Phillies Notebook: MLB expands playoff format

Major League Baseball will expand its playoff system, according to FOXSports.

The league will change the playoff format from eight to 10 teams immediately, per the report, citing commissioner Bud Selig. Baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement had stated it wanted to wait until 2013.

The expansion isn’t yet final, according to the report, but an announcement could come Thursday.

So making it to the World Series again has just got tougher for the Phillies.

With a playoff system like this, the Cardinals’ unexpected run to the World Series crown could be more common. All it takes is a team to get hot at the right moment and it can be a problem for any team, even an odds-on favorite like the Phils.