The Atlanta Braves will now have a difficult path this Summer

The train wreck has happened, but we’ll get our Atlanta Braves.

The two sides have agreed to disagree, setting up an eventual courtroom battle that benefits only the lawyers.  Unfortunately, it also creates a very difficult situation for the Atlanta Braves.

One of the aspects of the negotiations — if that term actually applies here — was that an expanded set of playoffs would ensue after the completion of the “regular” season.

That just got a lot more difficult with the collapse of all deal-making.

(Slight correction to the above: we will have DH-only games this year).

Both sides had to come together with an agreement for the expanded playoffs to occur.  While that could technically still be done, the players union has clearly drawn a line, and that line is intended to deprive the MLB and its owners of any of the additional revenue that another playoff round would generate.

Thus, here’s the situation:

• 3 Regional (or time-zone centric) divisions.  The NL East and Al East will be lumped together to form the most difficult division in the sport.
• Each league will choose 5 playoff teams:  the best in each division, plus 2 wild cards.

That’s what we’ve seen in years’ past, but the path to these playoffs is going to be quite a bit different.

Sixty games — if that’s the ultimate number — spread among 9 opponents means things will be a bit unbalanced.  Teams facing the Yankees more often, for example, will be at something of a disadvantage.

With those Yankees, the Atlanta Braves, the Nationals, Phillies, Mets, Rays, and a possible upstart spoiler like the Blue Jays or Red Sox involved, wins will be at a premium.

As a result, it’s quite likely that the Wild Card teams will emerge from other divisions… not the East.

The Braves will have to get out to a good start and maintain that over the course of a hectic 2+ months.  Of course, every other club will be thinking the same thing.

Should we like the Braves chances in such a scrum?  On paper… yes.  But all it will take is one key injury or one extended slump (5 days might be enough) to put any team behind a wall that it can’t emerge from.

Then again… maybe we should just enjoy whatever part of a season we get.  After all, it’s baseball, and despite the attempts of both sides to avoid it, we’re going to have some this Summer.