By Ian Miller
Copyright outkick
Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like it would be so simple. The Major League Baseball postseason race was all but decided – division leaders were set, there were just a handful of teams left in the wild card race, and seeding was essentially a formality. But in yet another sign of how bizarre and unpredictable 2025 has been in professional baseball, with just 11-12 games remaining for most teams, there’s plenty of uncertainty in all areas, and across both leagues. And it’s an indication of how the league’s decision to expand the postseason field has created more exciting September games, even if it’s diluted the playoff tournament and made it harder for the best teams to be rewarded. No team in the American League has clinched a postseason spot yet, let alone secured a division title. Teams that seemed completely eliminated just last month, like say, the Texas Rangers, have fought their way back to contention. After sitting at 63-66 on August 21, the Rangers have gone 16-7 to give themselves a glimmer of hope in the wild card race. The Cleveland Guardians too, have won nine of their last 10 games to pull to within just 2.5 games of the Boston Red Sox for the last wild card spot. Even without star closer Emmanuel Clase. And the AL West has seen a huge shakeup of late, with the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros battling it out at 83-68 and 83-69 respectively. Even better, the season series has yet to be decided, with a three-game set in Houston over the weekend to determine which will have the tiebreaker. And Houston will have to get by without its best hitter, Yordan Alvarez, who’s out indefinitely with an ankle injury. Then there’s the National League. Dodgers Struggles Have Opened Up National League After months of dominating the NL West, and years of dominating the top seed in the NL, the Los Angeles Dodgers have struggled their way to a wild card series. Needing a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies to have even faint hope for the second seed, the Dodgers’ bullpen has imploded, allowing nine runs in four innings on Tuesday night. After Shohei Ohtani pitched five no-hit innings and hit his 50th home run of the year. Even the division isn’t decided; while the Dodgers have what is effectively a three-game lead over San Diego, the Padres play the White Sox and Rockies coming up, while LA has to contend with the Giants, Diamondbacks and Mariners. Speaking of the Diamondbacks, they’re another example of a team coming from nowhere to save their playoff hopes. Arizona sold at the trade deadline, sending Eugenio Suarez to Seattle, Merrill Kelly to the Rangers, Shelby Miller to the Brewers, Josh Naylor to the Mariners and Randall Grichuk to the Royals. And it made sense; the Diamondbacks dropped to 51-59 on August 1st. Fast forward to September 17, and they’re 77-75, and thanks to the New York Mets’ collapse, they’re just 1.5 games out of the third wild card spot. Those Mets, who signed Juan Soto to a record-setting contract before the season, have gone from leading the division to fighting for their playoff lives. There’s no other way to say it, the 2025 season has been weird. The Brewers have been the best team in baseball, and there’s a non-zero chance that none of the high-spending Yankees, Mets or Dodgers win their divisions. There’s also a substantial chance that, considering all will be in a wild card series, none of them make it to the second round of the playoffs. Parity in baseball has never been more obvious. Perfect time for the league to force an unnecessary salary cap on the players to make it easier for owners to save money.
