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Three weeks remain in the 2025Â MLB regular season. As September rolls along, the Major League Baseball playoff picture is coming into focus. No team has clinched a playoff spot, but the MLB-leading Milwaukee Brewers are closing in on one. The Brewers maintain a sizable lead in the NL Central, and will likely have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers are the other two division leaders in the NL as they look to hold off the New York Mets and San Diego Padres, respectively. The Padres, Mets and Cubs are currently in wild card position in the NL. The San Francisco Giants are making a late-season push, but it might be too little, too late.
The biggest logjam is in the American League wild card race. The scuffling Seattle Mariners were clinging to the sixth and final AL playoff spot entering Saturday, but there are four teams behind them within 2 ½ games. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are comfortably in wild card position in the AL, but they both still trail the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. The Detroit Tigers hold baseball’s biggest divisional lead in the AL Central and are closing in on their first division title since 2014. The Houston Astros, meanwhile, are trying to hold off the Mariners and Texas Rangers in the AL West.
As a reminder, MLB now grants 12 playoff berths — a total of six to the division winners and then three wild card berths in each league. The top two division winners in each league as measured by overall record are rewarded with first-round byes, which means they won’t have to play in the best-of-three Wild Card Series that functions as that first round. The 2025 MLB postseason gets started on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Now let’s get you caught up on the bracket, standings and more. All division and postseason projections referenced in the standings come from SportsLine.
2025 MLB playoff picture
If the season ended today…
AL byes: No. 1 Blue Jays and No. 2 Tigers
AL Wild Card Series: No. 3 Astros vs. No. 6 Mariners
No. 4 Yankees vs. No. 5 Red Sox
NL byes: No. 1 Brewers and No. 2 Phillies
NL Wild Card Series: No. 3 Dodgers vs. No. 6 Mets
No. 4 Cubs vs. No. 5 Padres
American League standings National League standings MLB wild card standings
New York Yankees
78
63
+5.0
Boston Red Sox
78
64
+4.5
Seattle Mariners
73
68
—
Texas Rangers
73
69
0.5
Kansas City Royals
72
69
1.0
Tampa Bay Rays
71
70
2.0
Cleveland Guardians
70
70
2.5
Chicago Cubs
80
60
+5.0
San Diego Padres
76
65
—
New York Mets
76
65
—
San Francisco Giants
72
69
4.0
Arizona Diamondbacks
71
71
5.5
Cincinnati Reds
70
71
6.0
St. Louis Cardinals
70
72
6.5
2025 World Series odds
(All odds via Caesars as of Sept. 6)
Los Angeles Dodgers: +350Milwaukee Brewers: +700Detroit Tigers: +750Philadelphia Phillies: +750New York Yankees: +800Toronto Blue Jays: +1000Houston Astros: +1100San Diego Padres: +1200Boston Red Sox: +1500Chicago Cubs: +1500Seattle Mariners: +1500New York Mets: +1500