As the end of the season nears, four teams are still fighting for a playoff spot. The American League has Seattle and Cleveland, still fighting for 1 of the playoff spots which is held by Kansas City and Oakland. The National League is pretty much over with as Milwaukee is one loss (or win by the Giants) away from elimination. This raises the question of which teams will make the playoffs.

Let’s start with the front runners of the American League who are the Royals and A’s who share the same record of 86-71 and have the same chance of making the playoffs with a 99.6% chance. The Royals are right behind the Tigers for the division title though sitting only one game behind the Tigers.

The Oakland A’s are a whole different story. They had a solid record from the months of May to July, going 47-29. After the trades they made for star pitchers Jon Lester and Jeff Samardzija, the A’s looked like World Series contenders. But the months of August to September were BRUTAL for the A’s. Their record was 19-29 through those two months, the second worst in baseball (Diamondbacks went 15-33). They continue to struggle through the month of September as they are barley holding on to the second wild card playoff spot.

Now the teams “in the hunt” include the Mariners (3 GB) and Indians (4½ GB). The Mariners have been an under-the-radar kind of team all year. With the signings of Robinson Cano, Corey Hart, and the extension of King Felix Hernandez in 2013, the Mariners were projected to make some noise in the AL West during 2014. They couldn’t seem to get things together and with the emergence of the Angels in the division they find themselves fighting for the wild card.

Next are the Indians who have been the underdog in the AL Central division all year. This team was a seller at the trade deadline, sending their ace, Justin Masterson to St. Louis. Somehow the pitching for the Tribe has stood its ground and with an offense led by Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis. The National League is a much simpler story. Pittsburgh and San Francisco have the wild card spots locked up.

The playoff matchups are going to be great this year. There will be some great pitching matchups both in the AL and NL.

My prediction to win the AL Championship, is Mike Trout and company and the Anaheim Angels. My NL pick is the Dodgers led by Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig. Despite the Dodgers masterful pitching, I see the Angels winning in 7 games.