The MLB Announces Expanded Playoffs for 2020; Will it Help the Indians Reach October Baseball?

While Friday is opening day for the Cleveland Indians, they may have gotten some of the best news of the offseason on Thursday when Major League Baseball announced an expanded playoffs starting this season.

The expanded playoffs (set for just 2020) means that eight teams in the National League and eight from the American League will make the playoffs, and it gives chances to a number of teams that were likely going to be on the outside looking in being in the playoff race in late September.

Count the Indians as one of those teams that will benefit from the news of more teams making the postseason, as now with eight American League teams making the playoffs, the field just got a lot bigger.

So just how will the new playoff system work?

First off, all the first and second place teams in the six divisions in the AL and NL will qualify, with the division winners as the top three seeds.

The three second-place teams will make it, and the seventh and eighth seeds will go to the teams with the best marks.

Tiebreakers are being put into place so that you will not need additional games, which with this many teams in the race could have been a concern. The league is still trying to figure out all the tiebreakers.

First round matchups will be best of three, and all three games will be played in the higher seeds home stadium, which gives them a distinct edge.

After that, a divisional round will be best of five, and then the ALCS and NLCS will be best of seven as well as the World Series.

Looking at the field in the American League, the Indians are an obvious choice based on the fact they won over 90 games in 2019, and would have been one of the teams making the postseason based on their win total.

Here’s some other teams in the American League that could benefit from the expanded playoffs in 2020:

Tampa Bay - They did make the wild card game a year ago, and with a pitching staff that very well could be the best in the game, it’s hard to think they won’t be in the playoffs again this season, and could make some noise when they get there.

Boston - Last season they were 84-78, but they had a rough offseason with the dismissal of manager Joey Cora, and it seemed they had to answer a number of questions about how they were doing business. Their pitching staff isn’t very good, but they have a solid offense and don’t discount them making a move for a pitcher at the deadline.

Chicago White Sox - The Sox made a number of offseason moves to put them in contention in the AL Central, and a number of predictions feel that the Sox will be in second in the AL Central with the Twins winning the division and the Indians coming in third. If those offseason bats they acquired step up, it will be an interesting season for the Sox.

Texas Rangers - This season the Rangers have a new stadium, and a couple new pitchers in former Indian Corey Kluber and ex-Twins hurler Kyle Gibson. They were 78-84 a year ago, and the hope is that with the offseason additions and the pitching staff they will be able to get into the 30’s in wins, which should put them in contention for a postseason spot.

Oakland A’s - The A’s are a great business model of a team that never seems to spend a ton of cash, but find themselves in contention year after year. Count on that again in 2020, as they will challenge in the AL West after going 97-65 a season ago. Their offense is solid, and their pitching staff with Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea and Mike Fiers is solid.

Los Angeles Angels - The Angels went out and grabbed third basemen Anthony Rendon to shore up an offense that already has Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Albert Pujols. The pitching staff has a number of question marks, including if Dylan Bundy can be a solid number two, and how much will they use Ohtani on the mound and does that take away from their offense.