There are now only four days remaining in the 2015 regular season. That’s kind of a bummer. The season seems to go by a little quicker with each passing year. That’s okay though, postseason baseball is a blast.
Following Wednesday’s action, seven of the 10 postseason spots have been claimed. The Mets, Dodgers, Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs are the NL field. That is all set. In the AL only the Royals and Blue Jays have clinched. The Rangers have a 2 1/2 game lead on the Astros in the AL West and will open a four-game series with the Angels on Thursday. The Halos are three back of Texas. That’ll be fun.
The Yankees blew a chance to clinch a postseason spot Wednesday night, but they still have a comfortable 2 1/2 game lead for the top wild-card spot. They have three-game lead for a wild-card spot in general. Their magic number is one, so they can clinch any day now. They’re in the driver’s seat.
The second AL wild-card spot is still very much up in the air. It’s a three-team race right now between the Angels, Astros and Twins. Here are the standings following Wednesday’s action:
Pretty tight! Unless the Angels manage to win the first three games of their upcoming series against the Rangers, the second AL wild-card spot is the best remaining postseason race. Heck, it might be the only remaining postseason race by Thursday night.
With three teams bunched so close in the standings, the possibility of a three-way tie for the second wild-card spot exists. The Angels, Astros and Twins can all finish tied anywhere in the 83-79 to 86-76 range. Obviously a lot would have to fall into place for that to happen, but it is possible.
So what happens if there is a three-team tie for the second wild-card spot? Here are the tiebreaker rules:
Three-Club Tie for One Wild Card Spot:
After Clubs have been assigned their A, B and C designations, Club A would host Club B. The winner of the game would then host Club C to determine the Wild Card Club.
There is a long set of criteria in place to determine the A, B and C designations. They’re based on head-to-head records against the other two teams and all sorts of other stuff. The math is gory.
Anyway, long story short, the Astros, Angels and Twins would be designated teams A, B and C for the tiebreaker games. You want to be team C, because then you only have to play one tiebreaker game to win the wild-card spot. Team A plays team B, and the winner plays team C for the wild-card spot. Nice and simple, right?
I’m not sure when MLB expects all that to happen — the season ends Sunday, Monday is an off-day reserved for tiebreakers, and the AL wild-card game is scheduled for Tuesday. Would both tiebreaker games be played Monday as part of a doubleheader? That seems unfair, though it would be chaotic and fun.
Chances are we won’t see a three-team tie for the second wild-card spot only because so much has to fall into place for it to happen. That’s a shame. It would be a lot of fun. A two-team tie for the wild-card spot could happen too — the teams would play a tiebreaker game Monday — and I’d settle for that. That’s would be neat.
If you’re a fan of massive tiebreaker scenarios and play-in games, please come join me on Team Entropy. With four days left in the season, we’re dangerously close to a three-team tie scenario for that second wild-card position.
The Astros are still fighting for their playoff lives. (USATSI)
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