After this weekend, the National League playoff spots are almost all sealed up, with just the wild cards left up for grabs. With the post season getting clearer by the day in the NL, the American League is clinch-less.
One of the big differences? The American League, despite losing the All-Star Game (thanks for nothing Verlander), is the better league. And by better, I mean that the records of the teams in the AL are much better than those in the NL. If we look at the records of the teams that have clinched, the Reds, Giants and Nationals, they have good records that blew away most of the teams in their division. Aside from the Braves and Cardinals, most of the teams going for the wild card are close to the .500 mark. A few years ago when the Padres won the NL West one game over .500 everybody made a huge deal about how a team at .500 could go to the playoffs. Yet, here we are again with .500 teams being thrown into the mix like it’s no big deal. The difference between these teams and the Padres is that they’re going for the wild card, not the division. The American League has eliminated all of the teams with .500 or lower records from contention, and now it’s just the big guns battling it out.
With the A’s taking on division rivals and leaders, the Texas Rangers this week, the AL West could be one division that could wrap up quickly. It saddens me to say, but I don’t see the A’s over taking the Rangers for the division. I’ve been holding onto hope, but after the last week, their playing sloppy and losing ground. Tyson Ross, who has been a great starter for the A’s in the past, has struggled big time in his last two outings, losing to the Yankees in 14 innings on Saturday and in the 9th inning last night. I understand that a manager wants a pitcher to feel comfortable and have a chance to redeem himself after a tough loss, but at what point do you say enough is enough? The season ends next week, and the A’s are now 5 games back in the division. You can’t keep sending out a pitcher that’s struggling in tight games hoping for the best, because if he continues to struggle, you’re hurting the team. If I saw one person lose two games in three days, I would not want to see that guy warming up in the bullpen.
The White Sox shocked just about everybody this season. They’re a good team, but nobody really thought they could win, especially with what the Tigers were expected to do. With as good as the Sox have been, it’s a question of if they are that good, or they just look good since the rest of the division isn’t playing as well as we all thought they would. The Tigers, while they’re playing much better as of late, have spent most of the season playing nowhere near where they should have. However, with the Tigers getting hot and the White Sox struggling slightly, things could change in a heartbeat. With their loss this afternoon, seriously who plays an afternoon game on a Tuesday, the White Sox lead is down to half a game, which could be down to a tie should the Tigers beat the Royals tonight. Last year, or every other year in recent history for that matter, I would have said the Tigers would be winning that game, but the Royals have quietly put together a great season. Everybody talks about the A’s and the O’s as the biggest surprises this season, but look at the Royals. Sure they have a sub .500 record again, but they’re in third in the AL Central, which is huge for them. They are usually the bottom rung of that division and have one of the worst records in all of baseball. They have drafted smart the last few years and I’m glad to see the pieces slowly coming together.
And lastly, mainly because I hate them, we have the New York Yankees. After a rocky start to September, it was questionable if the Yanks would even make the playoffs, yet they’re the Yankees. They always battle and find ways to win. They are the Yankees after all. After spending most of this month in a tie with the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees are starting to gain some ground and pull away. Not much ground, but at this point, you don’t need much. Tampa Bay was making a strong push for the division, coming within three games, and were a top wild card team before things started going south. Since making a playoff push earlier this month, the Rays have sunk to 6 games back in the division and three back for the final wild card with the Angels ahead of them. The Rays are in need of a miracle to make the post season this year, which it’s sad to see their playoff appearances come to an end. I always enjoy when teams go to the playoffs that you would have never guessed would go. Back to the Orioles though. The currently lead the A’s by 1.5 games in the wild card, but are still holding out for the division. It’s a possibility, a strong one at that. They have been playing great baseball this month, and their remaining schedule includes series against the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Rays. The Red Sox and Blue Jays, both sub .500 teams, have a chance to play spoiler, which we know, every team loves that chance. If anybody would like to ruin the Orioles chances of the post season, or at least clinching the division, it would be the Boston Red Sox. They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but I think the BoSox are looking to get a little payback for what happened last year.
No matter which way these division go, I want some teams to start locking up positions so I can stop stressing so much. I would also very much like for the A’s to stop losing games- I already got my post season tickets, I just need them to get there. Happy watching!