AL West's Sub-.500 Race Recalls MLB's Weakest Playoff Teams

AL West's Sub-.500 Race Recalls MLB's Weakest Playoff Teams

The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros were tied atop the American League West at 78-79 after Tuesday night's games, with just days remaining in the regular season. No full-season division champion in MLB history has ever finished with a losing record, and the AL West's muddled race has put that streak in jeopardy.

Only a handful of teams have reached the postseason below .500, and all did so under unusual circumstances. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, both Milwaukee and Houston made the playoffs at 29-31 when the format was temporarily expanded to include more teams. In 1981, the Kansas City Royals went 50-53 overall but qualified by winning the second half of a season split by a players' strike. In 1994, the Rangers led a similarly weak AL West at 52-62 when a strike ended the season before any team in the division reached .500 - and no postseason was played that year. bandy online betting

MLB's expansion to a 12-team postseason format in 2022 increased the odds that a sub-.500 club could eventually sneak into October. That scenario appeared possible for multiple American League teams earlier this season, but the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox have since climbed to 81 wins, removing them from consideration. The AL West title, however, still could produce the first true losing team to win a full-season division outright.

Even among winning teams, MLB's postseason history includes several clubs that limped into October with modest records or poor run differentials before making deep runs. The 1973 Mets (82-79) trailed in the NL East before a late surge carried them to the World Series. The 1987 Twins (85-77) won a title despite being outscored by 20 runs on the season. The 2006 Cardinals (83-78) nearly blundered away a seven-game division lead before winning the World Series. More recently, the 2023 Diamondbacks (84-78) and 2023 Marlins (84-78, with a minus-57 run differential) both reached the playoffs with negative or barely positive run differentials, and Arizona advanced all the way to the World Series.

Whether the Rangers or Astros ultimately claim the AL West, this year's race has already revived comparisons to some of the weakest division winners in league history - and a reminder that reaching October, regardless of regular-season record, can be enough to make a run.