Getting this in now, so no one can claim later that I'm just being a homer:

I don't like the current playoff structure and this isn't just that I don't like the expanded playoffs. Although getting rid of the expansion would be an option to fix some of the issues.

Here is what I don't like:

The very balanced schedule: Although not specific to the playoffs, this does affect them. Playing each team in the division 16 times was a bit much but they have over corrected. division rivalries make the season better. And makes the division championship more important.

The "Wildcard round" Semantically, it isn't a wildcard round if a division winner is playing in it. So don't call it a wildcard round.

Division Winners not being treated with equal stature With unbalanced schedules division to division, it seems as if each division winner should have to win the same number of games in the playoffs to win the world series. Winning a division should mean a little more than landing in the wildcard round at pretty much the same level as that team that barely made it in.

How to Fix It: Every other level of baseball has separate first and second half division winners. If a team wins both the first and the second half in their division than they get an automatic bye into the second round. Also, the team with the best overall record gets a bye into the second round as the fourth seed.

The first round is a play in round for teams that didn't win both halves and didn't have the best overall record. This year, so far, this is how it would line up:

Each year it may be different. This year, there would be divisional play in series for the National League Central: Brewers and Reds and NL West with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. TB and Phillie would be the Wildcard teams.