You make a good point, but for me it’s about cheapening the playoffs. Does MLB want to be like the NHL and NBA, who have reduced their regular seasons to basically meaningless games by allowing every team around .500 to qualify? MLB plays more games than any other league by far. If you can’t get yourself 10 or so games above .500 after SIX MONTHS of playing, I’m sorry but you aren’t good enough.
It’s never going to change because it makes money for the league. And sure, it adds the Cinderella NCAAB vibe to see a team like Arizona go all the way to the World Series. But the MLB playoffs are and have always been a crapshoot. Arizona was not a better team than the dodgers last year. I hate that a team is rewarded for having a good couple weeks when a team ran the league for 6 months and gets bounced so quickly.
I was excited to see if the twins could win a couple postseason games or take a series back when they were like 15 over .500. Right now, I’d rather watch the Thursday night NFL game tomorrow than see a bunch of guys who have quit.