I think if they can handle business against Oak they are in. TB, Bal, NYY all face off and will let them catch up. Only one alc team is making it in most likely. Hopefully we have a big enough lead going into last series we can put light lineups against oak to keep LAA out.

This is the only time I will say this in my life...Hey God, go to hell!

Don't bet on it without very good odds. God, what are you on?

I still see the American League playoff as follows:

West -- Rangers (1)
Central -- Tigers (3)
East -- Yankees (2)
WC-1 -- Rays (4)
WC-2 -- Angels (5)

(i) Rays > Angels

(ii) Rangers > Rays
(iii) Tigers > Yankees

(iv) Rangers > Tigers

In short, I see the 2012 playoffs mirroring 2011, and if the Cardinals claim one of the 2 Wild Cards in the NL, I see a rematch upon us, and ultimately sweet poetic redemption in the World Series.

Eric...your picks reflect the preseason favorites....but don't properly weight the standings. I think this Hunt for Red October is going to provide some shockers.

Two weeks ago I predicted the Rays would pass the Yankees. I stand by that.

I could see Oak or the ChiSox get passed...but not both. We will have one at least one new team in the AL dance.

Oh...one more thing...it's altogether possible that the Yanks miss the playoffs entirely. Think of it!

@Profar

You are correct in your observation. I took the chalk before the season started, and I'm sticking to it.

A few factors to keep in mind when it comes to Oakland and Chicago/Detroit:

(1) 7 of Oakland's last 10 games are against us. That's not a good thing for them.
(2) Chicago still has a 4-game series with DET, a 3-gamer with LAA, and a 4-game set with TB. Ouch.
(3) Detroit's last 13 games are against Minnesota and Kansas City. That's going to be a lot of W's for a team in desperate need of victories.

BTW - I think Texas wraps up the division the second to last week of the month. Oakland will have a 3 game set with Texas in October and I don't think either the A's or the Angels make the single elimination playoff game.

Eric...well played on the schedule. I was too lazy to check into it. I can't argue with any of those points.

TBay will soon have the luxury of being finished playing Texas! They are coming together in lots of ways. They will best NY, schedule be damned.

Tex, Det, NY win divisions. WC--Os, Angels. End of season schedule disadvantage for White Sox, Rays and As. Tex will play winner of Os-Angels. Should be fun hammering CJ in game 1 or 2.

Everyone not rooting for NY will be more than happy to see NY miss the playoffs entirely if it comes down to that. I could see Detroit passing Chigago based on remaining schedule and I've learned not to bet against those damn A's. However, I see Texas outlasting the A's for the West crown and Tigers taking the Central, along with Baltimore taking the East. WC's being Oakland and NY.

Leading me to believe Texas will play Oakland in the DS and Detroit taking on Baltimore. The easiest path, no, but the OAK/TEX series I can only see Texas winning IMO. Detroit would more than likely bash through the O's leading up to another action packed 2011 ALCS rematch.

Oh My God, I cannot wait till the postseason!

NYY and Bal play each other today. If LAA wins they will be on game back from WC and start s 4 game series with Oak tomorrow. Even with a split the O's and TB face off this week. Need them to lose today and lose 3/4 against oak. Doubt they will.

I've thought for a while that if the A's end up making the postseason, they would offer up the most trouble for whoever they end up playing. Why? They strike me as one of those annoying offensively-challenged teams that gets 8 home runs from someone like Josh Donaldson in 12 games, and ends up winning 2-1 a sufficient number of times to make it to the Series (see: Giants, San Francisco, 2010). I'm not thrilled at the prospect of the Angels in the playoffs, either, so my great preference would be for the Rangers to run the table against both teams later this month and keep them both out, though I find that scenario unlikely.

My best guess? The A's make it, win the play-in game, then lose to the Rangers in the ALDS, though I think that series will cause far more heartburn and consternation among the Texas faithful than it should, for the reasons listed above.

Have they done away with the rule where the wildcard team won't play the #1 seed if they are from the same division? If not, Texas can't play oakland in the division series.

With Markakis out I think we can all scratch the O's off our playoff brackets. The Halos are looking good. You've got to start pulling for the AL Central teams if you want them to sit out again in October.

Texas can play an AL-W team in ALDS. It could be LAA-Oak in wc to play us in DS.

I'm not so sure the Tigers make it. I've seen they have an alright schedule going forward, but after sweeping the White Sox to look like they were finally going to take charge in the AL Central, they have lost 4 out of their last 5 to go back 2 in their division. They are also 4.5 out of a wild card, which is not an insignificant climb at this point in the season.

The Tigers not making the playoffs may be even sweeter to me than the Angels missing out (ok, maybe not) because the media fell victim to the "star-power" narrative when Detroit signed Fielder. But baseball is a team sport, much more so than the NBA where one or two great players can carry a team for prolonged stretches. The Tigers probably have three players in Verlander, Cabrera, and Fielder that are better than anyone on the Rangers (you can argue Fielder v. Hamilton, especially with defensive value thrown in, but I'll take Fielder's approach at the plate) but the Rangers have such amazing quality depth that the teams aren't that close.

The A's next 17 games are at LAA (4), Balt (3), at Det (3), at NYY (3), at Tex (4) plus the final 3 home games with Tex. As good as they have been it's the toughest schedule left of the playoff contenders.

For me, I trust the Rangers to have a great shot against anyone. What I REALLY want is for LAA to miss because I don't consider Oakland to be a serious AL West contender over the next several years. LAA are. I would really love to see them in the Catch 22 of having mortgaged the future to win now and then missing the playoffs. Would they double down? Or try to rebuild? Retain Haren/pursue a Greinke extension? Or get worse to free up cash?

Boston/Seattle/Oakland/Detroit

They went on a tear through these guys. Detroit's experiencing their first "Fielder + Cabera at the same time" slump. Oakland was tired and it's Seattle and Boston.

Calm down, they're going to play against a relatively rested Oakland team which absolutely must win this series. LAA is still a dog in this fight.

This looks to be a very volatile September. As for the division, a four game lead is not terribly comforting, especially with the number of games against LAA and the A's. Despite LAA's under achievement this year, they still have a very good lineup and starting pitching. The A's are young and loose with nothing to lose. Their season is already a great success considering preseason expectations. They will not be push overs.

Tampa Bay is scary good. Great management, best pitching in the AL, and a decent lineup. I really don't want to play them in the off season. If they don't overtake NY and Balt they will make the wild card, and using Price or Shields to win the play-in will not be fatal to their playoff chances.

And let's not forget the Rangers are only one game ahead of NY for the best record. There will not be any coasting.

This looks to be a very volatile September. As for the division, a four game lead is not terribly comforting, especially with the number of games against LAA and the A's. Despite LAA's under achievement this year, they still have a very good lineup and starting pitching. The A's are young and loose with nothing to lose. Their season is already a great success considering preseason expectations. They will not be push overs.

Tampa Bay is scary good. Great management, best pitching in the AL, and a decent lineup. I really don't want to play them in the off season. If they don't overtake NY and Balt they will make the wild card, and using Price or Shields to win the play-in will not be fatal to their playoff chances.

And let's not forget the Rangers are only one game ahead of NY for the best record. There will not be any coasting.

I would LOVE to play the Rays in the offseason. We would snatch up every premier free agent if it were just those two teams in the race. LOL, sorry Primi.

Sorry for the repeat. I blame it on the iPhone.

@Txball. No offense taken. IMHO, in the playoffs the best pitching does not always win, but that is what I would bet on. TB has excellent starting pitching and a good bullpen. The new playoff format delivers hope to a few more teams so I agree that if the AL season were perceived to be dominated by Texas and TB, then yes, our lineup would look a lot stronger and TB' s would be about the same unless they have a lot of trade pieces in the minors.

But it is a wide open race for a lot of teams. Playoffs always have a high degree of luck because of the few games involved, but I would rather try my luck against any team other than the Rays. I don't know where they get all of these pitchers--they sure are not buying them--but I see them as the most formidable team competing against us.

My dream scenario is that the Rangers finish with the best record, TB takes the East (and I think they will), and Balt beats the A's in the play in.