Red Sox’s Limp Play Exposes MLB’s Awful Playoff Format

Somehow, according to Fangraphs, the Red Sox playoff odds still sit at 10.7 percent. Part of this has to do with the Royals and their seven game losing streak, but the biggest chunk of that persistent percentage is mostly tied to the remote possibility of the Red Sox sweeping the Minnesota Twins when they come to Boston for that three game series on September 20th.

If you apply that far-fetched sweep scenario to the standings right now, the Sox would jump from 5.5 games behind Minnesota to just 2.5 games behind them while also flipping the tie breaker (Minnesota will retain that tiebreaker unless they get swept).

So, as long as that path remains on the table and a sweep would place the Sox on…