Terry Francona’s Red Sox — improbably, after all their injury problems — are still alive in the American League playoff race entering a monumentally huge three-game series in St. Petersburg, Fla., against the Rays. Boston, which could field an All-Star team with its disabled list casualties, enters the weekend 5½ games back of division co-leaders Tampa Bay and New York with 34 games left in the regular season.
Boston is on pace to finish with 93 wins. If the season ended today, the Red Sox would have at least a share of first place in both the AL Central and AL West. And yet Boston’s postseason chances seem bleak — especially with the Rays and Yankees pushing each other at a frantic pace in the AL East race.
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Tampa Bay and New York are on pace to win 100 games each. The last time two teams in the same division cleared the 100-win mark was 2001, when the Mariners (116) and A’s (102) each broke the triple-digit barrier.
Boston’s plight — the Red Sox would become the second team since 2002 to win 93 games and finish third in their division — provides fuel for the argument that baseball should restructure its divisions. The AL East has become a behemoth, with the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox battling for prime real estate.
But the problem isn’t with divisional structure; it’s with the unbalanced schedule. That 93-win team that finished third was the 2002 Mariners. And in any given season, another team from another division can make a similar argument to the one the Red Sox can make in 2010. Boston’s 162 games — 36 of which are against the Yankees and Rays — are a heck of a lot tougher than those of, say, the Rangers, who play 36 against the Angels and A’s.
Earlier in the season, MLB analysts were calling for a division restructuring. How about a division de-structuring? It’s possible to play everyone — a lot — with the current length of the season. So take the divisions away and create a balanced schedule that leaves room for a handful of interleague games against traditional rivals. If nothing else, it ensures that playoff participants will be the best teams with the best records.
