We’ve reached the final two weeks of the season—a time of excitement for some and dismay for others. Teams are officially clinching their playoff spots, and fanbases are getting ready to rally behind their squads through October.
This year’s American League has brought about plenty of discussion. Largely viewed as the inferior league in terms of the records of the majority of its teams, the AL does have some strong teams to pull out of its hat in an attempt to bring a World Series championship back from the National League for the first time since 2023. However, that concentration of talent sits primarily in the East. The Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox are relatively close to one another in the standings, and the divisional winner will likely not be decided until the final series or two.
But with six teams making the playoffs from each league, that leaves three more AL spots to fill. For that, we turn to the Central and West divisions. For much of this year, the Astros, Rangers, and Mariners have been in a heated battle for first place in the West. That sounds all well and good, until you realize that the current division-leading Houston Astros are .500 on the season.
Turning to the Central, Cleveland (76-75) is just 1.5 games back of the White Sox for first place. Cleveland, Chicago, Houston, and Texas are all aware that the only thing that can make their playoff hopes certain is a division title. Whichever team falls to second is susceptible to being overtaken by the competing team in the other division.
Now, while this makes for an interesting final month of baseball for those four teams, it does beg the question: Could MLB use another playoff restructuring?
The league most recently went through a major change following the 2021 season, expanding the postseason from eight to 12 total teams. This change opened up the postseason, and many fans were happy to see more teams represented beyond the traditional division winners and one additional Wild Card team.
However, this year’s American League is drawing some attention. The most likely reality based on projected seeding is that the Yankees and Red Sox will have a Wild Card matchup, with the winner playing Tampa Bay. This would undoubtedly make for great baseball, but fans are more concerned about the other side of the AL bracket. Of those four teams from the West and Central, just two are over .500, with the best record being the White Sox at 77-73—a full five games behind the Red Sox, who currently sit third in the East.
Three of those four teams will battle it out and eventually reach the ALCS to face New York, Tampa Bay, or Boston. This has left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans, as the three best teams in the AL clearly lie in the East.
Now, this is not to say that one of those West or Central teams couldn’t knock out a mighty AL East squad—it’s baseball! The argument is more about recognizing that three objectively lesser teams will be pitted against each other, while three powerhouses will have to duke it out on the other side of the bracket.
Furthermore, the ongoing discussion about MLB adding expansion teams to new cities brings this conversation to the forefront. If divisions are eventually restructured—and especially if the AL and NL are done away with—MLB might be able to find a way to structure the playoffs where matchups are determined more heavily by seeding and record, without the added influence of regional divisions.
If MLB does end up restructuring, the league has to find the balance between rewarding teams for winning their divisions and ensuring that the best teams have a fair opportunity to compete for a championship. The current system has created more playoff opportunities, but this year’s American League demonstrates one of its biggest flaws: a team’s path to the World Series can depend heavily on which division it happens to play in. The divisons and leagues meant a lot more years ago, but now, there are few distinctions and little seperating one from another, besides location.
As MLB continues to expand and reshape the league, perhaps it is time to reconsider whether geography should determine October matchups—or whether the best teams, regardless of division, should simply play one another. After all, October baseball should be about finding the best team in the league, not simply the lucky team that had an easy path to get there.