Just three weeks remain in the 2016 MLB regular season, and while a handful of teams appear to be locks for the postseason, there are still a number of playoff spots up for grabs.
The Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals both look like safe bets to win their respective divisions, while the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants will duke it out in the NL West and the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets will fight for an NL wild-card spot.
On the AL side, the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers are sitting pretty, but the AL East is a dog fight with the New York Yankees pulling into the mix along with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles. The Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals and hard-charging Seattle Mariners are all in the mix for a wild-card spot as well, so there’s a lot still to be decided on the AL side in particular.
Meanwhile, non-contenders are taking a long look at some of their young talent while simultaneously trying to play the role of spoiler.
At any rate, there was a good deal of shuffling in this week’s rankings (like always) as we head down the home stretch.
One thing remains true: These rankings are a fluid process as teams move up or down based on where they ranked the previous week. If a club keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it’s as simple as that.