Wild Card system encouraged teams to spend more to get to October--Doug Pappas

• Wild card format let more teams play in the post season, leading many to spend more on payroll for that chance (a brief time out from righteous Selig Bible readers on XM 175):

(By Doug Pappas): "The strike-shortened 1994 season was also the first in the current three-divisions-plus-Wild Card format. As MLB was happy to announce,

• doubling the number of teams qualifying for the playoffs gave many more teams a realistic shot at the postseason.

• This, in turn, increased the number of clubs looking to sign that one more free agent who might give them a
• better shot at playing into October,

• encouraging contenders to spend all the extra money generated by their increased attendance on players.
• MLB wasn't talking about that.

Instead MLB was demanding that the players accept a salary cap that would have reduced player salaries by an average of 15%.

• The players refused.

• The owners didn't back down.

• Acting Commissioner for Life Selig canceled the postseason,

vowing to start the 1995 season with

• replacement players if necessary

• to force the players to accept sub-market wages.

Otherwise, how could small-market clubs

• ever hope to compete?"...by Doug Pappas, 4/12/04, Baseball Prospectus, Marginal Payroll/Marginal Wins, 1994 season

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