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MLB To Consider Adding Playoff Teams For 2012 Season

Let's just cut right to the chase here: the MLB is considering expanding the playoff system for the 2012 season by adding two more teams to the playoff mix, enabling 10 teams to make the playoffs as opposed to the eight team system in place now. 

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The actual logistics, unsurprisingly, are unknown at this time and one of the obstacles to overcome should Major League Baseball decide to go this route. 

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After the GMs and owners met this past November there seemed to be universal agreement that two more Wild Card teams should be added to the playoff mix, making it 10 out of the 30 MLB teams qualifying for the postseason. But the length of the first round -- whether it be a single play-in game or a best-of-three series -- and how to fit it into the schedule is still to be determined.

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"The more we've talked about it, I think we're moving inexorably to that," Selig said about the 10-team playoffs, five in each league.

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The matter must be determined in collective bargaining with the Players Association, which has to agree on adding the games and how it fits into an already tight schedule. Attorneys for the owners and union are currently negotiating a new Basic Agreement. The current one expires on Dec. 11.  

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I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. I do think that more of an emphasis should be placed on winning the division, but I don't want to see the playoffs devolve into the NBA or NHL when half the league makes the playoffs.

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Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.