With 12 teams now in the playoffs and with these super short series, the significance of playing 162 games has been greatly diminished.


It's even more diminished with the way they've chosen to space out the games to ensure the top aces start every Game 1 (starting in the division series), and that every team need only use their top 3 pitchers the entire playoffs. Not only that, but the bullpen gets so many days off in the post season that they are pretty much all fresh for every single game after the WC round. A team built to succeed in the 162 game season isn't necessarily the same kind of team that can succeed in the post season.


A successful regular season team needs at least 4 decent SPs and at least 8 decent bullpen arms. A post season team needs 3 top SPs and 4-5 top bullpen guys. Every other pitcher on the roster rarely plays in the post season.

The exact opposite should be true. A post season should test the depth of your entire team much more than the regular season, but MLB has decided they don't want that.