To create a perfectly fair system, you would have to:
- Create an unbalanced schedule somehow for all 30 teams, regardless of league. Each team would have to play every other MLB team the same number of games (to reduce the probability that the AL is stronger than the NL in any given season or vice versa).
- After 162 games, seed all 30 teams and invite the top eight teams into the playoffs.
- Re-seed the remaining teams after each round to give the teams with the best records the easiest path to the World Series.
- Create an unbalanced schedule somehow for all 30 teams, regardless of league. Each team would have to play every other MLB team the same number of games (to reduce the probability that the AL is stronger than the NL in any given season or vice versa).
- After 162 games, seed all 30 teams and invite the top eight teams into the playoffs.
- Re-seed the remaining teams after each round to give the teams with the best records the easiest path to the World Series.