MLB: A Late Look at the AL

Posted on | September 21, 2009 | No Comments

Just about a dozen games left in the regular season and it looks like everything has pretty much been decided in the AL. Everything except who will win the AL Central.

The New York Yankees will win the American League East easily, though the Boston Red Sox are trying to make it a little interesting again (they’ve climbed back to within 5 games). But the Yankees will hold on to win the division and the Red Sox will take the Wild Card.

In the AL West the Anaheim Angels will will the division. Texas gave a fight but in the end they just don’t have enough. If they played in the AL Central then they would win the division but they don’t. So, the Rangers will be going home in early October and it will be the Angels advancing.

So, we have the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Angels all in the playoffs. But we don’t have any 100% positive idea for who will win the AL Central. It looks like the Tigers certainly have the inside track after they were able to salvage one game against the Twins over the weekend. The Tigers are up by 3 games. But with one more series still to be played between the Tigers and the Twins, the Twins still control their own destiny. We will have to see how this race plays out this week. Theoretically the Tigers could widen the gap this week and pretty much put the division away. But with the way they’ve been playing, that might not be very realistic. In fact, the Twins have been playing much better ball over the last couple of weeks. So, this one might come down to the final series of the season. Whichever team wins the Central, will be a long shot to make it past the divisional round of the playoffs anyway. But at least we have one close race in the AL to focus on as September begins to draw to an end.

Related posts:

1. MLB: Another Late Season Collapse?
2. MLB: Looking at the American League in Early August
3. MLB: Looking at the American League
4. MLB: Hey Tigers… Those Objects in Your Rearview Mirror are Closer Than They Appear
5. MLB: Twins are Staying Alive

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