What if the proposed expansion to a 14-team playoff field were in place for the past eight years (2012-2019)? We don’t know how it might have affected spending and team construction with more available postseason spots, but if you simply apply the format retroactively, here’s what you get:
• Twenty-seven of the 30 clubs would have qualified for the postseason in that eight-year period.
• Only two teams in those eight years would have qualified for the expanded postseason every year: the Dodgers and Cardinals–none in the American League.
• The 16 No. 1 seeds in those eight years would have been filled by 12 different franchises.