So now that we are almost to August and the race for the Division and Wildcards are upon us I thought we could discuss the new Wilcard format. According to MLB.com the Wildcard elimination is to take place on October 5th while the Divisional round starts on October 6th. If we were to end the season as is the Reds, Nationals, and Giants would be division winners while the Braves and Pirates would face off in the one game playoff.

With the the next round (best of 5) scheduled to start the very next day (3 days after the end of the season). Do you find that this is really that big of an advantage? Assuming the Pirates and Braves do in fact play each other in the one game playoff. Presumably each would throw their Ace (Burnett and Hanson). Then the winner would turn around and head to the Divisional series. Where the team that won their Division only gets an extra day of rest.

For example, The Reds win the Division and own the best record. The Braves win the one game Wildcard. Hanson would have pitched already so your game one match up becomes Cueto vs. Hudson then game two would be Latos vs Hudson. Assuming a day off in between to travel Hanson could ideally come back and pitch on 3 days rest vs Arroyo IF the Braves chose not to start Buchey instead. (The Reds starting 3 is based on what I think Dusty would do)

I understand the purpose of the wildcard is to allow more teams to make the playoffs and make the end of the season more exciting but I also feel like the round should be a 3 game round to really give advantage to the teams that played better and won their division like they were supposed to. Instead I believe this will turn into a minor obstacle for the Wildcard team instead of an advantage for the division winner. As always though if you take care of business it shouldn't matter. Do you think the Wildcard round should be 1 game or 3 games? Is this enough of an advantage for the division winners?