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MLB playoff bracket and predictions if the season ended today

We're down to just three weeks left in the regular season, and things are starting to come into focus.
ByChris Landers|
Los Angeles Dodgers v Baltimore Orioles
Los Angeles Dodgers v Baltimore Orioles | G Fiume/GettyImages

Believe it or not, we have just three weekends left in the 2025 MLB regular season. The runway to make a postseason push is just about up, and after a drama-filled week around the Majors, the postseason picture is coming into clearer focus. There's still plenty to be decided, mind you: The New York Yankees have decided to make things a bit interesting in the AL East, while the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are in a battle to see who most wants to lose the NL West race. Plus, the exact Wild Card order remains almost completely up for grabs with three weeks remaining.

That said, we've got a pretty good idea of how the playoff bracket might look come the end of September. Where does your team stand, and who might it face come October? Let's break down the full postseason picture entering play on Monday, Sept. 8.

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Projected American League postseason bracket as of Sept. 8

Here's how the six playoff spots in the AL currently look:

  1. Toronto Blue Jays (82-61, AL East champs)
  2. Detroit Tigers (82-62, AL Central champs)
  3. Houston Astros (78-66, AL West champs)
  4. New York Yankees (80-63, No. 1 AL Wild Card)
  5. Boston Red Sox (79-65, No. 2 AL Wild Card)
  6. Seattle Mariners (75-68, No. 3 AL Wild Card)

The Yankees went 4-2 over the first half of their two-week schedule gauntlet, winning two of three in Houston against the Astros before coming back home and doing the same over the weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays. That latter series kept faint hope alive in the AL East: New York is now just two games back of the division with 19 games to play, though it's functionally a three-game deficit because Toronto holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Tigers are limping to the finish line a bit here, though they long ago salted away the AL Central and the Astros' recent skid has allowed them to maintain a healthy cushion on the No. 2 seed (and the all-important first-round bye). Houston has left the door open for Seattle to make a run at the AL West crown, but the Mariners have been largely unable to capitalize — fact, Cal Raleigh and Co. have some company in the race for the final Wild Card spot, with the Rangers, Royals and Guardians all just two games back in the loss column.

What does all of that mean for the playoff bracket? Toronto and Detroit remain in control of the top two spots, and would move directly to the ALDS if the season ended today. The Wild Card matchups would give us a pair of juicy divisional showdowns:

  • No. 5 Boston Red Sox at No. 4 New York Yankees
  • No. 6: Seattle Mariners at No. 3 Houston Astros

The Red Sox have owned New York all year, although the Yankees are playing a bit better of late while Boston scuffles to start September. The Mariners and Astros have both been playing underwhelming ball, but there's no love lost here — and given the talent at play, it's not hard to see either team going on a deep October run if they get hot.

Projected National League postseason bracket as of Sept. 8

Over on the NL side, things are similarly settled:

  1. Milwaukee Brewers (89-55, NL Central champs)
  2. Philadelphia Phillies (83-60, NL East champs)
  3. Los Angeles Dodgers (79-64, NL West champs)
  4. Chicago Cubs (81-62, No. 1 NL Wild Card)
  5. San Diego Padres (78-65, No. 2 NL Wild Card)
  6. New York Mets (76-67, No. 3 NL Wild Card)

The Mets left the door open just a crack by dropping the final two games of their set against the Reds in Cincinnati over the weekend, but New York still has a four-game cushion over both Cincy and the Giants (with the Diamondbacks and Cardinals still, somehow, just 4.5 games back). The Los Angeles Dodgers have been in a startling free fall of late, punctuated by a downright embarrassing loss in Baltimore on Saturday night in which Yoshinobu Yamamoto came within one out of a no-hitter. The Padres haven't been able to capitalize, though, and remain a game back in the NL West race.

That's about it as far as divisional drama is concerned, with both Milwaukee and Philadelphia cruising towards pennants and the top two seeds in the league. Right now, they're heavy favorites to earn the first-round bye and advance to the NLDS, while some very heavy hitters would find themselves in a best-of-three Wild Card battle:

  • No. 5 San Diego Padres at No. 4 Chicago Cubs
  • No. 6: New York Mets at No. 3 Los Angeles Dodgers

Boy, the anxiety here radiates off the screen. All four of these teams entered the season with World Series or bust expectations. The Padres mortgaged everything at this year's trade deadline, while the Cubs are staring down the possibility of losing Kyle Tucker in free agency. This was hardly the season Mets fans expected when their team won the Juan Soto sweepstakes, while the Dodgers were more or less crowned preemptive champs back in February.

And yet, two of them would be going home early in this scenario, with an offseason full of uncertainty on tap. Unless something drastically changes over the final three weeks, we're going to get a postseason of near-unparalleled angst and drama.

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