Why the current MLB playoff seeding doesn’t make sense — and how to fix it

Postseason baseball is exactly one week away. Game 1 of the four Wild Card Series is next Tuesday, and, for the second straight year and the third time in four years, a team with the second-best record in its league will play in that best-of-three Wild Card Series rather than earn a bye to the League Division Series. The bye goes to the division winners with the two best records, not the teams with the two best records.

The current postseason format has been in place since 2022. Here are the previous two times a team finished with the second-best record in its league only to get bumped down from the No. 2 seed to the No. 4 seed due to the format rules:

The 2026 AL East will join that group as well. Barring a miracle, the Rays (95-60) will win the division and the Yankees (89-66) will finish second, and they'll have the league's two best records. Tampa will get a bye while the Yankees play in the Wild Card Series. The second bye will go to the AL Central or AL West winner, neither of whom will finish within eight games of New York.

Furthermore, the Yankees…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/