PHOENIX -- Major League Baseball officials are discussing the possibility of scheduling an off-day prior to a deciding Game 5 in the Division Series, Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer, said on Wednesday, adding that the adjustment in schedule could occur in time for this postseason.

"We did talk about that," said DuPuy, who had just emerged from a three-hour executive council meeting held a day before the owners were scheduled to have their first joint quarterly meeting of the year. "Because the World Series is now opening on a Tuesday, it gives us three days to play with. One of the things we'd like to do is not have the fire drill we've had in regards to Game 5, particularly when we go East to West or West to East."

Since the best-of-five first-round series went to the current format in 1998, the team with the better record (or the non-Wild Card winner) has hosted the opening two games, and then after an off-day, has played the next two games of the series in the opposing city. If the series goes to the limit, it returns to the host of the opening games, but without a travel day.

At its extreme, in 2000, the Yankees and A's had to fly back to Oakland from New York for a deciding Game 5 on a Sunday, which the Yankees won. The Yankees then had to return to New York to open the American League Championship Series against Seattle two days later.

Under the new television agreements signed last year with Fox Sports and Turner Broadcasting, the World Series will be pushed back three days to a Tuesday night start rather than a Saturday night start, thus giving MLB a three-day window to make the scheduling adjustment in the first round. The World Series hadn't begun on a Tuesday since 1985, the first year that the LCS went from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven format.

DuPuy said there was no discussion about extending the first round to a best-of-seven format.

"That is not under consideration," DuPuy said.

The Division Series was played for the first time in 1995. The first three years, the Wild Card winner (or the team with the worse record) hosted the opening two games while the other team hosted the final three games.