What MLB playoff expansion means for the Phillies

When the owners and players’ association agreed on a 60-game season, there were no expanded players. Here, on the first day of the season, the association and MLB have agreed to a whole new playoff format.

Instead of 10 teams, there will now be 16. Just for this season, over half of MLB’s 30 teams will be playing in October.

Instead of the usual maximum of 43 games between 10 teams, there will now be a maximum of 65(!) playoff games. The first round will be based off of a seeding system. The higher seed will host the lower seed at their home ballpark for a best of 3-game series.

The players are getting a reported $50 million to facilitate this deal.

The expanded playoff format is for 2020 only, but with a player pool expected to be $50 million, players who make the postseason will now be paid whether fans are allowed in the gates or not
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 23, 2020

While this move essentially guarantees teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers a spot in the playoffs, it also poses a major threat to their World Series chances. In a best-of-three series, the Yankees could easily be defeated by the likes of a team like the Oakland Athletics, who would most likely have been in the Wild Card game before this change occurred.

For the Phillies, it almost guarantees a playoff birth. They already had the pieces for a possible division push and are playing in arguably the deepest division in Major League Baseball this year. It will be a challenge for the team to win the division, and odds are it will be a close race. It is very likely that the winning team in the division could have a 35-25 record. Even if the Phillies were second place with a 34-26 record, that could potentially not be enough to make the postseason.

Interesting wrinkle in the 16-team playoff format: All second-place teams in the six divisions qualify. Then the 7th and 8th teams will be chosen by best record among other teams.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 23, 2020

Now, all they have to do is finish second to make playoff. They could even finish third and still be in.

Things could really get weird now with this format. A team like the White Sox, Blue Jays, or Diamondbacks could shock the world, but so could the Phillies.

In the old format, the Phillies, as a wild card, would have almost been guaranteed an NLDS matchup with the Dodgers. Now, there are more question marks.

There are still some uncertainties.

MLB and the players union have made a deal to expand playoffs for 2020. Still needs ratification so not quite a certainty. Assuming it gets done, playoffs go from 10 teams to 16. @MarlyRiveraESPN 1st
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 23, 2020

Outside of the first round, it hasn’t been confirmed how the rest of the playoffs will be resolved, although it will most likely be a 5-game series and 2 7-game series.

If every postseason series goes the distance in a 16-team format (best-of-3, best-of-5, best-of-7, best-of-7), there would be 65 postseason games this year.

There were 66 in the entire decade of the 1960s.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 23, 2020

This is the first change to the playoff format since 2012 when the second wild card and the wildcard game were instituted. The question is, can the Phillies take advantage?

Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports