When the rumors started to swirl about the basic components of the new playoff format -- one extra wild-card team for a one-game play-in -- the open question had to do with how ties would be handled.

For one example, the 2006 National League playoff race would have been a mess. The Dodgers and Padres tied for the NL West title with 88 wins. Would they have had a one-game playoff to see who had to play the one-game playoff, or would they have had to flip a coin to decide the division winner?

According to Jon Heyman, it looks like a tie will be settled by a one-game playoff to get to the one-game playoff:

word is, no one wins a division on a tiebreaker/coin flip. there will be a playoff for that, too.

It's preferable to a coin flip, for sure. But a succession of one-game playoffs is still a rough way to miss the playoffs. The silver lining: more baseball. So it can't be that bad of a thing.