The new MLB proposal for the players union that dropped on Thursday was an intriguing one, although there's nothing in there about a salary cap next year (which is probably the biggest concern for everyone involved).
The proposal: Going from 162 games to 154 next year, which leads to the season ending one week earlier. That then leads to a longer best-of-seven divisional series. But that's not the intriguing wrinkle we're here to focus on.
The other part of the proposal here that's intriguing is this: The highest seed team in the playoffs can choose its opponent in the Wild Card and Divisional rounds. Imagine a scenario in which the Los Angeles Dodgers choose the lowest-seeded Wild Card team, only to be swept because that squad was motivated by
the slight. Sounds cool, right?
Fans had mixed reactions to the 154 game proposal and playoff changes
Not everyone thought it was cool:
154 is fine
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 8, 2026
But choose your opponent has always been and will always be dumb https://t.co/akICvbq29p
The biggest story isn't losing eight regular-season games. It's giving top seeds the power to choose their opponents. That's a whole new level of playoff pressure https://t.co/KcpvsGpanc
— Swikriti (@SwikritiBlog) October 8, 2026
Fine with going from 162 to 154.
— Anthony Garcia (@SportsAnthony) October 8, 2026
Love the LDS going to best-of-7 (assuming we're expanding playoff teams from 6 to 8).
But having higher seeds choose their opponents is bush. Just go by seeding. This isn't college intramurals it's The Show. https://t.co/uv9NWk0IZn
“Higher seeds in playoffs get to choose their opponents” https://t.co/9buvBvOp0Y pic.twitter.com/TusRA2hEAl
— 🇬🇭 🇸🇨D /Free 🇵🇸 (@DopeeItsD) October 8, 2026
Getting to choose your playoff opponent is wild! I love it! https://t.co/P4rRrFpThF
— Julian Garcia (@Hi_Im_Julian) October 8, 2026
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The MLB 154-game season proposal comes with a dramatic playoff twist
