Ideal MLB Playoff Scenarios We Would Most Like to See

With nearly half the league still in the playoff race, the next six weeks will undoubtedly separate MLB's pretenders from the contenders.

Of course, I'm not a psychic—but that doesn't mean we can't do a bit of looking ahead using the teams in contention today and come up with some intriguing playoff matchups that would be exciting for both players and fans alike.

In no way, shape or form is this a prediction of how I believe things will shape out—there's still too much baseball yet to be played.

With that said, here are four potential playoff series that could prove to be incredibly exciting and entertaining.

AL Wild Card: Detroit Tigers vs. Tampa Bay Rays

It may not seem like an ideal matchup considering that in the seven games the two teams played against each other in 2012, the Tigers outscored the Rays 32-19, winning five games.

But a matchup between two of the top contenders for the American League Cy Young award—Deroit's Justin Verlander (12-7, 2.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 9.06 K/9) and Tampa Bay's David Price (16-4, 2.26 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 8.84 K/9)—is simply too good to pass up.

The two aces went head-to-head on June 29, a game the Rays won 4-2. Price went seven innings, allowing two earned runs and five hits while striking out seven. Verlander wasn't quite as sharp, allowing four earned runs and six hits over six innings of work, striking out eight.

You could also make a case for the Angels to take on the Tigers—two high-powered offenses who would each throw one of the best pitchers in the game with Verlander for Detroit and Jered Weaver for Los Angeles.

AL Divisional Series: Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees

Baltimore has yet to get revenge for the Jeffrey Maier incident that occurred during the 1996 ALCS against the Yankees. While nobody on this current Orioles team was involved, this one's for the fans who have yet to be satisfied.

A then-12-year-old Maier was sitting in right field during Game 1 of the series when Derek Jeter hit a shot to right field. As Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco positioned himself against the wall to make the catch, Maier reached into the field of play and snagged the ball before it ever reached Tarasco.

The Orioles lost their minds,—and rightfully so—but Jeter's game-tying home run stood, and the Yankees would go on to eliminate Baltimore in five games.

Revenge aside, the two teams have met 11 times thus far in 2012 with the Orioles holding a slim 6-5 lead. They have combined for 103 runs, with the Orioles leading by one.

NL Wild Card: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Sure, we've seen these two teams go head-to-head a dozen times already in 2012, and they still have one more three-game series remaining, so why would we want to see this again in the playoffs?

Because they've battled each other tooth-and-nail all season long. Both teams have six wins against the other, and while the individual game scores may not indicate it, the Pirates have outscored the Cardinals by one run, 57 to the Cardinals' 56—they are that evenly matched.

After their 19-inning battle just more than a week ago, a game that lasted more than six hours before the Pirates eventually won 6-3, how could we not want to see more of the upstart Pirates taking on the defending World Series champions?

NL Championship Series: Cincinnati Reds vs. Washington Nationals

Not being able to see Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto go head-to-head with Washington's Stephen Strasburg will take some of the luster off the matchup, but this would still be one heck of a series.

The Reds have lost five of the seven games they have played against Washington this season, and three of those games have gone into extra innings. Six of the seven games have been decided by three runs or fewer.

Between intriguing pitching matchups and both teams' ability to break out offensively at the drop of a hat, this would prove to be one of the more entertaining and potentially explosive series of the postseason.