There's Now A Proposal To Play The World Series At A Neutral Site, Here's Why That's A Terrible Idea

The 2023 World Series between the 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks and 90-win Texas Rangers was the culmination of Major League Baseball's new postseason format, which seems to punish division winning teams.

READ: MLB HAS A POSTSEASON PROBLEM, AND HERE ARE SOME IDEAS OF HOW TO FIX IT

In both years of the league's new wild card format, the #6 seed from the National League made the World Series. Given the low profile of both teams and lack of star power in this year's series, it wasn't surprising that ratings sunk to record lows.

And Scott Boras has a plan to fix it. There's just one problem, it's a very, very bad plan. Partially, at least.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported that Boras said the league should move the World Series away from home ballparks and to a...neutral stadium? What now?

PHOENIX, AZ - OCTOBER 31: A general view of Chase Field prior to Game 4 of the 2023 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, October 31, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

World Series Home Atmosphere Is Part Of Baseball Tradition

The NFL obviously plays the Super Bowl at a neutral site. But it's one game, and home field advantage matters significantly more in the NFL than it does in professional baseball.

The 2020 World Series was played at a neutral site, and along with the diminished crowd size thanks to pointless COVID restrictions, the atmosphere for the clinching Game 6 was nowhere close to what it would have been at Dodger Stadium.

Home crowds in baseball are one of the sport's best traditions, with the Philadelphia Phillies home field becoming one of the major topics of discussion during the postseason. Removing that wouldn't make the Series any more watchable, entertaining, or more fair to the "better" team.

If anything, the past few years have shown that despite home crowd atmospheres, there's little disadvantage for visiting teams. The 2019 series saw zero home wins, and this year's Rangers won three in a row in Arizona. Boras could be implying that a neutral site would mean more Texas fans could have seen their team win in person, creating a better Game 5 atmosphere, but there's no guarantee the neutral site would have been more accessible than Phoenix regardless.

It just doesn't make sense for baseball; forcing fans to travel to see their team play for up to seven games. Tickets are expensive enough, imagine adding airfare and hotels for up to a week. The Super Bowl or College Football National Championship game works because it's one game, making travel much more certain.

Boras Does Have One Good Idea

To be fair to Boras, he did also advocate that the division winning teams be given a one game advantage in their first playoff series. While seemingly a major change, it would mean that there's an incentive for teams to continue building exceptional regular season rosters.

Instead of incentivizing randomness and the low hanging fruit of 84-win seasons, giving teams a real, significant playoff advantage for winning more games would enhance the importance of the 162-game schedule while potentially leading to better World Series matchups.

Most baseball fans enjoy tradition, which would make such a change difficult to accept. But it's the right call.

Just don't, for the love of all that is holy, move the World Series to a neutral site.