine how intense this September would be if MIN/CLE/CWS were fighting for one playoff spot and maybe a play-in game spot, instead of just seeding that isn't even necessarily better for the top seeds anyway?

Agree with your thoughts in this thread 100%. 

I'm open to playoff reconstruction, league reconstruction, and even a minimal playoff expansion, but 16 teams in a 162 game season? That's absurd and swings the momentum to the complete other direction. 

If on one side we had teams tanking too much (now), the other side is completely meaningless regular season because all the decent teams get in. 

This is not a solution, this is a ploy for the owners to make more money. 

48 minutes ago, iWiN4PreP said:

Agree with your thoughts in this thread 100%. 

I'm open to playoff reconstruction, league reconstruction, and even a minimal playoff expansion, but 16 teams in a 162 game season? That's absurd and swings the momentum to the complete other direction. 

If on one side we had teams tanking too much (now), the other side is completely meaningless regular season because all the decent teams get in. 

This is not a solution, this is a ploy for the owners to make more money. 

Exactly.

who it's a advantage to play against or disadvantage is kind of hard to say... it's mostly just opinion

 

Yeah Cleveland has great pitchers - but their line up sucks. 

As long as we dont get the 4 seed and draw the Yankees . They scare me right now

I was going to start a post, but this one, while not perfect, is close enough to the topic.

Do the Sox want the #1 seed in the AL? 

It is possible it could draw the Blue Jays, who are seeded 7th right now, but only 1/2 game ahead of Cleveland. The Blue Jays would be a welcome first round opponent. 

But the weakest 1st round opponent in terms of record is Houston, who is 24-25. To slide to the 3rd spot and draw Houston, which is pretty locked into the 6th seed, would require the Sox to drop behind the Rays, who we lead by 1 game, and the A's, who we lead by 1.5 games, 2 in the loss column. 

If we fall to the 3rd seed, we not only get Houston, we then likely get Oakland, if the Rays end up with the #1 seed.

What we avoid in the first two rounds are the potential to get Cleveland, not Toronto, and the Yankees, if they don't gain 4 games on the Rays in 11 games. 

Since the other seeds all might change, for now we have to root for the Sox to win enough to stay ahead of Minnesota for the division so we at least get 2-3 home games in the first round. But as we get closer to the playoffs, we're all going to start hoping things line up well for the Sox. 

20 hours ago, Soxsi75 said:

What do you mean by "What are you even talking about?"  I mean what I said. And I'll re-quote myself. It should be the 3 division winners by record 1-2-3 and then the other 5 should be ranked strictly by record!! Houston is only a .500 team. Cleveland, though slumping right now, is still 4 over. So our draw should be the team with the worst record if we can keep the best record in the league. Right now, the team with the third best division winning record gets to face a team with a worse record then we do. And though we may have a better all around team than Cleveland, which by the way I was arguing we were even when they were ahead of us in the standings, they are still a VERY dangerous draw. Facing Bieber and their pitching is something no one's going to want to face in a miniscule series. So my whole point is because of our record, we shouldn't have them as a draw when someone else has a worse record than them. 

The problem with ranking them by record, to some extent, is they didn't play common opponents this year.  The Sox toughest opponents this year were likely Minnesota and Cleveland. We didn't have to play the Dodgers or San Diego. Of course we played 20 games against Twins and Tribe, but the point is the schedule is no balanced so it's hard to draw conclusions just on W-L record.

5 hours ago, VAfan said:

The problem with ranking them by record, to some extent, is they didn't play common opponents this year.  The Sox toughest opponents this year were likely Minnesota and Cleveland. We didn't have to play the Dodgers or San Diego. Of course we played 20 games against Twins and Tribe, but the point is the schedule is no balanced so it's hard to draw conclusions just on W-L record.

You have a good point. I guess I'm saying this mostly because of the possibility of drawing Cleveland. Their pitching in a 2 out of 3 series is extremely dangerous. And we all know this. ANYONE can beat ANYONE 2 out of 3. 

Given how Cleveland and New York are playing, it's looking more likely we'll draw the Jays or Astros in the Wild Card round, as long as we keep the #1 seed.

On 9/16/2020 at 11:20 AM, gusguyman said:

I think its actually the opposite problem that is bigger. Most teams that are out of the playoffs by July chose to be. This year, 7/8 playoff teams had a 95+% playoff odds by the midpoint of the season. It works because of 60 games, but it will suck when the last 70 games of a marathon season don't matter because playoffs are all but a lock. 

On that note, another reason I hate the expanded playoffs is because it has made me realize how few fans value a division championship. Many fans here have been saying the remaining games don't matter once we clinch the playoff spot. At least with normal playoffs those fans still care about the division because it is the most common way into the playoffs.

I think it was fine for this season but I (probably futilely) hope that we go back to the old playoff system in 2021. Can you imagine how intense this September would be if MIN/CLE/CWS were fighting for one playoff spot and maybe a play-in game spot, instead of just seeding that isn't even necessarily better for the top seeds anyway?

Fan's don't care about the division this year because there is no HFA. I want to win it because of pride and I'm sure the guys do too. When HFA returns, fans will care again. 

37 minutes ago, daggins said:

Given how Cleveland and New York are playing, it's looking more likely we'll draw the Jays or Astros in the Wild Card round, as long as we keep the #1 seed.

If we are the one seed or two seed, we won't play the Astros in the first round.  

40 minutes ago, daggins said:

Given how Cleveland and New York are playing, it's looking more likely we'll draw the Jays or Astros in the Wild Card round, as long as we keep the #1 seed.

Cleveland lost 8 straight games before tonight...

please no yankees, please no yankees, please no yankees

The best part about winning the division would be winning the division.

The second best part (potentially) would be forcing the Twins to play the Yankees in the playoffs again. If we don't get to beat them in the playoffs, then the Yankees would be my next choice for the schadenfreude.