With a few weeks left, the playoff picture looks like it might be mostly set -- with a number of clubs all but a lock for October.
While no team has secured a postseason berth yet or even clinched a division, a number of clubs are comfortably leading their respective divisions and will soon lock up playoff positioning.
The only division race that remains close is the American League East, while the National League wild-card chase will seemingly go down to the wire between the Braves and Mets for the final spot. What else might the final weeks of the regular season bring? Our expert panel has combined to rank every team based on a combination of what we've seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts David Schoenfield, Bradford Doolittle, Jesse Rogers, Alden Gonzalez and Jorge Castillo to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.'s time with the Phillies has been marked by streaky production.
The best season from a modern closer is Eric Gagne in 2003, the last reliever to win the Cy Young. He was 2-4 with a 1.20 ERA and 55-for-55 in save chances. He held batters to a .374 OPS; Clase is at .403. Brad Lidge also had a perfect season for the Phillies in 2008 -- 41-for-41, plus seven more in the playoffs as the Phillies won the World Series . Dennis Eckersley and Mariano Rivera also had some great seasons. Clase is up there with this group and should finish high in the Cy Young voting.
General manager J.J. Picollo has been pushing the right buttons since last season ended and continued his hot streak with the late-August acquisitions of. The Royals have a number of personnel in prime awards positioning, but perhaps only one seemingly has an honor all but locked up. It's hard to make a case for anyone but Picollo for Executive of the Year.The Mets might look back to Wednesday's victory as the key game to remember if they make the playoffs.
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