I was thinking about this... All you really need to do is win about half your games. The team that goes 40-20 (.667) only has a slight advantage in the playoffs than the team that goes 30-30 (.500). This business about each game being worth 2.7 games would have been true if the playoff field hadn't been expanded, but now for the most part you just have to avoid sucking to have a shot at the World Series.