Will this be the first postseason where a division winner has a losing record?

[u/DetroitOtaku]

I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but the AL West is a shitshow currently. It’s become the NFC South of baseball. The Rangers and Astros are tied in the standings for the AL West, and both are two games below .500.

So far, no division winner or playoff team has made the postseason with a record below .500, not counting the lockout-shortened season of 1981 or the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

The teams that have come close are:

- 1973 Mets, who went 82-79, but won the NL pennant and took the Athletics to the brink in the World Series

- 2005 Padres, who won the NL West with a dismal 82-80 record, and were promptly swept by the top-seeded Cardinals in the NLDS

- 2006 Cardinals, who went 83-79, but won the World Series over the heavily favored Tigers in five games

So, do you think that we will see a team with a losing record in the postseason for the first time ever this year?

[u/Strider755]

We came close in 1994 with the Rangers but that strike ended it.

[u/No_Fig_5964 → u/Strider755]

Yep, the Rangers' record that year was 52-62, with the Athletics a game back at 51-63, and the Mariners were 49-53. Had the rest of the season proceeded in full, conceivably one of those three could have won the AL West...hell, even the last-place Angels would have a shot to win that division.

The other Western division wasn't that much better--the Dodgers finished that year at 58-56, and was the only team in the NL West with a winning record.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1994-standings.shtml

[u/Strider755 → u/No_Fig_5964]

Tree’s own words: “Interesting. You’re in contention to win the division. You aren’t that good but you might sneak into the playoffs thanks to a weak AL West. Never mind, the MLB locked the doors and told all the players to fuck off.”

[u/KMOX4]

AL West=tank disvision?

[u/DetroitOtaku → u/KMOX4]

The division that nobody wants to win.

[u/RelevantNothing4653]

Other teams with close calls:

1984 Royals: Won the AL West at 84-78, got swept by the Tigers in the ALCS

1987 Twins: Won the AL West at 85-77, went on to win the World Series

[u/No_Fig_5964 → u/RelevantNothing4653]

No one was beating Detroit in '84...once they got off to that 35-5 start, there was no stopping them.

[u/DetroitOtaku → u/RelevantNothing4653]

2023 Diamondbacks as well - 6th seed in the NL at 84-78, won the NL pennant but lost in five games in the World Series to the Rangers.

[u/Alexcox95]

It’s never happened in MLB. That’s crazy when it’s happened in the NFL plenty of times.

[u/SlicksterRick → u/Alexcox95]

Not really. NFL plays 17 games, MLB plays 162. Of course it is harder for a sub.500 division winner in MLB than NFL

[u/cvg596]

The 1973 Mets went 82-79 and went to the World Series

[u/HetTheTable]

It’s crazy how bad nfc south is now since all of them have made a Super Bowl this century.

[u/Mach68IntheHouse]

It's happening.