As the Major League Baseball season draws to a close, the playoff picture starts to take shape. Twelve teams can qualify for the MLB playoffs: the six division winners and three wild card teams from both the National League and the American League. The top two teams in either league by record are guaranteed a bye through the Wild Card Round into the Divisional Round. With two weeks to go in the season, some might change, but the vast majority of the spots have been solidified. These are my predictions on how it will play out:
National League
Milwaukee Brewers (93-59)
With the best record in the entire league and the 10th lowest payroll in the league, the Brewers don’t have any players that jump off the page; rather, they have formed a solid well-rounded team with no weaknesses, highlighted by OF Christian Yelich and SP Freddy Peralta.
Philadelphia Phillies (91-61)
The Phillies top the NL East and have since clinched the division, after two months of horrible play by the Mets. The Phillies are headlined by superstars Bryce Harper and Trea Turner in the field and by pitcher Zach Wheeler (a former Met).
Los Angeles Dodgers (84-67)
The team with the highest payroll in baseball they are built like an all-star team with talent at all levels of their roster. They have been ravaged by injuries this year, but are still led by 700 million dollar man Shohei Ohtani and the always dependable Freddie Freeman.
Chicago Cubs (88-64)
The Cubs this season have been headlined by their Trio of outfielders, namely Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was an MVP candidate for the first half of the season before dramatically cooling off.
San Diego Padres (83-69)
The Padres have put together a solid season and have only improved since GM AJ Preller swung a blockbuster deal for star closer Mason Miller from the Athletics. RF Fernando Tatis and 3B Manny Machado headline a solid Padres lineup.
New York Mets (78-74)
The Mets. Their star trio of Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, and Francisco Lindor, and in particular Soto, have put this team on their back and helped them limp their way back into a potential playoff. Their starting pitching, on the other hand, has been a complete disaster and has been the reason they have been the 3rd worst team in the MLB since June.
American League
Toronto Blue Jays (89-73)
The Blue Jays were 2025’s big surprise team as they were widely expected not to be atop the AL East come September. However, resurgent stars George Springer and Bo Bichette have powered this team all the way back to the playoffs after a brief hiatus.
Tigers (85-67)
The Tigers were last year’s big surprise team making it all the way to the ALCS. This year they continued their positive momentum topping the AL Central. Their best player: 2024 Cy Young Winner Tarik Skubal has continued to be dominant and has only gotten better.
Seattle Mariners (83-69)
The story of the Mariners season has been Cal “The Big Dumper” Raleigh. While always a good MLB player, he has completely exploded this year breaking Mariner and switch hitting records for HRs in a season, with at the time of this writing 56.
Yankees (85-67)
One name comes to mind when anyone thinks about the Yankees: Aaron Judge. He is the best player in baseball and has, even though he missed a portion of the season, carried the Yankees’ offense.
Astros (84-69)
After trading away Star OF Kyle Tucker to the Cubs, the expectations for the Astros this season weren’t very high. There is still a lot of talent on this roster, and they have shown it this season, especially in breakout SP Hunter Brown.
Boston Red Sox (83-69)
The Red Sox traded star 3rd Baseman Rafael Devers in May when they were sub.500. Since then, they have proven to be a solid baseball team, with an ace in Garrett Crochet and SS, Trevor Story, who is putting together his best season in a couple of years.
