We're just more than two weeks away from finalizing the Major League Baseball playoff field for the 2026 season, but we're starting to get a pretty good idea. Even though no berths have been formally clinched yet, we're smart enough to see the NL Central and NL West, for example, and do the math. Let's have a little fun here and not only predict how the playoff field will look, but take it a step further and predict each round as well.
By no means do I think the AL East race is over -- the Rays visit the Yankees for four games later this month -- but I do think the Rays hold on to that title. I'll keep the White Sox and Astros as division winners, too, even though those races are not over. The Yankees and Red Sox are the easy and obvious top two wild-card teams, and I'll take the Blue Jays and their easy remaining schedule to leap over the Guardians for the final American League spot.
That means the junior circuit lines up like so: 1. Blue Jays Not only do we get three AL East teams, but the Red Sox are going to end up with the third-best record in the league and have to play a road series in the Wild Card round. For shame, Centrals and Wests.
Over on the National League side, where they're making good on the Senior Circuit moniker this season, the Brewers and Dodgers are going to end up in the top two spots, and I'm more sure of that than anything else here. The Braves are fading and I like how things are shaping up for the Phillies, so I'll aggressively take them to topple Atlanta for the NL East crown. The Braves then fall to the four seed with the Cubs holding onto the five for dear life (the good news is they don't have to play the Brewers again).
I'll take the Padres over the Diamondbacks by just one game -- winning the final game of the season at home against those D-backs to clinch it. 1. Padres As a reminder, the Wild Card Series is a three-game series with all three in the same venue, hosted by the better seed. It's hilarious how top-heavy this is.
The Yankees-Red Sox battle will be stellar, but I'm going to take the team starting to look like the most dangerous in the AL in Aaron Judge's Bronx Bombers. The Cam Schlittler-Max Fried-Gerrit Cole top three could be stellar this October. As for the other series, I just don't like the Astros much.
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