Just shy of one week past the deadline, moves have already had an impact. We’re going to do a quick run through of how each division looks like, as well as the Wild Card spots that are up for grabs.
AL West
The Angels have seemingly started their annual August fall off, losing their last six matchups, four to their divisional rival in Seattle. Not only have the Angels fallen further in the divisional standings, but they have let the Mariners leap frog them in the Wild Card standings, giving Seattle hope for back-to-back playoff berths since the 2000-01 seasons as they sit only 2.5 games back of catching Toronto, and are on a five game win streak. The Rangers sit in first still, but with only 2.5 games separating themselves and Houston. Speaking of Houston, if they have a breakdown in the following 49 games, their Wild Card spot could easily be flushed away, with Toronto taking over the second spot, and Seattle taking the third. If everything stays as is, and the Rangers win the division, they’ll slide into the ALDS behind the Orioles as the number two team.
AL East
After a historic start by the Tampa Bay Rays, they now sit behind the Baltimore Orioles who are the first American League team to reach the 70-Win mark. With the Orioles exceeding everyone’s expectations by a mile, on pace to have a 101-Win season, which sounds more like a Yankees season, truth be told (whom they just swept in their last series), they’ll easily slide into the ALDS, their first time since 2016 when they made it as a Wild Card team. The Rays will most likely squeeze into the playoffs by virtue of a hot start, sitting in the first Wild Card position with a handful of games between themselves and the Astros. Meanwhile, the storied Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are fighting for last place, both currently having trouble to stay on a consistent winning streak. The East could have three representatives in the playoffs if the Jays fend off the surging Mariners, so that battle will be fun to watch down the stretch.
AL Central
Easily the most disappointing of divisions in the American League, the Minnesota Twins sit atop with a measily 59-54 record. Just to put things into perspective, all of the Wild Card teams currently have 60 or more Wins. Even though as of writing, no team has been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the Tigers, White Sox, and Royals may as well be in the same company as the Oakland A’s in waiting for the end of the season to come around. “There’s always next seasons!” as they like to say. The Central will have only one representative in the playoffs in the Twins, or possibly the Cleveland Guardians if things go very very badly for Minnesota, and very very good for Cleveland from now and the beginning of October. Either way, one of those teams will have to face the Toronto Blue Jays or Seattle Mariners just to get into the ALDS.
Wrap up
There is a high chance that there are no AL Central teams playing further for the last spot in the ALDS. There is also a high chance that there are three teams from the AL East starting from day 1 of the playoffs, two in the Wild Card and one with a bye, waiting to play in the ALDS. The trades made by the Rangers, Astros, and Angels haven’t had time to pay dividends in the sense of how the starting pitchers will play out, but everyday it seems like the Angels fall further and further out of the playoff picture yet again. No matter how it plays out, it looks like the Texas Rangers will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. With the new, expanded format for playoffs, it’s quite sad to think that the AL Central may not even have a team in the ALDS, and it’ll be a battle of the East and West. The East easily has the upper hand as far as percentages go for who will represent the league in the World Series, but the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros (plus Justin Verlander) are no joke.
