The Yankees could stay home in October
The New York Yankees are 134 games into the season and are six games behind the Boston Red Sox for a wild card spot. The Minnesota Twins are actually in second place, currently sitting three games ahead of the Yankees. This would be the first time in 13 years that the Bronx Bombers will not be on the diamond in the postseason, a fact that is a punch to the stomach for Yankees fans who have grown accustomed to superstars and winning, but it should put a smile. in the face of most other baseball fans.
There’s also the possibility that Minnesota could edge out Boston for the wild card spot, also knocking out the Red Sox. The MLB playoff bracket hasn’t been without the Yankees or Red Sox, which would be the first time since 1993. Boston is 21-16 since the All-Star break, though it lost Manny Ramirez in the trade. and JD Drew through injury on the road. Jason Bay has done a good job filling in for Ramirez.
Minnesota is 22-17 since the break, but recently brought ace Francisco Liriano back from the disabled list and is undefeated with a .90 era in his five starts since returning.
However, the real story here is the Tampa Bay Rays. This is a team that started hot and was expected to fade down the stretch. But they keep winning, thanks in no small part to the big young arms of Andy Sonnanstine, Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza and Edwin Jackson.
They continue to shoot well, and with Carlos Pena doing his usual ripping the cover off the ball in the second half of the season, there’s no reason to think the Rays won’t hang on and win the AL East. His current lead is 4 1/2 games over the Red Sox.
The rest of the AL side of the MLB playoff bracket has the Angels leading the West by 16 games over the Rangers and the White Sox leading the Twins by a single game.
The National League side of the MLB playoff bracket is formed like this:
The Mets lead the Phillies by 2 games in the East, the Cubs are 6 1/2 games ahead of the Brewers in Center, and the Diamondbacks lead the Dodgers by 3 1/2 games. In the wild card seed, the Brewers lead the Cardinals by 4 1/2 and the Phillies by 5 1/2 games.
It should be a fantastic September once again for Major League Baseball, with several pennant races still on the horizon and the possibility of the three most dominant teams in the last decade — the Yankees, Red Sox and Braves — staying at home. in October. Baseball seems to do the least of the four major American sports to avoid parody, thanks to allowing teams to exceed the salary cap on the grounds that profit-sharing will make up the difference, but this year it may have to succumb anyway. .