MLB playoff odds Sept. 12: Rangers, Rays continue to slide

Taking a look at the latest MLB post-season odds from Cool Standings and Baseball Prospectus.

Sep 12, 2013, 2:50 PM UTC

Al Messerschmidt

Hold on to your butts, folks, things are getting really exciting in the AL Wild Card race. Six teams now sit within three games of a wild card spot, meaning the final two-plus weeks of the season are bound to bring us some very exciting baseball.

Let’s check in on the postseason odds in the American League:

			CoolStandings.com			Baseball Prospectus
Team	Wins	Losses	Div	WC	POFF	Div	WC	POFF
Red Sox	89	58	99.9	0.1	99.9	100	0.0	100
Tigers	84	62	99.0	0.8	99.8	99.7	0.3	99.9
Athletics	84	61	87.5	12.1	99.6	80.9	18.6	99.5
Rangers	81	64	12.5	70.2	82.6	19.1	69.5	88.6
Rays	78	66	<0.1	41.3	41.3	0.0	62.1	62.1
Indians	77	68	0.6	28.3	28.9	0.3	19.1	19.3
Yankees	78	68	<0.1	20.4	20.4	0.0	15.4	15.4
Orioles	77	68	<0.1	11.6	11.6	0.0	9.1	9.1
Royals	77	69	0.4	15.4	15.8	0.1	6.0	6.1

The Rangers and Rays each lost for the fifth time in six games on Wednesday, narrowing their wild card leads to the slimmest of margins. With their odds decreasing by nearly 17 percent in the last week, Tampa Bay is dangerously close to free-falling out of a playoff spot. Texas is in danger as well, but they still have a 2½-game cushion.

The Yankees and Royals seem to pose the biggest threat to the Rays at the moment. Both squads were winners on Wednesday, putting New York within one game of the wild card and Kansas City within two. The Indians and Orioles are right there as well, but they’re both losers of three of their last four, so they’ll need to turn things around on Thursday to stay close.

Meanwhile, the Tigers and Athletics continued to pull away in their hunts for division titles. Detroit's victory increased its odds a smidge closer to 100 percent, while Oakland's 18-3 shellacking of the Twins bumped them into the 99th percentile.

Now on to the National League:

Team	Wins	Losses	Div	WC	POFF	Div	WC	POFF
Braves	87	58	99.9	<0.1	99.9	100	0	100
Dodgers	85	60	99.9	<0.1	99.9	100	0	100
Cardinals	85	60	67.2	32.7	99.9	63.8	36.1	99.9
Pirates	84	61	23.3	76.2	99.2	25.7	74.3	99.9
Reds	83	64	9.5	89.0	98.5	10.6	87.8	98.4
Nationals	76	69	<0.1	2.2	2.2	0.0	1.8	1.8

The Dodgers had a chance to bring their magic number down to four Wednesday night, but they could not figure out D'Backs rookie Patrick Corbin. The Braves also lost -- to another stellar rookie: Miami's Jose Fernandez -- but the defeats barely moved the needle for either squad. Both teams have a playoff spot firmly entrenched, it's just a matter of time before they clinch.

A Wednesday win from the Nats keeps their dream alive another day, but victories from the trio of NL Central squads ahead of them means their chances didn’t improve much. If Washington wants to keep up the fight much longer, they’re going to need one or more of their competition to go on a rather long losing streak. The odds are not in their favor, but stranger things have happened.