MLB wild card rankings, playoff picture, media update: Brewers, Cardinals, Rockies battling for the last places

The MLB 2018 regular season ends Sunday, which means the playoffs are now in less than a week. There are still a lot of post-season races that have to be decided by then.

With this in mind, here is an update on the photo post-season. Here is the SportsLine projection system and here are the current post-season fields.

If the season has ended today …

Be sure to check out the SportsLine Daily Selection Card to learn more about each game.

Mike Meredith / CBS Sports

AL East champion: Red Sox (106-51)

• Remaining games: 5 (5 at home, 0 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .484
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 32.63 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 17.99 percent

The Red Sox have already landed the title AL East, and with a win on Monday, landed the best baseball record and therefore the home advantage throughout the playoffs. The last week of the regular season will be stress free in Boston.

AL Central champion: Indians (88-68)

• Remaining games: 6 (0 at home, 6 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .376
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 22.68 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 10.52 percent

The Indians have already landed the AL Central title, and they have also landed a record worse than the winner of the AL West. So they know that it will be the road team of ALDS against Houston or Oakland. Cleveland is locked in his post-season spot. The only thing left to do is to win victories in the hope of getting a field advantage in the World Series.

AL West leader: Astros (99-57)

• Remaining games: 6 (0 at home, 6 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .377
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 13.24 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 7.52 percent

The Astros have not yet won the AL West title, but they have a five-game lead in the losing round with six games to play. Their magic number is therefore two. Houston has already won a playoff spot, so he knows that, at worst, it will be the second team of wild-card. In addition, the Astros are two wins before becoming the first team to win consecutive seasons of 100 wins since the 2004/05 Cardinals.

Leader of AL cards: Yankees (96-60)

• Remaining games: 6 (0 at home, 6 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .626
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 13.24 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 7.52 percent

The Yankees have already clinched a playoff spot and are now trying to keep the field advantage in the Wild Card game. Because they hold the tie breaker with the A's – they have split the 3-3 series, then the break-even is now a record of intradivision, and the Yankees are 40-30 against the East AL while the Athletics are 36-35 against the AL West – – the magic number to clinch first place in the wild card is four. The Yankees have a rough schedule this week (three at Rays and three at Red Sox).

Second AL Card: Athletics (95-62)

• Remaining games: 5 (0 at home, 5 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .509
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 6.24 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 2.37 percent

The A's clinched a playoff spot on Monday, which means they'll be playing Wild Card Game at worst. It is likely that they will be the visitors of this match because the Athletics are two behind the Yankees in the column of defeats for the advantage of the field (although they are actually three games less because New York holds the break equality). Yet a postseason post is a playoff spot, right?

NL East champion: Braves (88-68)

• Remaining games: 6 (0 at home, 6 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .502
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 10.92 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 3.52 percent

The Braves have already has won its title of first division since 2013now all that's left to do is try to win a field advantage in the NLDS. Their magic number to do it is six.

NL Central Leader: Cubs (91-65)

• Remaining games: 6 (6 at home, 0 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .489
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 22.5%
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 9.38 percent

The Brewers refuse to leave quietly, but with less than a week to go in the regular season and no head-to-head clash, the Cubs have a two-game lead in the losses column and a magic number of five. Not yet conquered, but they are in good shape.

NL West leader: Dodgers (88-69)

• Remaining games: 5 (0 at home, 5 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .four hundred ninety seven
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 46.16 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 29.08 percent

The NL West race is still a race. The Rockies are in a Dodgers game in the losing round, although both teams are not meeting this season. Here are their remaining schedules:

Both clubs face non-competitors for the rest of the way. Do you prefer D-Backs and Giants on the road, or the Phillies and Nationals at home? You never know with baseball. Anyway, the Rockies are still alive in the NL West race with a week to play. The Dodgers have a magic number of six.

NL wild leader: Brewers (90-67)

• Remaining games: 5 (3 at home, 2 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .439
• SportsLine Playoff Odds: 99.8%
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 2.57 percent

The Brewers have yet to clinch a playoff spot. Their magic number to do it is three. In the defeats column, the Cardinals are in three games for first place in the wild card and three and a half games on the Rockies for a place of wild card in general. The Brewers are also 1 1/2 games behind the NL Central Cubs. Is a division title possible? Yes. Unlikely? Also yes For the moment, Milwaukee is in good shape to host the game of the Wild Card NL next Tuesday.

NL: Cardinals (87-70)

• Remaining games: 5 (2 at home, 3 at the outside)
• The winning percentage of the remaining opponent: .565
• SportsLine Playoff Odds: 67.2%
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 2.89 percent

The Cardinals have not yet been mathematically eliminated in the Central NL race – their elimination number is two with five games to play – although crazy things can happen. They will play three games against the Cubs to close the regular season, after all. Realistically, Cardinals focus on obtaining a reserve place. They are three games behind the Brewers for first place and half a game in the Rockies for second place. The Cardinals will host the Brewers for two more games this week. Needless to say, this is a huge series for both clubs.

It should also be noted that it is still possible to make a four-team scenario with the Brewers, Cardinals, Dodgers and Rockies all having the same record. In this case, we would have a huge scenario of breakage of equality. Here is how this scenario of four teams would unfold:

• Dodgers vs. Rockies for NL West title
• Cardinals vs. Brewers for a wild-card spot
• The loser of the Dodgers-Rockies against the loser of the Cardinals-Brewers

The NL Wild Card Game is scheduled for Tuesday, October 2nd. How MLB would try to reconcile these three games of breakage of equality and the Wild Card Game in two days, who knows.

NL teams on the outside

• Rockies: 86-70 (36.9 odds per season per sport line)

That's all. The Rockies are the only NL team outside the playoff field that is still alive mathematically. They are 1-1 / 2 behind the Dodgers (in West NL) and a half-game Cardinals (for second place in the wild card), so Colorado is still very much alive in this case. But since they have no face-to-face match with the Dodgers or the Cardinals (or Brewers), they will need help to qualify for the playoffs. Their elimination number is five in the division and six in the wild.