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Throughout the season, the CBS Sports MLB experts will bring you a weekly Batting Around roundtable breaking down pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Last week we debated Sandy Alcantara’s future. This week we’re going to tackle the length of the regular season.
Should MLB shorten the season? How many games would be best?
Matt Snyder: No, I like our marathon of a regular season, given that this is the sport that lends itself to the most fluky possible game results in short or even medium samples. The best way to determine teams worthy of the playoff field is to play a large number of games. I love that baseball is an everyday sport. I love that people who don’t want to watch it every single night don’t have to, while those who do want to watch it every day have that option.
Plus, and I suspect this carries a ton of weight inside my brain, possibly to the point of bias: The stats mean a lot to baseball history, especially in terms of the Hall of Fame and record books. If we shortened the season back to 154 games, I suppose that could work decently — that’s how many games there were in the NL before 1962 and AL before 1961 — but anything shorter than that is a non-starter.
R.J. Anderson: I have to concede that the regular season has been cheapened (for me anyway) by the bloated playoff field. I understand why MLB has added teams to October; it’s such an easy way to make money that, realistically, the league was never going to stick with one wild card per side for too long. Still, it does feel silly to have nearly half the league make the tournament after playing every day for six months. Even so, I’m not sure I would actually want the regular season reduced. Nevertheless, I do wonder if a move to 150, 154 games would make sense — though, of course, that doesn’t mean it’s likely given the obvious and tricky financial implications that would come into play.
Dayn Perry: I really hate playoff expansion and the probable reality that it’s going to expand further. The long regular season, the everyday-ness of baseball is one of its defining characteristics, and I don’t want to see it compromised, especially in the name of letting the postseason field grow even more out of control. That said, there’s of course modern historical precedent for a 154-game season, so why not. At some point, you have to make room for, oh, half the league getting into the playoffs, I suppose.
Mike Axisa: I do not want a shorter season but at some point it will become necessary if the postseason keeps expanding, which of course it will (that’s where the money is). You can’t keep adding playoff games and playoff rounds to the 162-game regular season and expect injury rates to stay the same. You’re letting more teams and more players into the postseason each year, so it’s more players playing more games, and it will equal more injuries. MLB had a 154-game season from 1904-60 and can go back to that. It’ll screw up single-season record chases, but that’s nothing the league hasn’t dealt with before, and the inevitable expansion of the postseason means everyone will still come out ahead financially. I don’t want a shorter season. The more baseball, the better, but I do think it will be necessary sooner rather than later.
