MLB Projected Playoff Teams and Seeding - Through 9/26/20

Well, folks, we've reached the last day of the regular season, and there is still a lot in flux.

But first, yesterday, the Rays clinched the 1-seed in the AL and the Cubs clinched the NL Central title.

Now here's what's at stake today:

• In the AL Central, the Twins are one game up on the White Sox, who are one game up on the Indians.
• If the Twins win or the Sox lose, the Twins win the division
• If the White Sox win and the Twins lose, the Sox win the division
• If the Sox win, they can get the 2-, 3-, or 4-seed, depending on whether the Twins and As win or lose
• If the Sox lose, they can get the 4- or 7-seed, depending on whether the Indians win or lose
• The Indians can get second place in the division if they win and the Sox lose, in which case, they would be the 4-seed, and the Sox would be the 7-seed.  If the Indians lose or the Sox win, then the Indians will be the 7-seed.
• The worst seed the Twins can get is the 4-seed, and they can go as high as the 2-seed.
• In the AL East, the Yankees are one game up on the Blue Jays for second place.
• If the Yankees win, they will be the 5-seed, and the Blue Jays will be the 8-seed
• If the Blue Jays win, they will be the 5-seed, and the Yankees will be the 8-seed
• In the NL Central, the Cardinals and Reds are in a virtual tie for 2nd place, but because the Cardinals have played fewer games, they have a .01 percentage point lead.
• If the Cardinals win, they clinch 2nd place
• If the Reds win and the Cardinals lose, the Red clinch 2nd place
• In the race for the last NL Wild Card spot, the Brewers and Giants are tied for the 8th spot at 29-30 (with the Brewers owning the tiebreaker), and the Phillies are one game behind.
• The Brewers clinch the Wild Card spot if:
• The Brewers win; OR
• All three teams lose
• The Giants clinch the Wild Card spot if:
• The Giants win; AND
• The Brewers lose
• The Phillies clinch the Wild Card spot if:
• The Phillies win; AND
• The Brewers and Giants both lose

For a breakdown of the MLB playoff structure for this year and tiebreakers, click here.

Through the games played on September 26, here would be the playoff seeds if the season ended today. For the magic numbers, I'm relying on the MLB Magic Numbers Twitter account.

Moved up:

-Chicago White Sox (from #7 to #4 in the AL)

-Milwaukee Brewers (from out to #8 in the NL)

-Minnesota Twins (from #3 to #2 in the AL)

Moved down:

-Cleveland Indians (from #4 to #7 in the AL)

-Oakland Athletics (from #2 to #3 in the AL)

-San Francisco Giants (from #8 to out in the NL)

American League 
1. z-Tampa Bay Rays, 39-20 (.661) (1st in AL East) 
2. x-Minnesota Twins, 36-23 (.610) (1st in AL Central)
--Magic Number (win division): 1

3. z-Oakland Athletics, 35-24 (.593) (1st in AL West)

4. x-Chicago White Sox, 35-24 (.593) (2nd in AL Central) 
--Magic Number (win division): 2

5. x-New York Yankees, 33-26 (.559) (2nd in AL East)
6. x-Houston Astros, 29-30 (.492) (2nd in AL West) 
7. x-Cleveland Indians, 34-25 (.576) (WC1 - 3rd in AL Central) 

8. x-Toronto Blue Jays, 32-27 (.542) (WC2 - 3rd in AL East) 

x - clinched playoff spot
y - clinched at least second place in division (i.e., a top six seed)
z - clinched division title
bold indicates team has clinched a specific seed

Teams eliminated from division title contention: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays 

Teams eliminated from playoff contention: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers 

National League
1. z-Los Angeles Dodgers, 42-17 (.712) (1st in NL West)
2. z-Atlanta Braves, 35-24 (.593) (1st in NL East) 
3. z-Chicago Cubs, 33-26 (.559) (1st in NL Central) 
4. y-San Diego Padres, 35-23 (.596) (2nd in NL West)
5. St. Louis Cardinals, 29-28 (.509) (2nd in NL Central) 
--Magic Numbers (clinch playoff spot): 1 

6. y-Miami Marlins, 30-29 (.508) (2nd in NL East)

7. x-Cincinnati Reds, 30-29 (.508) (WC1 - 3rd in NL Central) 
8. Milwaukee Brewers, 29-30 (.492) (WC2 - 4th in NL Central) 
--Magic Number (clinch playoff spot): 1

x - clinched playoff spot
y - clinched at least second place in division (i.e., a top six seed)
z - clinched division title
bold indicates team has clinched a specific seed 

Teams eliminated from division title contention: Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals 
Teams eliminated from playoff contention: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals