MLB Playoff Predictions: A Look At Both The American League, National League, and more.

Image Credit: bleacherreport.com

September is here already. This means you've wasted another summer, pumpkin flavored everything is on sale, and the MLB season is winding down. No teams have clinched anything, yet. Even though some early frontrunners are playing down to their competition, with just under 20 games to play, the playoff picture is taking is coming into focus.

The National League seeding will come down to the last games. Most likely, the Nationals and Dodgers will be the 1 and 2 seeds - an ever so slight edge going to the Dodgers to take the 1 seed because of a softer schedule. The Cardinals seem a safe bet to win the NL Central. And the wild card teams... The Giants, Pirates, Braves, and Brewers are in the mix. None of them are solid enough teams to advance, anyway. The Pirates are hot right now, but they've been so streaky and inconsistent since the break, that's just more reason to believe they'll be ice cold soon enough. My NLCS pick? Dodgers over Cardinals in six. The Dodgers pitching and bats have been slightly better than the Cards over the second half of the season, even if their record hasn't.

The American League is a little better defined. The Angels and Orioles will be the 1 and 2 seeds, respectively. The Tigers and Royals will battle it out for the Central. I expect the Tigers to pull it out - they are the better team despite their play since the break. Everyone's favorite losers, the Oakland A's will pull down the other wild card. The A's and the Tigers have the starting rotations to win playoff series, without question, but it's hard to understate how average both teams have been over the last six weeks. The Mariners may even beat them to the wild card.  Momentum and chemistry matter. The Angels have been quietly solid all season. For that reason, I like them over Baltimore in five, but the A's or the Tigers could easily ruin this.

The Yankees are mathematically alive, although I didn't include them in this discussion. It's time to start looking towards next year. Time to look towards replacing Jeter. The Yankees are the premier team in baseball, and they need to behave that way this off-season. The team must move on from Cashman or extend his contract as soon as possible. Likewise, A-Rod's future should be defined early. The Lakers' bungled coaching search showed us how embarrassing it is when a powerhouse franchise indecisively waddles through off-season changes. You're the Yankees. Make a decision and stick with it.

A couple of other quick MLB notes: 
People of Tampa, you have a halfway decent baseball team in town. Go support them from time to time. 

Astros' fans, if there's any of you left, stick it out one more year. Yes, you've been bad for a long time. This year was better than expected, though still bad, and your team has a great farm system. Soon enough, "there's always next year" will be this year.

-Josh Henderson

Twitter: @verybadwrong