It All Comes Down to This... (Part 4)

That's a wrap to the 2025 Major League Baseball season! Next stop: the Postseason. The final week of the season was wild and in the final part of this series, we're going to find out who clinched playoff berths and the teams who will be in the Postseason. In case you missed the third part of this series, you can click the link down below.

https://vocal.media/unbalanced/it-all-comes-down-to-this-part-3

American League: The teams who have clinched playoff spots are the Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Guardians, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and the Detroit Tigers

The Mariners have won the AL West title for the first time since 2001. It was surprising that it has been over two decades since accomplishing this feat.

Whoa! He did it again!

Let's also talk about Cal Raleigh again. Last Wednesday night, he hit home runs number 59 and 60 to clinch the aforementioned AL West title. He joins players such as Babe Ruth and Roger Maris to pull this off in a single season. Not only that, but he was the first catcher to reach 125 RBI since Johnny Bench in 1974 and he's the first Seattle Mariners player to reach that mark since Aaron Boone back in 2001. Yes, that Aaron Boone. Raleigh is definitely a shoo-in for the AL MVP Award. It would be awesome to also see him add a World Series MVP to his resume. He's been the talk of the baseball world. One last thing to add. Manager Dan Wilson deserves a lot of credit for turning this team around. Since the firing of Scott Servais, he's done such a great job with this team. A former MLB catcher himself who also played for the Mariners, he was part of that team who won their last AL West title back in 2001, alongside a now Baseball Hall of Famer, Ichiro. He might have a strong case to win American League Manager of the Year.

As of last Tuesday, my Texas Rangers were eliminated from playoff contention. I'll discuss my thoughts about them in its entirety in a later story. Their hated rivals, the Houston Astros, will also miss the playoffs. I guess them trading away Breggy and Verlander did them in. They were toe-to-toe with the Mariners to see who would claim the AL West title. In the end, the Mariners got the last laugh, which made me smile. The Rangers bitter division rivals miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

The Final Wild Card spot has been decided in the National League

Despite the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds losing their respective games on Sunday, the Reds are heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. How is that possible? Even though the Mets owned a big league-best 45-24 record through June 12, they went 38-55 after that, which caused the Reds to take advantage of the opportunity. The Mets went from leading in their division to missing the playoffs. If this wasn't the biggest collapse I've witnessed this season, I don't know what is. One question remains for this team: Will Pete Alonso be in a different uniform in 2026? I was not impressed with Juan Soto's performance this season. His record-breaking contract backfired and came back to haunt him. As I've stated before the season began, no baseball player or any athlete from any sport is entitled to be paid close to a billion dollars. It would be interesting to see what the Mets will do with him.

National League: The other teams who are going to the playoffs are the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Milwaukee Brewers

Be on the lookout for my next story, as I break down the winners of every round in the 2025 MLB Postseason, including the World Series and also share my thoughts on the reasons for my picks.