2009 MLB Wild Card Races

Four teams have already been eliminated from the 2009 pennant race. Those four teams are the Orioles, Blue Jays, Nationals, and Pirates.

For the Royals, Padres, and Diamondbacks, the magic number to be eliminated is three, and elimination could rear its ugly head as early as tomorrow. That makes seven teams out of the pennant race.

Next in line are the Athletics with six games, the Reds with seven, and the Rays with eight. They could be eliminated by the end of the week, making a total of 10 teams eliminated from the pennant race.

The focus is close to changing from the pennant races to the Wild Card races. The NL West is the only race where the division leader has a lead of fewer than five games. The Dodgers hold a three-and-a-half game lead over the Rockies.

On this date in 2008, there were five divisions still up for grabs, with only the Angels holding a huge 17.5 game lead over the second place Rangers in the AL West.

The other races on this date last season:

AL East: Rays a half game ahead of the Red Sox

AL Central: White Sox held a two-and-a-half game lead over the Twins

NL East: Mets had a half game lead over the Phillies

NL Central: Cubs had a four-and-a-half game lead over the Brewers

NL West: Dodgers were a game-and-a-half ahead of the Diamondbacks

So 2009 has only one real pennant race as of today, compared to the 2008 season, when there were still five pennant races up for grabs.

The wild card race this season, as of today, is more exciting than the pennant races. Nine teams are fewer than 10 games behind the wild card leader in their division.

 

American League

The Red Sox hold a slim two-and-a-half game lead over the Rangers. The Mariners are tied with the Rays for third, with both of them being seven-and-a-half games behind the Red Sox.

All four teams have losing streaks as of today, with the Rays losing six in a row, Rangers and Mariners losing two in a row, and the Red Sox coming off a single loss.

The Rays are 2-8 in their last 10 games, and with the loss of Carlos Pena for the season, they have little hope, since they are playing the Yankees again today after losing a doubleheader to them yesterday.

 

National League

The Rockies hold a two-game lead in the NL wild card race over the Giants. The Marlins are five-and-a-half games back of the Rockies, while the Braves are seven-and-a-half games behind the Rockies.

The Cubs are eight games behind the Rockies and are 5-5 in their last 10 games.

Rockies have a four-game winning streak while the Braves have a five-game losing streak.

It is ironic that the Braves and Cubs were big spenders in the free agent market last offseason, but likely will be eliminated from the NL East and Central races in the next couple of weeks.