Every team can’t be winners. It is a fact of life that permeates through life in more than just sports. It is a dichotomy that occurs in any competitive venture. There will always be the haves and the have-nots. However, on occasion in sport the have-nots get the chance to drag potential haves down with them. In baseball, there are several teams all but mathematically eliminated from postseason contention. Other than player development and keeping healthy, the main goal of these teams is to play spoiler to those who are closer to the periphery of October baseball. Here are five teams that could be, as John McLane exposed in Die Hard, “a fly in the ointment, a monkey in the wrench, a pain in the ass” to clubs fighting for their playoff lives.
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
NOTABLE GAMES LEFT: Cubs x3 (@9/4-9/6), Giants x6 (9/7-9/9, @9/18-9/20), Dodgers x7 (9/11-9/13, @9/21-9/24)
The Diamondbacks are a team that could make or break the National League West all while sitting under .500. Both the Dodgers and Giants are struggling to find their form heading into September with 5-5 and 4-6 records respectively in their last ten contests. Both host the Diamondbacks late in September with the division potentially still hanging in the balance. Unlike most years however, the consolation prize of the second wild card for the runner-up will not be in play as that will be a team from the NL Central barring catastrophic injuries or ebola outbreaks. Arizona is a valiant road warrior (32-32) for a mediocre squad and they have Paul Goldschmidt who is a 4-for-5 game away from ending either team’s season. While the Western foes are priority number one, the D’Backs also have a chance to shift the balance of power in the Central with a three game set at Wrigley Field with the Cubs. A sweep in either direction could mean a home playoff game for the Cubs or an allowance of the Giants back into the Wild Card chase.
BOSTON RED SOX
NOTABLE GAMES LEFT: Yankees x7 (8/31-9/2, @9/28-10/1), Blue Jays x6 (9/7-9/9, @9/18-9/20)
Let’s just say the Red Sox season hasn’t quite gone to plan. They sit rock bottom in the American League East, above Oakland by just three games for worst in the entire league. Their manager is on a leave of absence with cancer. They just said goodbye to their World Series winning general manager. Even their announcing crew is getting remodeled. With all this, the Red Sox still can bring joy to the faces of their fan base in September by playing foil to their much maligned rivals, the Yankees. New York and Toronto have been flip-flopping first place in the AL East for a couple of weeks running now. Both desperately want to avoid the Wild Card game, where one off night could end your season in a snap. Boston has games at the beginning and end of the month with the Yankees while they’ll be battling it out with the Jays in between. The Sox offense is starting to come back to Earth after explosions against Seattle and Cleveland, but their young’uns like Travis Shaw, Mookie Betts, and Rusney Castillo will be chomping at the bit to have their first crack at taking the Yankees down a peg. The games with Toronto aren’t to be looked over either. Trying to limit the best run producers in baseball will be a telling ask of Henry Owens and Eduardo Rodriguez among others, and will be Boston’s first indicator of what they have for the future.
DETROIT TIGERS
NOTABLE GAMES LEFT: Twins x6 (@9/14-9/16, 9/25-9/27), Rangers (@9/28-9/30)
Like Boston, Detroit’s 2015 went quite awry. They got real old, real quick and eventually threw in the towel with the trade of David Price to Toronto. Detroit can have their own little postseason in September though as they will be able to have an impact on the race for the league’s second Wild Card. Minnesota won’t catch Kansas City, but they are currently a half game ahead of Texas for the second Wild Card having played one more game than the Rangers. Detroit travels to Target field in the middle of the month for the first three games of a ten game Minnesota home stand. Minnesota needs to make the most of those games because they are much better at home (38-24) than away (27-37). Detroit will host the Twins after that run and then immediately travel to Arlington for their next series with the Rangers. Detroit’s pitching is having a bit of a late season renaissance with Daniel Norris (the crown jewel of the Price trade), Justin Verlander (took a no-hitter into the ninth Wednesday night), and Alfredo Simon (threw a one-hit shutout versus Texas on 8/20). Both Texas and Minnesota will be looking to avoid missteps against Motown, as just one loss may prove costly in such a tight battle.
MIAMI MARLINS
NOTABLE GAMES LEFT: Nationals x10 (@8/28-8/30, 9/11-9/13, @9/17-9/20), Mets x6 (9/4-9/6, @9/14-9/16)
The Marlins this season went into absolute freefall after the injury to home run leader Giancarlo Stanton and short-lived return of ace Jose Fernandez. Both will return to play out the string in September and that could spell trouble for the teams at the top of the division. The Mets have stretched their division lead out to 6.5 games over the Nationals as of today. It would be irresponsible to not bring up how New York has thrown away a lead like that before with several September collapses in ’07 and ’08 on their resume. The Nationals get two home series with Miami, one before the scheduled return of Miami’s dynamic duo and one after. The Mets are hoping that neither returns before their slate of six games in the first half of September. The unbalanced schedule, combined with the return of Miami’s two All-Stars, will either propel Washington back into the thick of things or bury them for good. The Mets are hoping for the sake of their fans and players like David Wright, who suffered through both recent September swoons, that it is the latter.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS
NOTABLE GAMES LEFT: Angels x6 (8/31-9/2, @9/28-9/30), Astros x6 (9/7-9/9, @9/18-9/20), Rangers x6 (@9/11-9/13, 9/22-9/24), Giants (9/25-9/27)
Oakland is usually used to being in the midst of the American League playoff race. That is far from the case this year as they find themselves in the AL cellar. They may not make it to October themselves, but Billy Beane’s boys will have ample opportunity to influence who will. They have 18 games left against the top three in their division (Houston, Texas, Los Angeles), 6 games versus each. The Angels will be the team that Oakland gets first and last cracks at. The Angels have somehow overcome a novel length list of injuries to still be within three games of the second Wild Card. They are chasing Texas and Minnesota, both of whom they’ll play in September. Whether those games matter, including the final four of the season at Texas, will be determined by how they do against Oakland. The same goes for Texas, who is hoping that Oakland can do them a service for both the Rangers’ prey and their hunters. Texas is 5.5 games back of Houston and will need help if they lose any of their seven games remaining against the ‘Stros. If Oakland can rough them up in between and also give Texas some breathing room from LA, Texas could return to the postseason for the first time since 2012. Oakland could even play spoiler to cross-bay rivals San Francisco in their duel with the Dodgers as they play them in a three game interleague set at the end of the month.
All in all, these teams are looking towards 2016. In the interim, they could surely ruin some of their biggest rivals’ 2015.