The Mariners, Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays and Athletics
Believe it or not, five other teams still have a mathematical shot at winning that final AL Wild Card spot. That means the American League playoff race consists of 10 teams fighting for the final two playoff spots.
In the case of Seattle, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Toronto and Oakland though, there are just so many teams in front that their scenarios get really messy.
For instance, if the Mariners go 9-0 against the Indians, Athletics and Angels, they’ll need Minnesota to go no better than 2-7, both L.A. and Texas to each finish no better than 6-4, Kansas City to finish no better than 7-3 and Tampa Bay to go no better than 9-1. The same scenario exists for the Rays if you flip-flop them with Seattle.
Baltimore has eight games left with two versus the Pittsburgh Pirates and six against the Tampa Bay Rays. An 8-0 finish would require the Twins to finish no better than 2-7 with the Angels and Rangers each going 5-5 or worse, the Royals going no better than 6-4 and both the Mariners and Rays finishing 7-2 or worse.
Looking at the Blue Jays, they cling to very slim hopes. If they run the table to finish 9-0, they will have to see Minnesota go 1-8 or worse, L.A. and Texas each to go 3-7 or worse, Kansas City at 5-5 or worse, the Mariners and Rays go 5-4 or worse and the Orioles to finish no better than 5-3.
Finally, we have Oakland. They have the biggest list of needs among all contending teams. Literally needing a baseball armageddon, they have no margin for error left. If they go 10-0, they’ll need the Twins to go 0-9, the Angels and Rangers to both go 2-8 or worse, the Royals to finish 3-7 or worse, the Mariners and Rays to each finish 4-5 or worse, the Orioles to finish 4-4 or worse and the Blue Jays to end the season no better than 7-2. Even then, it would just set up a tie between the A’s and Twins.
Next: How to cheer if your team is out of it
So what does this all mean? It means anyone that doesn’t have a dog in this hunt should cheer for an absolute meltdown, which looks like this: Minnesota finishing 0-9, L.A. and Texas going 3-7, Kansas City going 4-6, Seattle and Tampa Bay each going 5-4, Baltimore going 5-3, Toronto going 8-1 and Oakland finishing 10-0. That would create an insanely wild nine way tie for the final AL wild card slot. Now that would be a heck of a finish.