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Wildcard standings, AL and NL top favourites
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Wildcard standings, AL and NL top favourites

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With just seven games separating the top five teams in each league, the Major League Baseball playoff field remains an exercise in unpredictability as the regular season draws to a close.

While a handful of division leaders hold comfortable leads — or are counting down increasingly granular magic numbers to get that lead — the wildcard spots and overall seedings remain up in the air.

Here’s what the playoff fields for the American League and National League would look like if the postseason started today:

(Updated via games played on September 17)

American competition

Top seeds

No. 1 New York Yankees (88-63) – Farewell to the AL Division Series, vs. Royals-Orioles winner

No. 2 Cleveland Guardians (87-65) – Farewell to the AL Division Series, vs. Twins-Astros winner

AL wild card series

No. 6 Minnesota Twins (80-71) at No. 3 Houston Astros (82-69)

No. 5 Kansas City Royals (82-70) at No. 4 Baltimore Orioles (84-67)

National League

Top seeds

No. 1 Philadelphia Phillies (91-60), bye to NL Division Series vs. Padres-Mets winner

No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers (89-62), bye to NL Division Series, vs. Diamondbacks-Brewers winner

NL wild card series

No. 6 Arizona Diamondbacks (83-68) at No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers (87-64)

No. 5 New York Mets (83-68) at No. 4 San Diego Padres (86-66)

Mets hold tiebreaker against Diamondbacks

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