MLB standings, playoff picture update: A's continue to threaten Yankees as Wild Card Game hosts
Could the AL Wild Card Game be played in Oakland rather than the Bronx?
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4 min read
The 2018 MLB regular season ends Sunday, Sept. 30, meaning the postseason is now just over two weeks away. There are still plenty of postseason races that have to be decided between now and then.
With that in mind, here is an update on the current American League postseason picture. Here is the SportsLine Projection System and here is what the AL postseason field would look like if the season ended today (Click here for the National League playoff picture):
Make sure to check out SportsLine's daily pick sheet for insight about every game.
AL East leader: Red Sox (100-46)
- Games remaining: 16 (10 Home, 6 Away)
- Remaining opponent's winning percentage: .513
- SportsLine's playoff odds: 100.0 percent
- SportsLine's World Series odds: 22.7 percent
Earlier this week, the Red Sox became the majors' first team to clinch a playoff spot, as well as the first team to 100 wins. The Red Sox have a 10-game lead in the AL East with just 16 games remaining, meaning they're the overwhelming favorite to win the division, too. The Red Sox do have six games remaining with the Yankees, however, which could make things more interesting than they appear if the Yankees are able to win or sweep both series. Still, the Red Sox should have this in the bag.
AL Central leader: Indians (82-64)
- Games remaining: 16 (9 Home, 7 Away)
- Remaining opponent's winning percentage: .426
- SportsLine's playoff odds: 100.0 percent
- SportsLine's World Series odds: 10.0 percent
The Indians have a 14 1/2 game lead over the Minnesota Twins with 16 to play. The rest of the AL Central teams have losing records. The race for the division is just about finished. In fact, Cleveland can clinch with any combination of three wins and three Twins losses. That could happen as soon as Friday.
AL West leader: Astros (92-54)
- Games remaining: 16 (9 Home, 7 Away)
- Remaining opponent's winning percentage: .457
- SportsLine's playoff odds: 100.0 percent
- SportsLine's World Series odds: 15.0 percent
The Astros have won three games in a row -- yet have gained nothing on the A's, who are riding a six-game winning streak of their own. As such, Oakland remains three back in the division. Unfortunately, for the A's, the two sides have no head-to-head games remaining. The Astros, meanwhile, do have a four-game set with the lowly Baltimore Orioles. Weird things happen all the time in this sport, but Houston remains the favorite to capture the West.
AL wild card leader: Yankees (90-56)
- Games remaining: 16 (9 Home, 7 Away)
- Remaining opponent's winning percentage: .520
- SportsLine's playoff odds: 99.8 percent
- SportsLine's World Series odds: 7.0 percent
The Yankees haven't played well lately, but they have a 9 1/2 game lead over the Rays for a wild-card spot. The bigger concern is that their lead over the Athletics for the host position is down to one game. Both teams have been better at home this season record-wise, and it would be a disappointment if the Yankees do blow what was a sizable lead for the top wild-card position.
That said, the Yankees continue to hold the tiebreaker advantage over the A's, which boils down to intra-division record. (The sides split their season series 3-3.) As such, the A's will have to have an outright lead in order to secure home-field advantage in the play-in game. .
AL wild card runner-up: Athletics (89-57)
- Games remaining: 16 (6 Home, 10 Away)
- Remaining opponent's winning percentage: .493
- SportsLine's playoff odds: 99.0 percent
- SportsLine's World Series odds: 2.9 percent
The A's have 16 games left -- including another against the Orioles -- with an 8 1/2 game lead over the Rays for the second wild-card spot. The two sides will play a three-game set this weekend, but the A's will dodge Blake Snell and would have to basically collapse in order to miss the postseason. Maybe that happens, you never know. The more likely scenario is that we'll spend next week and beyond focusing on whether the A's can capture that top spot in the wild-card hunt.
Teams on the outside looking in
- Rays: 80-65 (1.2 percent postseason odds per SportsLine)
- Mariners: 79-66 (<1.0 percent postseason odds per SportsLine)
- Angels: 73-73 (0.0 percent postseason odds per SportsLine)
Realistically, there's little hope for these three teams -- the Angels are listed here merely as a formality, since they'll be eliminated perhaps as soon as Thursday evening. Again, the Rays could improve their chances with a series win -- or, more dramatically, with a sweep -- but even then they're going to have a hard time chasing down the A's or Yankees. The playoff picture, then, is basically set. The only questions are about who'll host what.
Teams eliminated
The Twins became the latest AL team to be eliminated from postseason contention earlier this week. The Angels are next on the chopping block, bidding farewell to their competitive aspirations with any loss or Athletics victory.
The Orioles' lead for the No. 1 pick is now up to eight losses. The real storyline there is whether they'll became the sixth team to drop 115 games. It's almost a given they'll lose 110, given how poorly they've played all season long.
