One of the expected benefits of expanding baseball’s postseason field to 16 teams was a playoff race involving practically every team. But with a little less than a month to go in the season, there’s precious little drama in the American League playoff picture.
According to Fangraphs’ playoff odds, there are seven AL teams with at least a 94 percent chance to occupy one of the junior circuit’s eight spots—the Rays, Yankees, White Sox, Indians, Twins, Athletics and Astros. The National League has just four clubs (Braves, Cubs, Dodgers and Padres) with playoff probabilities greater than 65 percent.