Fun With Standings!

Don't worry, your team's probably still in it

Jun 25, 2024

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The Cubs took a terrible loss late last night on the far edge of the U.S. of A. They had a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth out in San Francisco, then the bullpen fell apart as follows:

Bloop double.

Bunt single.

Sac fly. (Cubs lead 4-3)

Single.

Walk.

Sac fly. (Game tied 4-4)

Intentional walk.

Bases-loaded walk. (Giants win 5-4)

They got small-balled into oblivion by a Giants team that isn’t any better than the Cubs. The loss dropped Chicago to 37-42 for the season, while elevating San Francisco’s record to, let’s see here, carry the one…37-42.

Congratulations, Kroger, you’re (almost) at the top of the Delta pledge class.

This will offend but also intrigue: Both of these teams are in the playoff hunt. That’s a true story, aside from the fact that we’re still in June, and in June you can’t really win a playoff spot, you can only lose one.

Still.

There was an “old days” in the MLB playoff format, but which old days you’re talking about depends upon how many old days you yourself have experienced. Let’s shorthand the current run-up like this: From 1994 to 2011, baseball’s playoffs featured each of the three division winners, plus a wild card — the team with the best record that did not win a division.

Four teams. Neat.

Then, for a decade or so (don’t count the pandemic), it was the division winners plus two wild cards. This was a hideous setup that almost everybody hated, but it did make more money for MLB, which called all of the games “playoffs” even if they were more like play-ins. Naturally, something that made money was going to expand. Since 2022, the format is three division winners plus the next three teams, seeded by record.

(Side note: If you heard “old days” and thought of the N.L. East playing the N.L. West for the pennant, you really are old, and I salute you.)

So here’s how this plays out: The Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants, as we grind our way through this Tuesday in late June, are fully in the thick of things — if by “thick” you mean 37-42 and yet still glimpsing that 6th playoff spot in the National League.

Right now, the Phillies, Brewers and Dodgers lead their divisions, followed by the once-again-good Braves, the OK Cardinals and the Padres, who are 42-41, good for that final wild-card spot. (Again, as of now.) But here’s where it gets fun: Behind the Padres, there are seven teams within three games of the last spot, including the Cubs and Giants, each just three games back of San Diego.

See for yourself. Go to any MLB standings and click the Wild Card tab. You will see that, despite the season being roughly half over, only two teams out of the 15 in the National League — the Marlins and Rockies — are really out of it. Everybody else can claim a shot.

I mention it today only because the sport is only weeks away from its July 30 trading deadline, and in the National League, it’s still really hard to declare who might be a buyer and who might be a seller. There are plenty of owners out there right now who can envision a late summer of well-attended games, so long as they continue to put a plausibly .500 or so product out there that might fall backward into one of those playoff spots with a key addition or two.

The American League is more stratified, but it still essentially features five teams competing for the last two playoff spots. And the weakest of those five — the Rays and Astros — are quietly turning things around.

Lots of teams in the mix. Lots of fan bases who might get noisy, asking their owner groups to make some moves and stay in it. Lots of eyeballs on the results of those ensuing trades and the stretch run.

Good heavens, MLB’s evil plan is working.