Updated MLB Playoff Bracket 2025 and Expert Hot Takes on Wild-Card Race

The New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, and Arizona Diamondbacks are in a three-team race in the National League heading into the final two games of the MLB season, their playoff lives on the line with every swing of the bat.

Not only does the three-way race make every one of the remaining games meaningful, it also creates nail-biting drama late in the season, for a game whose spotlight has been eroded by the arrival of the NFL season.

In the American League, the Detroit Tigers find themselves in an unfamiliar position this season: outside of the division lead and clinging to a Wild Card spot amid a surging Cleveland Guardians squad and a Houston Astros team that has continued to hang around contention.

What are experts saying about the current state of the playoff picture with just two to go? Let's take a look.

New York's Big Money Disaster

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"These Mets are a $340 million disaster and don't deserve October," Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote Friday, shortly after New York lost 6-2 to a so-so Marlins team long out of playoff contention.

It was a bad loss, one of the worst of the season, at a time when wins were more crucial than ever. What started as a 2-0 lead evaporated, with Miami tallying 10 hits and firing off a six-run onslaught to erase any control the Mets had of their playoff path.

A win by the Reds over the NL-leading Milwaukee Brewers put them into the final Wild Card spot and left Mets fans wondering if all the money in the world can change their 39-year wait for another world title.

Juan Soto has been extraordinary in his first year in Queens, with 43 home runs, 105 RBI, and 38 stolen bases, and his defense has been better than ever, but the team has woefully underperformed since the break.

The Mets are 37-54 since June 12, one of the worst teams in the big leagues. They are an inconsistent team, and despite flashes of greatness, they look more lucky to be in the hunt at all than a team with any momentum to speak of.

While the Reds are not necessarily lighting the world on fire, or ready to convince anyone that they are a legitimate threat in the postseason, they are winning the games that they have to.

With a payroll far less than the "$340 million disaster" that Heyman believes the Mets have descended into.

Blue Jays Should Hope to Avoid Wild Card Round

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The Toronto Blue Jays currently, albeit narrowly, hold the advantage over the New York Yankees in the chase for the American League East crown.

They have control of their postseason path, with wins over the eliminated Tampa Bay Rays sealing the division crown for the team and forcing New York to play the Wild Card. They have held the top spot in the division since July 1 and falling out of it would be considered a collapse and, more importantly, set them up for a Wild Card date they should realistically want no part of.

Mitch Bannon and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic wrote, "The Jays have lost six straight wild-card games. These final three regular-season contests present an opportunity to finally bypass that treacherous round."

In doing so, the Jays would receive much-needed rest. Starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (11-9, 3.96 ERA) found himself on the IL with a back injury that would benefit exponentially from the additional rest that a playoff debut in the Divisional Round would afford.

Ditto shortstop Bo Bichette, who also spent time on the IL with a knee sprain.

A rough history of Wild Card appearances, coupled with the reprieve two valuable assets to the team's championship hopes that avoiding the round would provide, enhances the importance of victories over the Rays Saturday and Sunday.

Defending Champs Should Be "Giddy" With NL Wildcard Race

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The Los Angeles Dodgers will be the third seed in this year's playoffs and Bob Nightengale of USA Today believes they should be anything but nervous about the opposition awaiting them in the Wild Card round.

"The reward for winning the pitiful final wild card race is a date with the powerful Dodgers in LA which should have the Dodgers rather giddy," he posted on X.

It is difficult to argue his position, either.

The Mets emerged from taking two from the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley to lose to a sub-middling Marlins team and put themselves in a position to miss the playoff entirely if the Reds can handle business against the Brewers.

That, though, may be too much to ask.

The Reds were swept by the Athletics two weeks ago and are coming off a series in Pittsburgh in which they dropped two to the Pirates. They have hardly been good but have managed to be slightly better than the Mets.

While the start of the playoffs is like the beginning of a new season entirely, where momentum matters and two teams like the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks from two seasons ago, can make it all the way to the World Series, there is no reason to believe that the Mets or the Reds will suddenly flip a switch they have avoided all season and roll through the playoffs.

Especially by besting the best team money can buy in the Dodgers, who are the defending champions, have the likely NL MVP in Shohei Ohtani, and can realistically win the whole thing for a second, consecutive year.

"Giddy" might be pushing it, but so is the idea that either the Mets or Reds stand much of a chance should they manager to sneak into the best-of-three round.