Back in 1990, the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves both finished in last place. In 1991, they played in the World Series, the famous worst-to-first World Series.
Has the game changed so much in 26 years that we can't have those types of immediate turnarounds? Maybe it has. Or maybe 2016 was that rare season that pretty much went as expected. I'd like to believe we can still have surprises and unexpected playoff teams, and while everyone is pretty much picking the same teams (mostly the same teams that made the playoffs last year), I'm not sure 2017 will unfold so predictably.