There are only a few games left in the Major League Baseball season. This means the playoffs are right around the corner. Many people are publishing predictions, so here are ours.

So far, 4 teams have clinched their spot in the MLB playoffs, one is in the American League and one is in the National League. The American League, AL, has the Astros who have clinched their spot and division. The National League, NL, has the Dodgers, who clinched the division and a first round bye. The Mets clinched a playoff spot, but are still in a hot race with the Braves, who are 1 game behind and have clinched a playoff spot. There are still 8 spots left to take for the playoffs, 5 in the American League and 3 in the National League.

The AL East and Central are still up for grabs and so are the wildcard spots. The Central has seen a fierce competition between the Guardians, Twins, and White Sox to win the division, but recently the Guardians have pulled ahead to become the leader. At the beginning of the season, the Yankees looked like they would win the division outright and maybe even the World Series, they looked unstoppable, but as of late, they have been on a downward spiral causing them to be in a close race in the AL East. The Rays and Blue Jays are hot on their tail. The AL West was won by the Astros and the Mariners are seen as the favorite to win a wild card spot.

The NL Central, like the AL Central, is still a race to the finish, but not nearly as close. The Cardinals are ahead of the next closest team, the Brewers, by 8.5 games. The Cardinals are riding off of the massive amounts of home runs Albert Pujols has hit recently, who is only 2 away from joining the prestigious 700 club. The NL East, although the Mets are the only team to win a playoff spot from the NL East, is a close race because the Braves are only 1 game behind the Mets. The Phillies, another NL East team, is a team that is close to being a wild card team. The NL West was won by the Dodgers a few days ago. There is another team in the NL West that may make the playoffs too, that team being the Padres. The Padres recently lost one of their star players, Fernando Tatis Jr, who was suspended 80 games after an injury for use of performance-enhancing drugs, PEDs. They picked up Nationals star player, Juan Soto in a blockbuster trade after the All-Star break. They also picked up a plethora of other players to try and beat LA, but LA has prospered and clinched the division.

As of September 22, there are 11 of the 30 teams eliminated from the playoff race, 5 in the AL and 6 in the NL. The 5 in the American League are the A’s, Rangers, Angels, Royals, and Tigers, the first to be eliminated was the Tigers. The 6 in the National League are the Nationals, Pirates, Reds, Marlins, Cubs, and the Rockies, the first to be eliminated in the National League were the Nationals. 7 more teams need to be eliminated by the final game of the season.

One of the writers for this article, Joey Scattaglia, believes the Dodgers will win the World Series because they have probably the most well-rounded team with a lineup that includes Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and an amazing pitching rotation. They are also his favorite team, so there may be some bias there. The other writer, Donovan Swanson, believes that the Mets will beat the Astros in the World Series because they have probably the best pitchers in the league, when healthy, Jacob DeGrom and Max Scherzer. Also, his favorite non-Angels player is Mets first baseman Daniel Vogelbach.

As of September 22, the playoff picture for the National League are the Dodgers, Mets, and Cardinals for the division leaders, and the Phillies, Braves, and Padres for the wild card spots. The Braves may be able to take the division spot in the NL East, but the top teams in the East have clinched. For the American League the playoff spots are the Astros, Yankees, and Guardians for the division leaders and Mariners, Blue Jays and Rays for the wild card spots. It may change, but it is not very likely to since it is so close to the end of the season and there are close to 10 games left to go before the playoff spots are locked.

We asked people around Santa Clarita who they believed would make the playoffs, other than those who clinched their spot already, and who they believed would win the World Series. There were a lot of responses, but most were favoring the National League teams. The most common choice for the World Series winner was the Dodgers. The most popular option for the American League is the Yankees, who got a fifth of the predictions that the Dodgers did, but not many people thought an American League team would win.