It appears that major league baseball will be implementing the controversial change to the playoff system as early as 2012 if Bud Selig’s recent comments are any indication.
From the Chicago Tribune:
“I really believe we’ll have the (extra) wild card for this year,” Selig said Friday at SoxFest. “Clubs really want it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an issue that the clubs want more than to have the extra wild card.”
“We’re working on dates right now,” Selig said. “It looks to me like we’ll have it, because I’ve told everybody we have to have it. It will be exciting. A one-game playoff and it will start the playoffs off in a very exciting manner.”
The disgruntled Jays fans that still haven’t recovered from giving the bad bodied DH Prince Fielder a key to the city of Toronto also seem to forget this little nugget. The biggest complaint over the past decade (and longer) has been the unfair competitive landscape in the AL East, and adding an additional playoff team is bound to help the Jays in the coming years.
AL Eastbound & Down 