I hate the freaking stupidity that is at the very heart of every one of these stories: Actually, it's not the least bit convoluted and it makes lots of sense. Taking these dumbass, my god that team has more wins than a team in another division it's not fair that something so arcane as geography plays a role in the standings, stances make these people look so freaking clueless about how the business of sports work. It makes sense to have the three best teams in the NL battling for one NLCS spot while the 4th and 5th best teams play for the other? Yes, it does, because that is how sports work. There are better and worse conferences and divisions and tougher schedules and easier schedules and teams that get lucky one year and great teams that get beat out by greater teams. It makes sense to not freak out every season about the seemingly "unfair" set-up and propose new set-ups to solve a non-existent problem. There should not be an obsession with making sure all seeding situations are perfectly distributed. Geography matters in sports. Only idiots dismiss it as a convoluted concept.