Imagine this scenario: With two games left in the season, the Los Angeles Angels lead the AL West by a half-game, needing just one victory over second-place Texas to clinch a remarkable worst-to-first division title and their first postseason berth since 2014.
If baseball's season were as short as football's, that's pretty much where things would stand.
This question — what would the dominant baseball narratives be if this season were 17 games long? — is a worthwhile thought experiment, given how much discussion there's been lately about parity. There's a conventional wisdom that the NFL is a more competitive league, with so many teams staying alive in the playoff race down to the last couple weeks — and teams making dramatic rises and falls in the standings from one season to the next.
But how much of that is simply a result of how short the football season is? Right now, all but one of baseball's 30 teams have played between 15 and 17 games. And right now, the baseball standings mirror the type of anything-can-happen drama the NFL provides.
The Angels are in first place after entering the season as complete afterthoughts. The Atlanta Braves are in last. Toronto leads the AL East after finishing last in 2024. At this moment, 23 of the 30 teams are within two games of a playoff spot.
Shorter seasons lead to quirkier results and more compressed standings. That's worth remembering the next time the competitive balance in baseball and football are compared.
Vibe shift
The Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles have spent the past few seasons swapping roles in the AL East. Toronto averaged 90.7 wins from 2021-23, with an exciting young core that included Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. But the Orioles surged to the top of the division in 2023, and suddenly their collection of up-and-coming talent was the talk of the sport — and when the Blue Jays stumbled to 74 wins last year, it was fair to wonder if their window was closing and it was time to deal Guerrero.
