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How Will the New MLB Playoff Structure Affect This Year and Beyond?

Plus, a preview of upcoming series with playoff implications

By Michael Baumann, Ben Lindbergh, and Zach Kram
2019 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

We lead the podcast by discussing the news that commissioner Rob Manfred and team owners want to make the 2020 playoff structure (16 teams and a three-game series in the first round) permanent (1:35). Then, we discuss how the MLB playoff bubble will affect this year and how team strategies will change because there are no days off in between games (18:38). Finally, we preview a weekend full of key series for the 2020 playoff picture (31:58) before discussing the largest movers by playoff odds this past week (48:13).

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