Current Standings:
Tampa Bay Rays (68-46, current AL No. 1 seed)
New York Yankees (64-51, 4.5 GB, current AL No. 4 seed)
Boston Red Sox (62-51, 5.5 GB, current AL No. 5 seed)
Baltimore Orioles (56-58, 12 GB, 0.5 GB for No. 6 seed)
Toronto Blue Jays (54-61, 14.5 GB, 3 GB for No. 6 seed)
Four Biggest Deadline Acquisitions:
Updated Postseason Predictions
Both the Orioles and Blue Jays did way more selling than buying and figure to fade from the postseason conversation, even though the O’s, in particular, are still right there for a wild card spot.
But if the Yankees are feeling a desperation to win this division and ultimately put an end to their World Series drought, it didn’t show at the deadline. They didn’t upgrade at catcher, which everyone agreed was an imperative. They also didn’t do anything to improve the bullpen, aside from the addition by subtraction of Camilo Doval and Jake Bird.
Meanwhile, both the Rays and Red Sox made big swings and might leave the Yankees in the dust.
New York should still make the playoffs, thanks to a nice cushion above the gaggle of .500-ish semi-contenders. But if you could tell us right now that the Yankees are either going to win this division or miss the playoffs altogether, we’d have to guess it’s the latter.
AL East Winner: Tampa Bay Rays
Wild Card Teams: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees
