Major League Baseball has proposed shortening its regular season to 154 games starting in 2029 and expanding the division series to a best-of-seven format.
The proposals came Thursday as part of negotiations with the MLB Players Association over a new collective bargaining agreement.
MLB also wants to allow higher-seeded teams to choose their opponents both in the wild-card and division series rounds of the playoffs. The 154-game schedule would be a return to MLB’s calendar prior to 1960, when it was expanded to the current 162-game regular season.
“Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly off day, which is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players,” MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin said in a statement.