I just glanced at the wild card standings, since SF is in the lead in the NL. On the MLB.com site, the Giants are listed as “+1” game, Saint Louis is apparently zero, and then the other teams are minus games, behind.
In the AL, somebody is “+4” games, two are tied at zero(?) and then the other teams are minus games, behind.
What’s this “plus games ahead” business? Standings have always been “zero” at the leading team, not an arbitrary “plus games over the second-ranker.”
They’re showing the gap between the first and second wild card teams. Two wild card teams will make the playoffs, so a team that trails the second wild card team only needs to catch that team to get in. These standings are extra weird because Detroit and Kansas City are tied for the lead in the AL Central. If the season ended today, one of those teams would win the division and the other would be the second wild card.
Well technically Kansas is .5 of a game up. I also think they have the better record against the Tigers (Detroit)
Detroit’s last game went final after I posted. The Tigers were tied with KC at the time. But yes, they are now a half game behind the Royals and alone in the second wild card spot, at least for the moment.
When did this horseshit start? And how does a five-team playoff work?
I swear, MLB is out to fuck up baseball if it kills them. A few more seasons and we’ll only have the Texas Hold 'Em version of the game left.
Two years ago, I think. The two wildcard teams play a single game and the winner goes on to play the team with the best record in the league. It’s arguably more fair than the old system because winning the wild card used to be as good as winning your division. Now it only gets you a one-game playoff instead of putting you on equal footing with a division winner.
Plus you have to burn your #1 starter on the Wildcard game leaving you at a disadvantage for the Divisional series. It’s a bit odd having two wildcard teams but it does put more emphasis on winning your division which is the way it should be.
Then they should dump the wild card altogether, and leave it to college basketball and other sports with jackass popularity rules.
Okay, but having two wild cards has been a way to expand interest to fans of other teams - more teams in possible contention.
I object to “circus rule” changes intended to briefly intrigue some added part of the audience at the expense of the game.
I don’t entirely disagree. Right now a lot of teams are theoretically in the hunt it certainly keeps their fanbases interested, but it’s injected a ton of randomness into the playoff hunt and I think it might be to the detriment of the sport. Some randomness is exciting; too much makes the whole thing a little less meaningful after a while. And I’m not sure what kind of effect it has on team-building. Are a lot of teams going to step away from sound long-term planning just to chase a wildcard spot and goose their attendance? (Does that matter because life is so random anyway?) Witness the Red Sox over the last couple of years. They were horrible, then they got healthy and won the Series, and now they’re horrible again and everybody seems to think they’ll be really good again next year.
Get off Amateur’s lawn! 
My solution: add or subtract 2 teams. Go back to 2 divisions. East winner plays West runner-up, and vice-versa.
You know what, I’m starting to understand that cranky old bastard trope a lot better as I get older.
What “problem” does this “solution” address? None, as far as I can see.
No offence, but where have you been the last two years? I mean IMO you can’t necessarily object that strenuously if you don’t follow the game closely enough to not realize the two Wild Cards and surrounding debate over it for the last two seasons. Maybe they are going for an added part of the audience because folks like you haven’t been watching / paying attention ;).
FWIW, the 4 WCs teams that won the WC play in game the last two years, 3 of them lost in the Divisional Series and only one of them made it to the LCS (St Louis in 2012). Which, on first glance seems to be better result than the one WC (assuming you want the result to be the WC team has a harder chance to make it far in the playoffs - which is my desire).
In case anyone cares, the two teams I’d contract
Marlins (move Tampa to Miami)
Jays
Expand to 16 teams in each league, with 4 divisions. Division champions go to the playoffs. An advantage of this is that each team in a division would have an identical schedule. 22 games against each team in your division (66), 6 against the remainder in your league (72), and 6 against one division in the other league (24). The latter would rotate, of course, so after four years you’ve had a home-and-home against every team in the other league.
Love it Frank!! Which two cities would you expand into?
I’d go Portland (OR) and Charlotte.
Montreal was a great baseball city at one point, and I think with proper ownership (which the Expos only had for half their existence) and a proper ballpark (which they never had), it could be again.