MLB Wild Card Rankings, Playoff Picture, Hook Updates

The MLB 2018 regular season ends Sunday, which means the playoffs are now in less than a week. Despite this, there are still many post-season races to decide from here.

With this in mind, let's update the photo in post-season. Here's the SportsLine projection system, and here's what the playoff field looks like if the season ends 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)

• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 31.75 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 17.11 percent

The Red Sox have already won the AL East and home-field qualifiers throughout the playoffs. They also set the franchise record for wins in a season, so they focus on staying healthy and cooling off as the playoffs unfold.

AL Central champion: Indians (88-69)

• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 23.71 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 11.18 percent

The Indians are the AL Central champions for a third straight year and they are also engaged as the road team in their match against ALDS against defending champions Astros. Two more wins mean they will reach 90 wins for a third consecutive season.

AL West champion: Astros (100-57)

• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 24.84 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 12.93 percent

On Tuesday night, the Astros won the second season in a row for the AL West (which gave a huge boost to their Pennant and World Series percentages), and they also won 100 wins. They are the second seed in the AL, which means a match between dangerous Indians in the ALDS.

Leader of AL cards: Yankees (97-60)

• Remaining games: 5 (0 at home, 5 at the outside)
• Remaining percentage of opponents: .552
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 13.27 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 7.23 percent

The Yankees have clinched their posts for the playoffs, but have yet to clinch a home advantage in the AL Wild Card game. They lead the A on this front by 2 1/2 games. They hold the tiebreaker with the A's thanks to the intradivision record, but the remaining schedule – Rays and Red Sox – is quite difficult. This race is not over.

Second AL Card: Athletics (95-63)

• Remaining games: 4 (0 at home, 4 at the outside)
• Remaining percentage of opponents: .504
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 6.43 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series: 2.45 percent

As noted above, the A's still alive in the race for first place in the wild card AL, but they qualify for 2 1/2 games with only a handful to go. The Yankees have the toughest schedule, so it's always possible. However, they will probably travel to the Bronx for the AL Wild Card game.

NL East champion: Braves (89-68)

• Remaining games: 5 (0 at home, 5 at the outside)
• Percentage remaining opponents: .504
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 11.82 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series4.03 percent

Not long ago, the Braves earned their first league title since 2013, but they are still in the lead for the seed at the NL. This honor almost certainly goes to the NL Central champion, but the Braves lead the Dodgers (currently hooked on NL West) by 1-1 / 2 for the NLDS field advantage. The Dodgers, however, hold the tiebreaker. The NL remains confused and the Braves are the least involved the rest of the way.

NL Central Leader: Cubs (91-66)

• Remaining games: 5 (5 at home, 0 at the outside)
• Percentage remaining opponents: .504
• The odds of SportsLine pennant22.17 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series9.46 percent

The Cubs saw their lead at NL Central reduced to half a game against the Brewers. SportsLine still strongly favors the Cubs to win the division, but the Brewers are obviously very present. The magic number of the Cubs to clinch a playoff spot has dropped to one, but it takes five to finish the division. When it comes to the seeded NL (assuming the Cubs win the Central), they have a two-game lead over the Braves, but the Braves hold the tiebreaker.

NL West leader: Dodgers (88-70)

• Remaining games: 4 (0 at home, 4 at the outside)
• Percentage remaining opponents: .473
• The odds of SportsLine pennant43.18 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series28.01 percent

The Dodgers do not seem to be able to shake the Rockies, who are only half a game back and even in the column of defeats. After finishing their series with the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, the Dodgers will finish the regular season with a three-game match against the increasingly modest Giants. It is there that lies their biggest advantage. In the event of a tie at the top of the standings, the Dodgers would welcome the Rockies for the tie-break. They drag the Braves for rights to the field advantage in the NLDS, but they hold the tiebreaker. The magic number of the Dodgers to win the NL West is five.

NL wild leader: Brewers (91-67)

• Remaining games: 4 (3 at home, 1 at the outside)
• Percentage remaining opponents: .436
• The odds of SportsLine pennant9.99 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series3.14 percent

As we noted, the Brewers are just half a game behind the NL Central Cubs. The potential equalizer is that the Brewers, after their series in St. Louis on Wednesday night, will host the Tigers for the last three games of the season. The Cubs, meanwhile, still have two goals against the Pirates at home and then finish the regular season with three home goals against the Cardinals, who will likely be fighting for their playoff lives. This is a big advantage for Milwaukee in terms of remaining schedule. They are 3 1/2 games off the Rockies for first place wild card.

NL: Wildcats: Rockies (87-70)

• Remaining games: 5 (5 at home, 0 at the outside)
• Percentage remaining opponents: .531
• The odds of SportsLine pennant: 7.0 percent
• The odds of SportsLine World Series2.32 percent

Thanks to the results of Tuesday night, the Rockies are back in the playoffs, but with only half a game against the Cardinals. They have two more games with the Phillies, followed by a three-game game with the Nationals, all at Coors Field. As noted above, the Rockies are still very much in the NL West race, although SportsLine continues to favor the Dodgers. Colorado is looking to make the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time in the history of the franchise.

Teams outside looking for

• cardinals (87-71, 48.2 per cent in series by SportsLine)

Essentially, that means five teams – the Cubs, Dodgers, Brewers, Rockies and Cardinals – are fighting for four playoff spots. As you can imagine, there is a potential for big chaos in NL.