The National League Wild Card race is so chaotic, so jumbled, so wild, that you’re grateful there are three Wild Card spots now. How in the world did we once fit this many teams into one spot?
With less than two months to go in the season, there are seven teams jostling for position, and it’s only seven if you don’t count the Dodgers and the Brewers, two teams that are first place in their division but could easily fall back into the Wild Card chase. No wonder the Trade Deadline was so confusing — some of these teams can’t tell if they’re coming or going.
As we head toward another exciting week of baseball — there are just eight of those remaining in the regular season — we thought we’d try to take stock of the insanity by looking at each team: their playoff odds, their Deadline activity and the case for and against them capturing a Wild Card berth.
When the Rays called up top prospect Curtis Mead, naturally his family wanted to see him play in the big leagues. One problem: His family lives in Australia. But 30 hours later, the Mead clan was in the stands for his first Major League start.
Trade Deadline deals are only one way to add reinforcements during a pennant race. Sometimes a prospect can end up being a difference-makerfor an eventual World Series champion.