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Inspired By The AL West, Take A Look At The Weakest Playoff Teams In MLB History
Confirmed
In Short: The 2026 American League West teams are on track to make history as the first sub-.500 playoff team in Major League Baseball (MLB) history, according to CBS Sports.
As of now, every team in the AL West is below.500, with the Astros and Rangers having just four games left in the regular season.
The combined ERA for AL West teams is 4.54, and they have allowed 4.79 runs per game, making this an unusual season.
CBS Sports notes that the 2005 Padres currently hold the record for the worst regular-season mark by a playoff team at 82-80.
However, the eventual AL West champion, likely the Mariners, will need to win out to avoid breaking the Padres' record.
The AL West teams are a combined 84 games under.500, and their run differentials show they have been outscored by opponents by a total of 467 runs.
MLB expanded its postseason to 12 teams in 2022, increasing the likelihood of a sub-.500 team making the playoffs.
FOX Sports and Fox News report that no full-season division champion has ever had a losing record, and no team has made the postseason with a sub-.500 record unless you count the 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 1981 and 1994, teams with losing records made the playoffs due to temporary playoff expansions.
Despite the unusual circumstances, the AL West title race remains competitive, with the possibility of a losing team claiming the division title.
The AL West's situation is unprecedented, as no division has ever had all teams below.500 and still competing for a playoff spot.
What's confirmed
- With just a few days left in the regular season, the AL West might make a particularly mediocre kind of history.
- In fact, no team has made the postseason with a sub-.500 record, unless you count a trio of participants from years the playoffs were temporarily expanded: In the 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Milwaukee and Houston were both 29-31 and made the postseason.
- In 1981, the Kansas City Royals went 50-53 overall — but they were the AL West's top team in the post-strike second half, meaning they got in.
- Then in 1994, the Rangers led a woeful AL West at 52-62 when the players' strike ended the season.
- MLB expanded its postseason to 12 teams in 2022, raising the likelihood that a sub-.500 team would sneak into October at some point.
- Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the American League could have several clubs with losing marks in this year's playoffs.
- But the AL West title race could still yield a losing team.
- In honor of that, here are 10 of the weakest teams to make the postseason, listed in chronological order with their records and run differentials in mind.
What's still developing
- The American League West race is still very much in the air, even with mere days -- hours, if you're partial to more difficult arithmetic -- remaining in the 2026 Major League Baseball season.
- This would normally yield a certain amount of taut intrigue, given that a playoff berth and World Series aspirations hinge upon the outcome.
- This, though, is the AL West in 2026, and normality is not welcome here.
- Probing a bit more deeply into the revolting depths of the AL West, these five teams are currently a combined 84 games under.500.
- Really, though, the AL West has been lucky not to be even worse.
- If you look at those run differentials -- not that you want to or that it's advised -- you'll find that the teams of the AL West in the aggregate have been outscored by the opposition, which of course means teams not in the AL West, by a total of 467 runs.