The American League playoff picture is mostly set, even though it is just early August. We know, almost certainly, that the American League will be represented in the playoff bracket by the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees as the three division winners and one of the wild card teams.
The Seattle Mariners are also most likely to be the second wild card team, but the Oakland A’s are looming, now in a virtual tie for the second spot. The Mariners lead that race by just one game in the loss column. It could kind of go either way. I’d bet on the M’s, personally, but it is far from a foregone conclusion.
Those aforementioned four teams, though, are going to absolutely tear each other to shreds once the playoffs come around. Any possible combination of those teams meeting up in the AL side of the bracket is going to be wildly entertaining, and I would probably expect each series to go the distance as far as number of games played.
The Red Sox have the best record in all of baseball and are on a 112-win pace. Mookie Betts and JD Martinez are having insane seasons that are also helping the rest of the team succeed. They are showing virtually no signs of slowing down, and they upgraded at the deadline, adding Nathan Eovaldi to their rotation and Ian Kinsler to their infield depth.
Not to mention their rotation. Chris Sale just started his second consecutive All-Star Game, David Price is one of the best pitchers in baseball when he is right, Rick Porcello is just two years removed from a Cy Young Award, and Drew Pomeranz and Eduardo Rodriguez are capable of being very productive arms for them.
The Yankees have the second best winning percentage in baseball, but unfortunately for them, they play in the same division as the Red Sox. They remain on pace to win over 100 games, but will still probably have to play in that Wild Card Game.
Their lineup speaks for itself. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius, Gary Sanchez (when he’s right), Didi Greogrius, and not to mention two of the best rookies in baseball: Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar.
Even Aaron Hicks, very much a forgotten man on this roster, is becoming an absolute beast. Hicks has the second best WAR among AL center fielders (Mike Trout is first) and it’s not particularly close. Here are the leaders in fWAR, among AL center fielders:
- Mike Trout (7.6)
- Aaron Hicks (3.2)
- Brett Gardner (2.3)
- Leonys Martin (2.1)
The next closest guy to Hicks is Gardner, his own teammate, who has split time between left and center this year, playing center when Hicks was out with an early DL stint and has off days. Gardner is awesome, too!
Their pitching staff is often maligned, but is honestly better than advertised. Luis Severino, despite recent struggles, is a Cy Young candidate, Masahiro Tanaka seems to be in second-half mode, CC Sabathia will always give you a gutsy start, and they stabilized the back end of the rotation by adding vets JA Happ and Lance Lynn, the latter of whom is expected to spend some time in the bullpen.
Speaking of the Yankee bullpen, they have the best one. Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances are kind of the locked in eighth and ninth inning guys, allowing manager Aaron Boone to run former closers David Robertson and Zach Britton out there at other times in the game, with Chad Green and Jonathan Holder as elite middle relief guys.
The Astros are the defending champs and, if they’re healthy still have one of the best lineups around between reigning MVP Jose Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, and George Springer. Those are just the big names!
They also have probably the best starting rotation in the league. I would take their Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Dallas Keuchel, and Charlie Morton rotation over just about anyone, relegating Lance McCullers Jr. to bullpen duty come the playoffs. I don’t love their bullpen, but I didn’t love it last year either, and they won the whole thing.
The Indians are really the forgotten team in all of this. I think that is because they narrowly lost in the ALDS last year, so people forget how great they were a year ago, and they play in the worst division in baseball: the AL Central, where the Twins are in second place with a record of 49-58 at the time of this writing.
Cleveland, though, has a stacked lineup themselves. Maybe it is the thinnest of this group, but 1-7 is as good as anyone. Franciscso Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Edwin Encarnacion are the biggest names, but the whole team is just very solid, and they just acquired Leonys Martin, who is the fourth best center fielder in the AL, based on fWAR.
Their rotation is still pretty nasty, led by two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber.
They also revamped the bullpen, adding Brad Hand and Adam Climber in a trade with the San Diego Padres. Cody Allen has been one of the best closers in baseball for the last several years, and if Andrew Miller comes back from injury and is as productive as before, then I’d say they have the best bullpen besides the Yankees in all of baseball.
All four of these teams are packed with talent from top to bottom. I very much expect the World Series winner to come out of the American League. The only team I consider in the same tier as these four from the NL is the Dodgers, and maybe the Cubs if they are healthy and clicking.
This American League playoff bracket is going to be an absolute bloodbath, and I cannot wait to watch it.
Featured Image via Flickr/Philipp
