12 Teams to Qualify, Also Announces LRS BBG to Adopt DH

November 18, 2019: PEBA Headquarters – Now that the dust seems to be settling on the whole LRS Kerfuffle and merger talks have calmed to a gentle boil, every team in the PEBAverse is focusing on the Rule 5 draft, and, of course, the highly anticipated Winter Meeting period of late night parties, rapid-fire news releases, and wildcat trading. Important news does continue to flow, however, and teams would be well-advised to focus on everything at once (yes, easier said than done).

NEW POST-SEASON STRUCTURE

Today the league released a statement to announce that the 2021 playoff process would change to match its new 6-division configuration. With 32 teams in the 2021 PEBA, it is expected that twelve will qualify for post-season play, six teams from each league. These six would comprise of the three division winners, and three wild card teams (teams with the best records, but which did not win their divisions).

The release notes that the top two seeds in each league will receive a bye in round 1, which means that there will be one additional level of playoffs, and that the formats of these series have been designed to minimize the time off for teams with byes. That said, here is the structure teams should prepare for.

Round 1: Best of 5, no off days, 2-2-1 format

Round 2: Best of 7, 2-3-2 format

Round 3 (League Championships): Best of 7, 2-3-2 format

Rodriguez Cup: Best of 7, 2-3-2 format

“This is a very exciting time for the PEBAverse as a whole,” read the statement, “and we’re very happy to have turned to corner to be discussing such positive things as playoff baseball.”

LRS TO BE DH-ONLY in 2020

The LRS Bright Blade Group is the only organization in the entire PEBAverse to still have pitchers hit. That will change in 2020, as the league released a note through twitter stating that, starting immediately, the BBG will adopt the Designated Hitter rule. “No time like the present,” the tweet read.

This news seemed to be inevitable once the merger was announced, yet will likely tug at the hearts of many baseball purist, who had clung to distant hopes that the DH would go away.

Mr. Slimeball Still at Large

In related news, Japanese law enforcement officials remain silent on progress of the investigation into the figures at the heart of the criminal case that launched this whole brew-ha-ha. Informants at one point had suggested the the lead inspector in the case was focused on a trail of money that lead through Russia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, but all signals seem to point to dead ends in those efforts.

A review of several public records show that the team has spent considerable time interviewing GMs and executives of several teams in order to piece together the sequence of events by which Slimeball gained access into the league’s front offices to begin with. In addition, it is understood that the investigative offices have begun meeting with bio-engineering specialists, DNA sequencing companies, international security agents, and other personal identification experts. One can presume the case against Slimeball will hinge upon a series of falsehoods perpetrated on a few key individuals, and then leveraged through a sequence of identities.

Fan pressure is growing intense, however, and it seems that the the chief investigator will need to provide a comprehensive statement soon if the organization is to avoid a black mark.