Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said on Thursday that the league “will move ahead” with discussions on expanding the postseason.
Selig said a 14-man committee would discuss adding two wild-card teams when it meets on Dec. 7 during MLB’s winter meetings.
“We will move ahead and move ahead pretty quickly,” Selig said as this week’s meetings involving owners and general managers concluded.
APPROVAL PENDING
A change would have to be approved by owners, who next meet on Jan. 12 and Jan. 13 in Arizona, and by the players’ association, which has said it is open to the idea.
Because baseball’s collective bargaining agreement runs to December next year, any change likely wouldn’t take effect until 2012.
“I’m not going to rule out anything,” Selig said. “We’ll just proceed and whatever we decide, then we’ll just see how fast we can get it done.”
“Once we pass something, I’m always anxious to get it done,” Selig added.
NEW FORMAT
There would be two wild-card teams in each league and the wild-card teams would meet to determine which advances to the division series — currently the first round — with the three division winners in each league.
“I think it’s definitely worth looking at. I have no problem with that,” New York Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner said.
Still to be determined is whether the new round would be best-of-three game series, or perhaps a one-game knockout.
However, there appears to be little to no opposition to expansion itself.
POST-SEASON EVOLUTION
Baseball doubled its postseason teams to four in 1969 and again to eight in 1995. That was a year later than originally planned because of the players’ strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series.
The vote for that expansion took place in September 1993 and Selig recalled violent opposition from many quarters.
“I got ripped and torn apart and it was pretty bad,” Selig said. “But now it’s fascinating to me. Now they not only like it so much, they want more of it.”
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS