As sad as it is to consider, this is it. The final month of Regular Season Baseball. For most teams, the final month of baseball, period. (Until next spring of course, and yes, I’m already excited for that.)
But! Before we get ahead of ourselves and get all worked up about seeing Gary Sanchez cranking balls into the Tampa sunset, let’s take a look at where we stand now. Which teams are pretty well Locked in for the postseason? Which are right on the cusp of an unexpected run? Which need to get their act together? And which are praying for the merciful arrival of October 2nd?
Let’s take a look:
Group 1: The Top Tier
1.Chicago Cubs
2.Texas Rangers
3.Washington Nationals
There is a big drop off between the Cubs and everyone else, with Chicago cruising toward a divisional crown, having somehow lived up to the crazy hype from last February. At this point, they are basically running out the clock until games that count.
Texas and Washington are pretty secure division leaders themselves. DC isn’t playing the greatest baseball headed into the stretch run, but both are definitely better than any other team in their divisions, and should rightly be turning attention to the postseason soon. (For Nationals fans, the process of steeling for the inevitable first round exit is already underway.)
Group 2: Strong But Not Secure
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Toronto Blue Jays
6. Los Angeles Dodgers
7. San Fransisco Giants
Three division leaders fighting for the crown and one team just behind. Toronto must fend off Boston and Baltimore, LA and San Francisco must conclude the battle that baseball has been predicting for the last three years, and Cleveland must, essentially, avoid getting in its own way.
Group 3: Coming On Strong
8. St. Louis Cardinals
9. Boston Red Sox
10. Baltimore Orioles
11. Houston Astros
St. Louis is doing its best to squeak into the Wild Card game and set up another Giants / Cardinals NLCS (after we were finally spared that trope last year). Boston and Baltimore both seem to be doing whatever they can to hand Toronto the division, but each is hanging around and will at the very least be in the Wild Card hunt until the end. Houston is really good but dug itself too much of a hole at the beginning of the season to be able to take the division. All of that adds up to an AL Wild Card race that will be worth watching even for fans outside the division.
Group 4: Oh Yeah, We’re Good Too
12. Detroit Tigers
13. New York Yankees
14. Kansas City Royals
Nominally, these three are Wild Card contenders. The Tigers have played well of late and with a big series against the Royals to start September could make quick moves, but they’re a step behind the Indians in the Central and the other three Wild Card leaders. KC has come on really strong lately but it feels more like a hot streak than actual contention. If they do make the playoffs though, they’d be coming in blisteringly hot, with an excitable fanbase and a lingering taste from the past two World Series to motivate them, so watch out.
The Yankees, despite all the buzz generated by young mashers on hot streaks, are still faced with a disaster of a pitching staff. Hopes of a 2016 run are misplaced, but next year should be fun.
Group 5: Pretenders
15. New York Mets
16. Miami Marlins
17. Pittsburgh Pirates
These teams are still in the hunt, technically, but they are much, much worse than those they are chasing. Miami will finish a couple games above .500; the Mets and Pirates will both finish with just shy of 90 wins and miss the playoffs by a few games. Classic treading water seasons that are big disappointments for teams who expected to be great.
Group 6: Almost… But Not Quite
18. Seattle Mariners
19. Colorado Rockies
By record, not too bad! Not really on anybody’s radar as teams that could make a run at it though.
Group 7: Definitely Not the Worst
20. Chicago White Sox
21. Philadelphia Phillies
A couple of teams that have some good pieces, some bad pieces, and a lot of missing pieces. Not hopeless; definitely not there yet.
Group 8: This Did Not Go Well
22. Tampa Bay Rays
23. Los Angeles Angels
24. Arizona Diamondbacks
The Dbacks thought they would compete, which is absurd. They’re awful. The Rays thought they’d compete, which is not absurd on the surface, they just forgot that Joe Maddon left, and some other things did not go according to plan and now they have some real problems going forward. The Angels knew they were bad but at least Mike Trout and Albert Pujols are having great years, and that’s got to count for something. They’re in trouble too, unless they can magic some more Matt Shoemaker‘s out of their currently mediocre minor leaguers.
Group 9: Not Good Baseball Teams
25. Milwaukee Brewers
26. Oakland Athletics
27. San Diego Padres
28. Cincinnati Reds
How does Bryan Price still have a job? These are four teams that either recently made changes or should consider them. I like AJ Preller, but things are not any better in San Diego now than before his massive shakeup. The Brewers have a new front office and are headed in the right direction, which is more than can be said for Oakland. I know it’s blasphemous, but maybe it’s time a new face ran that franchise and Billy Beane moved on…?
Group 10: Rebuilding, But Still
29. Atlanta Braves
30. Minnesota Twins
That the Braves, who have not run out a big league lineup all season and whose pitching staff is historically inept, are not last is utterly embarrassing for the Twins. Will Byron Buxton ever be good?
Let’s see where things end up when baseball’s last month is over!
-Max Frankel
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