One thing that bothers me about the postseason format is that it rewards the "hot" teams and not necessarily the best teams.

Look at the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, who won only 83 games in the regular season and then went onto to shock the baseball world by winning the World Series.

The problem is, when the talent level of each competing club is so close at this level, anything can happen in a small sample size. Over the course of a 162-game season, the best teams will rise to the top, depending on their division.

In a short series, though, all bets are off. The Chicago Cubs were the best team in the National League all year, only to go three and out in the Division Series against a surging Los Angeles Dodgers team.

Perhaps this is great for most fans, as every team with the opportunity to roll the dice come October has a chance at bringing home a title.

But the realist in me sides more with Billy Beane, who famously said, "The postseason is a ****ing crapshoot."

And this is why I actually agree with the recent remarks made by Hank Steinbrenner in the Sporting News about the divisional playoff format.

"People will say the Cardinals were the best team because they won the World Series," Steinbrenner wrote. "Well, no, they weren't. They just got hot at the right time. They didn't even belong in the playoffs. And neither does a team from the N.L. West this season."

Well, for once he is absolutely right.

The Cardinals did not deserve to make the playoffs that year. At all. If they were placed in the American League East, for instance, they most likely would have missed out on being a third-place team.

Granted, one could make the argument that every single team in the National League playoffs in 2008 would not have done so if they were in the AL East this year. Even the New York Yankees, as Steinbrenner hinted at when discussing Joe Torre, would have probably ran away with the NL West by the middle of July. Not only has the American League shown its superiority for years now, whether it is cyclical or not, the Yankees had the more talented roster and still nearly won 90 games in the better league's toughest division.

In football and basketball, it is more likely for the best team to win it all. Baseball, however, is a completely different case. Sure, a team can set itself up for postseason success by having a strong core of starters at the top of its rotation and an excellent bullpen and team defense. Pitching is the name of the game come this time of year, of course. Yet, there are no guarantees.

And whether or not this is good or bad for the sport depends on how you feel about it, I guess. I am sure St. Louis fans love the format, which enabled them to bring home another trophy to a great baseball city.

How do you feel?