Report: MLB 'Weighing' Playoff Expansion, Opponent Draft

Major League Baseball is "seriously weighing" major reform to its playoff system, according to the New York Post's Joel Sherman. 

Both the American League and the National League would expand to seven playoff teams, beginning in the 2022 season, reports Sherman. The team with the best record would receive a bye in the wild-card round, and the remaining six teams would play their own respective best-of-three series, per Sherman. The lower-seeded team would be on the road for all three games. 

MLB's plan goes far beyond simple expansion, though. The No. 2 team in each league would reportedly select their opponent from the remaining playoff teams, followed by a pick from the No. 3 team in the respective league. 

"The plan is to have this all play out on a show on the Sunday night the regular season ends and have representatives picking teams on live TV," Sherman wrote on Monday. "Think the NCAA selection show, but just with the teams making the selections. The rights to that show is part of the enticement to potential TV partners."

The most recent playoff expansion came in 2012 with the addition of the Wild Card Game. The move expanded each league's playoff field from four to five, leaving the two wild cards in each league to play a one-game playoff before the Division Series. 

The 2019 Nationals are the only Wild Card team to win the World Series since MLB's decision to expand in 2012.