The MLB playoff picture is still chaotic after the trade deadline. While the Los Angeles Dodgers appear to be the boogey men of the league with their massive payroll advantage and new ace in Tarik Skubal, the American League is a far different story.
There is far more parity in the AL, where 12 of the league's 15 teams entered play on Aug. 6 within three games of a playoff spot. In a race that tight, taking advantage of a softer schedule could make the difference between playing in October or waiting for next year. Let's take a look at the six teams with the easiest schedules left, who all play in the AL, with rankings based on Tankathon's list of remaining strength of schedule.
6. Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox have been on a generational heater, going 30-5 over their past 35 games to surge into a very safe spot in the AL. Entering the day even with the New York Yankees in the loss column for the top wild card spot, Boston has an opportunity to surge past them as their remaining opponents have just a .489 combined winning percentage.
Series against the A's, Angels, Giants and Royals give the Red Sox a big opportunity to stack wins. Two of Boston's "tough" series are also against .500-ish teams like Miami and a so-so Arizona squad, which works in the Red Sox' favor as the Yankees' slate is much harder in comparison.
5. Chicago White Sox
Things are looking good for the White Sox, who are poised to complete a dramatic turnaround from baseball's worst-ever team two years ago to a division champion this season. Chicago has a three-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central and they can keep building on it against a schedule with an opponents' winning percentage of .486.
After the White Sox wrap up their current series with the Red Sox, they only have eight games left against teams above .500: four with Houston, three against the Cubs and a makeup game with Atlanta. Having 16 games against the bottom three teams in their divisions plus series against each of the NL's last place teams (the Rockies, Reds and Mets) is a huge competitive edge.
4. Seattle Mariners
The next three teams on this list populate the AL West, which makes sense since it has been baseball's weakest division this season. Seattle entered the year with high hopes to get to a World Series but has struggled to get going, seeing a lot of offensive regression to enter August trailing the Astros in the division.
A combined opponents' winning percentage of .485 is a help for Seattle, which faces a tough stack of bona fide playoff teams from the NL Central (Brewers, Cubs) and AL East (Red Sox, Rays, Yankees) as well as a series with the Phillies. The upshot is the Mariners still have 14 games against the Angels and A's and a series against the Rockies to help them keep pace in the slow speed bumper car chase that is the AL West.
3. Houston Astros
Left for dead earlier in the season, the Astros have taken advantage of their weak division to surge into the lead with just over two months to go. Adding Daulton Varsho at the deadline should also help, but the Astros will look to take advantage of a soft schedule that has a combined opponents' winning percentage of .483.
The tough opponents Houston still has (Braves, Rays, Yankees, Phillies, White Sox and Diamondbacks) are not nearly as tough as Seattle's. 10 remaining games against the Angels and A's is a big help, which can help stack wins when combined with remaining matchups against the Royals, Giants and Mets.
2. Texas Rangers
We'll close out our trip through the AL West with Texas, which tried to sell at the trade deadline only for Jacob deGrom to invoke his no-trade clause to block a deal to the Atlanta Braves. A look at Texas' run differential of -33 is discouraging, but they do have hope with a .481 combined opponents' winning percentage.
The Rangers do have three series against division leaders (Brewers, Rays and White Sox) as well as a shot against the surging Red Sox. 13 games against the Angels and A's is a help, but one drawback for Texas is that their series against the Mets comes in the final week of the regular season, which could be too late to make a difference if they fall too far behind.
1. Cleveland Guardians
Trailing the White Sox by three in the AL Central, the Guardians aggressively added to try and catch up in the division. It made sense to do so when you consider that Cleveland has the easiest schedule left in the league as its remaining opponents have a combined winning percentage of .462.
The toughest series that Cleveland has left is a three-gamer against the Red Sox while they have six games left against Chicago to make up ground. There are still 18 games left against teams well below .500 on their schedule (against the A's, Angels, Rockies, Giants and Royals), but dropping two in a row against the Mets this week hasn't inspired much confidence they can get the job done.
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