Playoffs??!

American League - With the Central Division title and wild card yet undecided, the seedings are still up in the air. A look at the four AL pennant contenders...

1. New York Yankees
Strengths: New York has by far the most imposing lineup. They lead the quartet in runs scored by nearly 100 runs and also rank first in HR, BB, and SB. They have accomplished this while having two stars miss large portions of the season with injury. When he is healthy, they have the best postseason closer in MLB history in Mariano Rivera.

Weaknesses: As mentioned above, the injury bug has taken its toll on the Yankees all season. Randy Johnson is now questionable for the postseason with a herniated disk in his back. The loss of Johnson would hurt a pitching staff which ranks last among the four teams in ERA at 4.40 and has been dealing with nagging injuries to Mike Mussina & Mariano Rivera. Also, a recent SI article in which Jason Giambi made disparaging remarks about Alex Rodriguez can not help the clubhouse chemistry. Apparently, $200 million payrolls can't buy you everything.

2. Detroit Tigers
Strengths: With 16 shutouts, the Tigers top the AL playoff teams in ERA by nearly a quarter of a run. That ERA number, no doubt, has been helped by a defense that is throwing out over 40% of opposing baserunners.

Weaknesses: Where to start? The young pitching staff has struggled since the All-Star Break and may be tiring. How will they respond to the pressure of October? The offense has struggled for stretches over the last 2 months and ranks last among the four in batting average, on base percentage, and stolen base percentage.

3. Minnesota Twins
Strengths: The AL Cy Young favorite, Johan Santana, leads a staff with a sub 4.00 ERA that leads the group by nearly 150 strikeouts. The bullpen has been so good that opposing teams will feel the pressure to get early leads. If the Twins lead after 6 innings, the game is virtually over. The offense ranks first in batting average and will put the bat to the ball, as they have struck out nearly 100 times less than the next AL postseason qualifier.

Weaknesses: The season-ending injury to phenom Francisco Liriano has made it even more imperative that Brad Radke successfully pitch through the pain of a torn labrum and a stress fracture in his throwing shoulder. Offensively, the chicks don't dig the Twins, as they rank last in HR among the four playoff lineups, by over 30 long balls for the season.

4. Oakland Athletics
Strengths: The A's have been bolstered by the late season return of ace starter Rich Harden. If he can quickly return to form, a 1-2 punch of Barry Zito and Harden could help Oakland in a short series. Defensively, the Athletics are tied with the Twins for best fielding percentage among the four contenders.

Weaknesses: The offense. They rank last in batting average, nearly 15 points below the 3rd place Tigers. They rank last in slugging percentage despite over 30 more homeruns than the 3rd place Twins. They also rank last in steals, last in total bases, and not surprisingly, last in runs.

As for the National League, superstition prevents me from commenting on recent developments in the Central Division race. Once the National League is finalized, I'll preview all the Division Series and offer up some predictions.