MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 25

With vacations and holidays out of the way, at least for now, we're back onto the regular release schedule for the MLB Tournament of Champions as we're down to the final three weeks of the regular season.

We still have our split of divisions where the races are tight as well as a few where it's all but decided. No teams are to the point of being able to clinch quite yet, but by this weekend someone may punch their ticket to the elimination round. You can view the full standings, including Wild Cards, here. Division standings are also updated on the sidebar of the main site (unfortunately it's not available on mobile sites).

There are only two doubleheaders left on the schedule, one in each league, with the National League getting its final one done in this round. That doubleheader is part of one of five divisional series matchups taking place in this round.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to the action!

COAS Picks the 2017 MLB All Stars

I'm taking a brief break from the MLB Tournament of Champions to bring you a tradition that I've undertaken the last few years: voting for the MLB All Star Game.

We're finally back to the All Star Game being just an exhibition that doesn't determine home field advantage in the World Series, so all is right with the game again. Unfortunately, the daily voting limit remains in place and I'm unable to get all of my votes in because I wait until the end of the voting window, I won't be able to max them out.

Like I said last year, as much as I'd like to vote spam for the Cubs, I can't do it. I want to vote the deserving players into the game, and that's what my goal with this is.

MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 24

I delayed this posting by a day and a few hours due to travel back from North Dakota, but even with family vacations in the mix, the MLB Tournament of Champions must roll on!

We're getting down towards the end here, and the 2016 Cubs were the first team to lock up a winning record in the tournament after finishing off a sweep of the Dodgers on Wednesday. Seven other teams have at least 40 wins and will join the Cubs in that winning record club shortly.

A few of our divisions are runaways (looking at you, AL Central), while we have three division races separated by three games or less. The wild card races are also great, with the first team out in each league trailing by just half a game. You can view the full standings here, or the divisional standings on the sidebar of the full site.

This round, we have three divisional matchups, including a renewal of the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry that I'm still cursing Cardinal Devil Magic over from their first meeting in the tournament. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play some baseball!

MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 23

We're coming down to the final four weeks of the Tournament of Champions... or at least, the regular season portion. Each franchise got a representative to enter into a 92 game campaign to find the greatest team of all time, and we will narrow the field down to 10 by the time all is said and done. These final four weeks will be crucial to deciding that.

I'm a little delayed in getting this one live on here due to travel. I'm currently in North Dakota with Kristen and Matthew so he can meet his extended family. I wanted to make sure I got this all prepped before I left, but had to wait until all games were in before I could post.

This round, we have a total of four divisional matchups, including the renewal of Red Sox-Yankees. This could cause some major shakeups in the standings, which you can either view just for divisions on the sidebar, or if you want to include wild cards, here.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to the action.

MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 22

I decided to push the release of this post back to this morning out of observation of Father's Day, which has kind of become a big deal for me now. My son Matthew is just shy of three months old and is just starting to come into his own a little bit. When he gets a little older I will share with him the joy of baseball, teach him how to score a game, and take him on his first pilgrimage to Wrigley. But that's for another time; the Tournament of Champions continues on.

The hottest team in the tournament by far is the 1995 Atlanta Braves. They've continued their dominance and are now winners of 14 in a row, a streak that has them four games clear in the NL East. I was impressed with how well they treaded water during their long stretch without a day off, and here they are with the second best record in the National League. Right now, however, the 1995 Cleveland Indians currently boast the best record in the tournament at 41-22, holding the winning percentage tiebreaker over the 2016 Chicago Cubs, who have held the best record for almost the entire tournament, or at least been close. If you want a full look at the standings beyond what's on the sidebar of the main page (wild cards included), you can view that here.

We're still a little ways away from anyone clinching, but there's still another four weeks left to go after this round. Over the weekend we had six divisional matchups, but thankfully no need for either wraparound series or doubleheaders this time. Our marquee matchup for the weekend though would have to be the 1975 Cincinnati Reds taking on the aforementioned Cubs at Wrigley in a battle for first place.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Lets' go play some baseball!

MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 21

We're coming down to the final five weeks of the regular season portion of the MLB Tournament of Champions. There's a lot of separation in the standings at this point, but all ten postseason spots remain up for grabs.

The AL West is our most tightly contested division, with just a game and a half separating the top three teams in the division, though if the season ended today, only two of them would make the postseason. Meanwhile, the 2016 Cubs seem to have reestablished some control over their own dominion as the first team to 40 wins. The shock of late has come from the 1986 Mets, who have lost eight of their last nine and are out of first place for the first time all tournament. They're still in a tie for a wild card spot, but need to right the ship if they want to stay in the playoffs. This has opened up an opportunity for the 1995 Braves, who have seized it, winning ten in a row.

In this round, we have a total of three divisional matchups, including one that requires a doubleheader. The standings for the tournament to date are listed on the sidebar of the main webpage, but if you want a full version of the standings, including wild cards, you can view that here.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!

MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 20

We get a second straight weekend without a wraparound series! All is not lost!

We do have a fairly heavy division schedule in this 20th round of the Tournament of Champions though, with a total of five matchups between division opponents occuring this time around. We do have our first doubleheader in a couple weeks this weekend as well.

If you want a full look at the standings beyond just what I have listed on the sidebar of the website, you can view that here. That page includes wild card standings and also the elimination numbers for every team not in a playoff position. This is a roundabout way to do magic numbers for the playoff teams, though for the division leaders I'll have to look into it a little more to find out if they clinch a berth, but not necessarily the division.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 19

We're well into the month of June now, and the MLB Tournament of Champions rolls on!

We have just six weeks of the regular season left to go at this point and while I'd like to say the division races are heating up, I'm not entirely sure that that's true. Our narrowest division lead coming into this game is the 2007 Rockies' one and a half game advantage in the NL West, with the 1989 Athletics' two game edge being the next closest. Every other division is separated by at least three games. The wild card races are very interesting at this stage though, especially in the National League where three teams are tied for the final spot.

We'll see a fair amount of shakeup in the standings in all likelihood this round, though not a ton because we only have a single divisional matchup this time around. It is the conclusion of some season series in both leagues, however. If you want to see a full breakdown of all the standings, wild cards included, you can view those here.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Without further ado, let's play ball!

MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 18

I finally have a weekend round in the MLB Tournament of Champions that doesn't involve a wraparound series! It's a miracle!

We're over halfway done with the regular season portion of the tournament now, but we still have another month and a half to go. It's no surprise, then, that we have yet to see anyone clinch even a postseason berth. But hey, it's early. I've built out a standings sheet beyond the divisional standings you can see on the panel to the right of this post (assuming you're reading this on the full site and not the mobile site). This includes Wild Card standings and the all-important Elimination Number to see how long until a team is mathematically out

As we look at the current state of the league, the 2016 Cubs only kind of broke out of their funk, but they're no longer the best team in the tournament by record. That honor belongs to the 1995 Indians, with the 2004 Red Sox just a game back. The 1986 Mets have also moved into a tie with the Cubs for the best mark in the National League, and hold the tiebreaker based on winning percentage.

That tie will be broken this weekend, however, as those two teams play each other. That's the series to watch in the National League, while the American League boasts the maximum six divisional matchups as we get a completion of season series on that side.

Random aside before you start reading this round's post: With the 1970 Orioles playing before the advent of the designated hitter, they've been playing all their home games without the DH, and I had no way around that. This unfortunately means that over Boston's four game set in Baltimore, Nomar Garciaparra, who was traded to the Cubs in July 2004 and thus wasn't on the team that won the World Series, got pinch hit at bats in all four games, and I had no way to prevent that. Fortunately, it doesn't appear as though it impacted any of the four games to a great degree, so I'm allowing it for this series only. Since the rest of Boston's games will include a DH, we shouldn't run into this problem again.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to the field!

MLB Tournament of Champions: Regular Season Round 17

It's hard to believe, but we've hit the month of June. We're a little over halfway done with the Tournament of Champions, at least the regular season part anyway.

Some of the races are really tightening up. The 2016 Cubs, who I've been praising as the leader of the pack for most of the tournament so far, have gone into a free fall, losing seven of ten and seeing their grip on the NL Central drop to just one game with the team in the rear view mirror hosting them this week. I blame Cardinal Devil Magic.

We have one other division in the NL West being roughly that close, but several other divisions are looking like runaways at this point. This round, we have three divisional matchups, all in the National League, with that aforementioned Cubs-Reds series requiring a doubleheader.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!