When the baseball postseason starts in a few weeks, the format will probably be a major discussion topic. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
If the playoffs began now, these would be the seeds in the American League: Houston and Cleveland, the teams with the two worst records, would face each other in the opening round, with the winner taking on the White Sox in the Division Series. Meanwhile, the teams with the three best records would all be on the other side of the bracket, fighting for one spot in the AL Championship Series.
The reason the matchups are on track to work out this way is because the White Sox and Houston would be seeded above the Yankees and Red Sox by virtue of being division champions. After all, if division titles don’t mean anything, what’s the point in having them?
But the question that is likely to come up is this: Why not re-seed the field after the Wild Card round, with the top seed facing the No. 6 seed if it advances? Or the seeds could be reassigned completely for the Division Series based on regular-season record, meaning if Houston wins in the first round, the Astros would be the team with the worst remaining record and would face the Rays.
Instead, the way the system is currently set up, top-seeded Tampa Bay would face either the team with the second-best record in the league or the team with the third-best mark. Not exactly a big reward.
It is worth noting that the photos in this article feature Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Steven Matz, New York Yankees pitcher Tim Hill, and Boston Red Sox pitcher Aroldis Chapman. Their games took place on September 5-6, 2026.