MLB, MLBPA Discussing Another Big Change Beyond Salary Cap

With the 2026 season winding down, fans need to be sure to enjoy baseball while they still can. Labor negotiations threaten the 2027 season, and the main issue as of now is the debate between the league and player's association on a salary cap.

The players remain firm in their stance against it, while the owners are still pushing hard for it. But while that is going to be the biggest issue discussed, there are other things on the table. With the postseason starting soon, Tim Britton of The Athletic reported that the format will be discussed in labor negotiations.

"The postseason format will be on the table during this winter’s negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement," Britton wrote. "Outside of the aberrational 2020 postseason, MLB has made changes to its playoff structure during CBA negotiations, most recently shifting to the current 12-team format ahead of the 2022 season."

History of playoff format changes

Oct 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred before game three of the 2025 MLB World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One of Britton's ideas is to reseed after the wild card series. The current format has three division winners per league and three wild cards. One of the biggest complaints is that the lowest seeded division winner has to play in the wild card series and could potentially be knocked out before the division series.

The changes were made in 2022. Prior to that, there were three division winners and two wild cards. The two wild card teams would play a sudden-death round to determine who advanced to face the top division winner per league. There were also tiebreaker games if teams remained tied for a playoff spot after 162 games.

And prior to 2012, it was three division winners and one wild card. One thing that MLB could consider is to return to the 10-team format instead of having three wild cards and a best-of-three series.

At the very least, they could also make the wild card round sudden death again to add some more drama to the field if they keep the format at 12 teams.

Another idea mentioned by Britton is to go from three divisions to two. That way the wild card series would only be for wild card teams. In this case, there would then be four wild cards, and a division winner wouldn't be stuck playing in that round.

It will be interesting to see what is discussed in the offseason during labor negotiations and if there will be any changes to the format.

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