MLB playoff odds Sept. 17: Royals hanging on, Rangers still slipping

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

Sep 17, 2013, 6:04 PM UTC

Jason Miller

At least one team (the Red Sox) can finally clinch a spot in the postseason with a win on Tuesday, but several of the October golden tickets are still very much in the air. Though several teams were idle Monday, things still managed to get more complicated in the AL Wild Card race, and some of the NL’s best clubs seem to have temporarily stalled out.

Let’s take a look at how Monday’s results affected the AL playoff picture:

			CoolStandings.com			Baseball Prospectus
Team	Wins	Losses	Div	WC	POFF	Div	WC	POFF
Red Sox	92	59	99.9	<0.1	100	100	0	100
Tigers	87	63	99.7	0.3	99.9	99.7	0.3	100
Athletics	88	62	99.8	0.2	99.9	99.5	0.5	100
Rays	82	67	<0.1	67.0	67.0	0	81.8	81.8
Indians	81	69	0.3	58.7	59.0	0.3	45.8	46.1
Rangers	81	68	0.2	46.2	46.4	0.5	53.3	53.9
Royals	79	71	<0.1	13.4	13.4	0	7.9	7.9
Yankees	79	71	0.0	7.6	7.6	0	4.4	4.4
Orioles	79	70	<0.1	6.6	6.6	0	5.9	5.9

The Royals routed the Indians Monday night, starting the biggest series of their season off on the right track. KC now has better odds at a playoff spot than Yankees and Orioles, who were idle Monday. The big reason for their jump in the odds, other than the win, is that they mostly control their own fate in the next week by taking on both the Tribe and the Rangers.

Speaking of Texas, their seventh straight loss dropped them below the Rays in Wild Card picture and put their odds at a playoff berth at worse than 50 percent (per Cool Standings, at least) for the first time since July. If the Rangers can’t scrounge out a few wins in the next couple days, their may be on the outside looking in come October.

A Tigers win coupled with an Indians loss dropped their magic number down to seven. The Red Sox were idle Monday. They can clinch a spot with a win over the O’s Tuesday.

Now to the National League:

Team	Wins	Losses	Div	WC	POFF	Div	WC	POFF
Braves	89	60	99.9	<0.1	99.9	100	0	100
Dodgers	86	64	99.9	0	99.9	100	0	100
Cardinals	87	63	58.4	41.4	99.8	50.5	49.4	99.9
Pirates	87	63	33.2	66.6	99.8	38.0	61.9	99.9
Reds	85	66	8.4	89.5	98.0	11.5	90.7	98.2
Nationals	79	70	<0.1	2.4	2.4	0.0	2.0	2.0

The NL postseason picture didn’t change much Monday.

The Dodgers lost while the Braves were idle, halting their magic division-clinching numbers at four games apiece. The Pirates and Cardinals also lost, keeping them in a dead heat for the NL Central crown. The Reds did manage to win, pushing the idle Nationals a smidgen closer to oblivion.

The Nats, who host a double-header against the Braves Tuesday because of Monday’s Navy Yard tragedy, will essentially decide their fate by the end of the night.