MLB American League Playoff Picture

MLB.COM – Playoff picture at this point.

One week is how much more baseball there is left to play before we head into the post season.  The National League playoff picture is completely set in stone.

The Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and LA Dodgers will all head to the playoffs as NL division leaders.  The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates will make a playoff run in the Wild Card.  It will be the Pirates first playoff run in 21 years.

In the AL, the playoff pictures is not so clear.  While the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics have all clinched their division to go to the playoffs, the Wild Card spots are still up in the air.

Both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Indians hole a very loose grip on the two Wild Card spots with the Texas Rangers only one game behind the Indians and two games behind the Rays.

Both the Rays and the Indians are on an astonishing five-game winning streak.  Meanwhile, the Rangers have been keeping pace with both teams on a two-game win streak.   All three teams are in the midst of series that they have a firm control over, the Rays recently dominated the New York Yankees 7-0, the Indians are up against the struggling Chicago White Sox and the Rangers are in a series with the AL last place team the Houston Astros.

All three teams last series also should be easy-going for all three ball clubs.  The Rays next opponents are the Toronto Blue Jays.  The Indians next team is the Minnesota Twins.  Last, the Rangers take on the LA Angels.

With that said it, makes it difficult to predict just who will be going to the playoffs.  The Rays and Indians have the best probability to make the playoffs according to MLB’s probabilities chart.

Future odds are no longer available at Bovada, so the sports books do not give us a clear picture either.

The AL Wild Card race could very well come down to the final games.  It looks like we are going to have another photo finish to the MLB season.