It’s the final weekend of the 2025 MLB regular season and the Major League Baseball playoff picture is almost complete. Nine teams have secured their spots in the postseason, as the Red Sox clinched a wild card berth Friday night.
The Brewers, Phillies, Cubs and Padres are also set up in the NL postseason bracket, with Milwaukee and Philadelphia clinching the other two divisions. The third and final NL wild card spot is up for grabs and the Mets and Reds are jostling for that berth in a fight that seems destined to go down to the wire.
The American League is more muddied. The Blue Jays and Yankees are locked in a dead heat for the AL East title, though Toronto holds the tiebreaker. Whoever doesn’t pull off the division win will head to October as the top AL wild card team. In the AL Central, the Guardians are trying to pull off a history-making comeback to take the division from the Tigers, who are hanging on by their fingernails. The Mariners have clinched the AL West for the first time since 2001 and secured a first-round bye, but the No. 1 seed is still up for grabs. The Red Sox hold the second wild card spot while the Tigers and Astros are all scrambling for the final two position.
What’s at stake in final weekend of MLB regular season? Where things stand with three games left
R.J. Anderson
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 Mariners
AL Wild Card Series: No. 3 Guardians vs. No. 6 Tigers
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 Reds
No. 4 Cubs vs. No. 5 Padres
Saturday’s MLB playoff clinch scenarios
- The Blue Jays can clinch the AL East with a win AND a Yankees loss.
- The Guardians can clinch a playoff berth with a win OR a loss by the Astros.
- The Guardians can clinch the AL Central with a win AND a loss by the Tigers.
- The Tigers can clinch a playoff berth with a win OR a loss by the Astros.
- The Reds can clinch a playoff berth with a win AND a loss by the Mets.
Notable tiebreakers
American League
- The Yankees have secured the tiebreaker against the Mariners.
- The Mariners have secured the tiebreaker against the Red Sox.
- The Guardians have secured the tiebreaker against the Astros and Tigers.
- The Tigers currently have the tiebreaker against the Red Sox and have secured the tiebreaker against the Astros.
- The Red Sox have secured the tiebreaker against the Guardians and Astros.
National League
- The Brewers have secured the tiebreaker against the Phillies.
- The Reds have secured the tiebreaker against the Mets and Diamondbacks.
- The Diamondbacks have secured the tiebreaker against the Mets.
A two-team tiebreaker is determined by head-to-head record. If the teams split the season series, it is decided by intradivision record (record within their own division), even if the teams do not share a division.
A three-team tiebreaker is determined by the highest winning percentage among three tied teams in intradivision games.
American League standings
National League standings
x – clinched division
y – clinched wild card spot
z – clinched playoff berth
e – eliminated
MLB wild card standings
|
New York Yankees – y |
92 |
68 |
+6.0 |
|
Boston Red Sox – y |
88 |
72 |
+2.0 |
|
Detroit Tigers |
86 |
74 |
— |
|
Houston Astros |
85 |
75 |
1.0 |
|
Chicago Cubs – y |
90 |
70 |
+8.0 |
|
San Diego Padres – y |
88 |
72 |
+6.0 |
|
Cincinnati Reds |
82 |
78 |
— |
|
New York Mets |
82 |
78 |
— |
2025 World Series odds
(All odds via Caesars as of Sept. 27)
- Philadelphia Phillies: +425
- Los Angeles Dodgers: +500
- Seattle Mariners: +500
- New York Yankees: +675
- Milwaukee Brewers: +700
- Toronto Blue Jays: +900
- San Diego Padres: +1200
- Chicago Cubs: +1600
- Boston Red Sox: +1800
- Detroit Tigers: +1900
- Cleveland Guardians: +2200
- Cincinnati Reds: +3000
- New York Mets: +3300
- Houston Astros: +10000
