When Major League Baseball expanded the playoff field in 2022, it was done with the idea to give more teams a chance at the postseason in October. Before the postseason field expanded, there are two MLB teams that have the longest drought in playoff baseball.
The Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers currently have the longest drought at eight seasons and truth be told, it’s not surprising. With the expanded playoff field in place, can either team break their drought and finally reach the playoffs?
MLB: Angels and Tigers are in different situations
You don’t need me to explain to you how either can get into the postseason. Each team’s easiest path to the playoffs is to win your division. Easier said than done. Of the two teams, the team with the closest path right now that way is the Tigers, who sit in second place in the American League Central behind the Minnesota Twins.
It’s safe to say that the two weakest divisions through the first eight weeks in both leagues are the central divisions. For instance, the Boston Red Sox are currently in fourth place in the AL East with a 26-23 record, but that would be good enough for first place in the AL Central. Detroit is four games below .500, but just 2.5 games back of the Twins. On paper, the Twins are the better team and will most likely finish ahead of Detroit, but A.J. Hinch has his team hanging around longer than they have in the past.
The situation that Los Angeles is in is different than the Tigers. As has been the case during Mike Trout’s tenure with the Angels, they are chasing the Houston Astros. To compound matters, they now have to deal with a better Texas Rangers squad who added to their rotation over the winter in Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom, who is currently out injured. Eovaldi has been as good as the Rangers had hoped he would early in the season and gives them a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation when deGrom is healthy.
The Angels are 27-23, but how much longer are they going to go wasting Trout’s prime years and Shohei Ohtani’s greatness without reaching the postseason? In recent seasons, the Angels hang around the AL West by Memorial Day, but things then go sideways and they slowly fall out of contention. This season they need to avoid that.
History says it’s not over … yet
Since 2019, six teams have had the start to the season that the Tigers have had and still made the playoffs. The 2022 Guardians, 2019 Oakland Athletics, and 2022 Atlanta Braves each started 23-25 and made the postseason. The 2022 Philadelphia Phillies, who made it to the World Series, were 21-27, the 2022 Seattle Mariners were 20-28, and the 2019 Washington Nationals, who won the World Series, started 19-29. Detroit has just just 46 games so far this season at 21-25, but you get the message. It’s not over yet, even for the Angels who are four games over .500 before Memorial Day Weekend, which they tend to fall apart after.
Expanding the postseason field benefits a lot of teams and the Tigers and Angels are two teams that currently hold the longest playoff drought that can benefit from the expanded field. If there was a season where the Tigers could compete in a weak division, this is it. The Angels now have the Rangers to worry about along with the Astros in the NL West, along with the AL East in terms of the Wild Card. It’s not going to be easy, but extending the postseason drought for Los Angeles could have a ripple effect this offseason when it comes to Ohtani’s upcoming free agency.