The MLB season is coming to an end soon, which means that the playoffs are right around the corner. Starting on October 3rd, playoff baseball will be featured on FOX Sports and your local streaming services.
As teams make their last roster transactions and players start to wind it down, fourteen clubs will continue their run at world glory throughout the beginning of autumn.
Despite the season ending in less than a month, the playoff picture has yet to fully shape up with deadline sellers winning and top buyers slumping. For example, a team like the Los Angeles Angels, who were the presumed deadline winners, threw in the towel and waived acquisitions they made less than a month ago.
While they did eventually get rid of five of the six acquisitions and saved just over $5.7 million, the Angels still hover over the 2023 CBT Threshold. This results in a 20% tax on all of the payroll money that is paid throughout 2023 directly from the owner’s pocket, plus dropping their first-round pick at least 10 slots further.
“Outside of the Rays and Phillies -- who are pretty clearly the top Wild Card teams in each league -- it feels like we've gained very little clarity on who the next-best WC teams are,” MLB.com writer Brent Maguire said via Twitter.
Aside from that mess, the surging Houston Astros have regained sole possession of first place in the AL West, with the stumbling Texas Rangers, who have spent the fourth-most money in baseball (over $247 million) on their roster, falling to third.
Led by former two-time World Series champions, Justin Verlander, Jose Altuve, and Alex Bregman, the Astros look to win their third championship within the last seven years.
The AL Wild Card Race is very top-heavy, with the juggernaut AL East producing five teams that could make it in. The Mariners and Rangers are the only other teams aside from the Rays, Blue Jays, and potentially slumping rivals Red Sox and Yankees are in the hunt.
Seattle has produced a quality year on the bump, leading the league in ERA (3.71), runs allowed (539), FIP (3.80), BB/9 (2.5), K/W (3.59), and second in WHIP (1.184). Former Mets draft pick and NY native, George Kirby, leads the charge in the rotation.
The Atlanta Braves, who continue to be a model organization in this league, currently lead the MLB in wins and look to be the first club to hit 100 total victories this season.
Aside from the Dodgers in the NL, the whole Wild Card Race is wide open. The Phillies, Marlins, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Diamondbacks, and Giants are all in the race for the final four playoff spots, making one of the tightest playoff races within the past ten seasons. All teams mentioned above are within at least four games of each other.
As of now, the Phillies, Cubs, and Giants, all three teams who were potential sellers at the deadline, have control of the three Wild Card spots.
“The Twins and Brewers are closing in on division titles in the AL and NL Central, respectively, but the wildcard races in both leagues figure to come down to the wire,” Matt Snyder of CBS Sports said.
In other playoff news, the new 2023 rule changes will transfer over into the offseason. This includes the pitch clock, bigger bases, and restricted infield shifts. The format will also be the same, which was first introduced in 2022.
The playoffs start with the top two teams from both the American League (AL) and National League (NL) getting a bye. That means seeds 3 through 6 play in a best-of-three series format to see who moves on.
“This format is so much better than the last,” Newtown High School junior Andrew Faircloth said. “It gives more teams the ability to win while making it ten times more competitive”.
In a best-of-five series known as the Divisional Series, all teams play. The winners of that series then play in a best-of-seven series and the final step to the World Series, the Championship Series.
Finally, the AL and NL have only one team remaining to represent themselves in the World Series. Whoever wins this best-of-seven series goes home crowned the champion.
As of now, the Atlanta Braves are favorites at +230, per FanDuel. Their odds are growing each week, as they sat at +260 the first week of September. The infamous Houston Astros (+500) and Los Angeles Dodgers (+600), who have dominated the field throughout the last decade, trail the Braves.
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