Rob Manfred could actually reward John Fisher’s terrible idea for A’s

The Oakland Athletics are set to move away from Oakland at the end of this year and have a ballpark ready in Las Vegas by 2028. This plan involves them temporarily playing in Sacramento while they await the completion of their Vegas ballpark.

However, the team has another very flawed plan in place with the City of Las Vegas, which Major League Baseball seems to be on board with. The nonrelocation agreement reportedly includes safeguards in the event that MLB alters the playoff format, per Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"It could be possible for the MLB to go some model that is more like the Super Bowl, if you will, where some playoff games are played in a location that is not necessarily the home stadium of any of the teams," said Mark Arnold, special counsel to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority.

MLB officials have reviewed the agreement and are negotiating with the stadium authority's legal team.

A's have another flawed plan in place with MLB seemingly on board

This plan is incredibly flawed, and the fact that Major League Baseball is actually negotiating with the stadium authority on this matter shows just how poorly they planned for the A's move to Vegas.

One of the best parts of postseason baseball is that teams switch sites depending on where they are in the series, meaning both teams get a chance to play at least two games at their home stadium. This would completely eliminate that.

The only time something like this was actually necessary was in 2020, when the season was shortened due to COVID-19 and MLB decided to do a playoff bubble, with the American League playing their games at Dodger Stadium and Petco Park while the National League played their games at Minute Maid Park and Globe Life Field. The World Series took place in Arlington that fall.

But this would rob teams of being able to play in front of their home crowd. It's one thing to have a neutral site for the Super Bowl, but it just doesn't make sense for baseball unless something like the COVID pandemic happens again.

The fact that Rob Manfred and the rest of MLB are seemingly in on this plan is concerning. This might suggest that more changes are coming to the playoff format, which may happen if the league adds expansion teams in the near future.

The current playoff format features 12 teams, six per league.