Coming Soon…MLB Playoffs!!!

So can everyone take a deep breath and turn away from all the Football games for a few minutes?  All the teams have around 6 games left in the Regular Season and the Playoff matches are starting to shape up.  I have put together a listing of the AL and NL playoff Contenders and thoughts on the teams and chances in the post season.

American League Contenders

1. Los Angeles Angels - Clinched AL West - The Angels are top dog in the AL and have a talented lineup and great starting pitching.  With a healthy Vladamir Guerrero the angels should get past the divisional series and into the ALCS pretty easily.
2. Tampa Bay Rays - Clinched Playoff Birth - Congratulations to the Rays for making the playoffs for the first time in 10 years!  What a great young team to watch with quality pitching and a talented lineup.  Getting Evan Longoria back will help this team tremendously in the Division Series.  Imagine if Carl Crawford was healthy, would you want to face this team in a series.  Winning the Division would help out tremendously in playoff seeding for Tampa Bay, so watch them this week and see how things end up.
3. Boston Red Sox - Magic #: 2 WC - A virtual lock for the Wild Card or Division, the Sox will be tough to beat in the post season given their experience.  A tough lineup, but maybe not as potent without Manny.  The pitching will need to take a step up in the post season (it usually does for them).  I like the Rays, but a BoSox/Angels ALCS would be a great series.
4. Chicago White Sox - Magic #: 6 - Still playing for the division this week, the ugly red-headed step child in Chicago should be able to hold off the Twins for the Division.  Sometimes hearing how wonderful the Cubs are ignites the White Sox into a winning streak.  If Paul Konerko/Nick Swisher heat up in the playoffs that could help the team tremendously.  Everyone in the south side are hopeful Carlos Quentin can come back and get back on track (a tough thing to do after surgery).
5. Minnesota Twins - 2.5 GB of White Sox - Fighting for their playoff lives, the Twins are a talented young team much like the Rays.  I don’t think they have as good of pitching to pose a major threat in the playoffs, but they could challenge for the division during this week.  Obviously the series at home against the Sox could put them in playoff position so if you are in Minnesota, head to the ball park Tues-Thurs.

National League Contenders

1. Chicago Cubs - NL Central Champs - The Cubbies are in the playoffs and have been a front runner for the majority of the year.  Wrigley is a classic venue for the playoffs and being there for the playoff run to (perhaps) a World Series title in over 100 years could be worth the price of admission.  If Rich Harden is lights out look for the cubs to be unstoppable with him and Carlos Zambrano.
2. Philadelphia Phillies - Magic #: 8 - Another Virtual Playoff lock with a game in hand on the Mets and a three game lead on the Brewers in the Wild Card.  Series with Atlanta and the Nationals should put them in the playoffs and in position to threaten anyone in the divisional series.
3. New York Mets - Magic #: WC 6 - If anyone could blow the last week of the season, I would like you to meet the Mets bullpen.  Good thing the Cubs clinched over the weekend, since the Mets have a 4 game series against them and then have the Marlins to finish things out.  The Cubs might want to play spoiler or head games here since the could meet up in the playoffs.  The implosion of the Brewers have definitely helped the Mets chances.
4. Milwaukee Brewers - 2.5 GB of Mets (WC) - Renting C.C. Sabathia might have been a mistake since the Brewers went into their biggest slump of the season in August.  The Brewers need to play for their playoff lives against the Pirates and then the Cubs.  Once again the Cubs could be a spoiler here, but don’t have much to play for.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers - Magic #: 5 - Games against San Diego and San Francisco will help vault the Dodgers into the post season.  The Dodgers have a solid lineup that when hot can upset any pitching.  It will be interesting to see the Manny Ramirez/Joe Torre combo in the playoffs.  A west coast World Series could be a ratings disaster in the East Coast, but could be a great series.
6. Houston Astros and Florida Marlins -  5 GB for WC - Still in the playoff hunt for the week, if you are in hope of seeing them in the playoffs, you better route for a Mets/Brewers collapse.