3 Mid-season MLB tables based on NHL rules, Soccer Rules, and TOSS Rules

If the season ended today, we here at TOSS would have our playoff picture as below:

NL Playoff Picture

• Los Angeles Dodgers
• Atlanta Braves
• Chicago Cubs
  • Washington Nationals
  • Philadelphia Phillies

Al Playoff Picture

• New York Yankees
• Minnesota Twins
• Houston Astros
  • Tampa Bay Rays
  • Oakland Athletics

How we’ve done this all year is treat every extra inning game like a tie and provide points instead of records to determine the most deserving teams in the MLB to make the playoffs. These points work like a power ranking system so if you see a team like the Oakland A’s, who have been in our AL Playoff Picture for quite some time now getting closer to the 2nd Wild Card don’t be surprised.

Here’s what the point table looks like with ties/extra inning games counting as .5 points and Wins as 1 point:

MLB Teams	Points
Los Angeles Dodgers	60
New York Yankees	55.5
Minnesota Twins	55.5
Houston Astros	54
Tampa Bay Rays	53.5
Oakland Athletics	52.5
Atlanta Braves	52
Cleveland Indians	50.5
Texas Rangers	48
Washington Nationals	48
Philadelphia Phillies	47.5
Boston Red Sox	47.5
Chicago Cubs	47
San Diego Padres	46
Los Angeles Angels	46
Arizona Diamondbacks	45.5
Milwaukee Brewers	45
Colorado Rockies	43
Cincinnati Reds	43
Pittsburgh Pirates	43
St. Louis Cardinals	42.5
Chicago White Sox	41.5
New York Mets	41
San Francisco Giants	40
Seattle Mariners	38
Toronto Blue Jays	35
Miami Marlins	34
Kansas City Royals	31.5
Detroit Tigers	29
Baltimore Orioles	28.5

Here’s the updated records for every MLB team which we follow all year:

Teams	Wins	Losses	Ties/EI Games
Arizona Diamondbacks	39	39	13
Atlanta Braves	47	34	10
Baltimore Orioles	26	58	5
Boston Red Sox	43	38	9
Chicago Cubs	44	40	6
Chicago White Sox	40	43	3
Cincinnati Reds	39	40	8
Cleveland Indians	48	35	5
Colorado Rockies	38	41	10
Detroit Tigers	25	52	8
Houston Astros	50	32	8
Kansas City Royals	27	55	9
Los Angeles Angels	44	43	4
Los Angeles Dodgers	58	30	4
Miami Marlins	30	50	8
Milwaukee Brewers	41	42	8
Minnesota Twins	52	30	7
New York Mets	37	45	8
New York Yankees	52	29	7
Oakland Athletics	48	34	9
Philadelphia Phillies	44	39	7
Pittsburgh Pirates	37	40	12
San Diego Padres	43	41	6
San Francisco Giants	37	46	6
Seattle Mariners	34	52	8
St. Louis Cardinals	38	41	9
Tampa Bay Rays	49	33	9
Texas Rangers	44	38	8
Toronto Blue Jays	31	52	8
Washington Nationals	45	38	6

Baseball might not want to switch ties because of [baseball not wanting to change the game much from a historical perspective], but what if we decided to go the NHL route and keep wins but treat Overtime Losses/Extra Inning Losses as more than regulation losses? What would that look like?

Total Wins = 2 ; Extra Inning Losses = 1

MLB Teams	Points
Los Angeles Dodgers	122
New York Yankees	116
Houston Astros	115
Minnesota Twins	115
Atlanta Braves	111
Tampa Bay Rays	110
Oakland Athletics	107
Cleveland Indians	103
Boston Red Sox	101
Texas Rangers	100
Arizona Diamondbacks	98
Philadelphia Phillies	98
Washington Nationals	98
Chicago Cubs	97
Milwaukee Brewers	96
San Diego Padres	94
Los Angeles Angels	93
Pittsburgh Pirates	93
Colorado Rockies	92
St. Louis Cardinals	91
Cincinnati Reds	88
Chicago White Sox	85
New York Mets	85
San Francisco Giants	84
Seattle Mariners	81
Toronto Blue Jays	73
Miami Marlins	71
Kansas City Royals	66
Detroit Tigers	61
Baltimore Orioles	58

And just because we’re having fun with this in offering multiple options here. What about keeping ties but making the points valued like a soccer table?

Regulation Wins = 3 points ; Extra Inning Games Played = 1 point

MLB Teams	Points
Los Angeles Dodgers	178
Minnesota Twins	163
New York Yankees	163
Houston Astros	158
Tampa Bay Rays	156
Oakland Athletics	153
Atlanta Braves	151
Cleveland Indians	149
Washington Nationals	141
Texas Rangers	140
Philadelphia Phillies	139
Boston Red Sox	138
Chicago Cubs	138
Los Angeles Angels	136
San Diego Padres	135
Milwaukee Brewers	131
Arizona Diamondbacks	130
Cincinnati Reds	125
Colorado Rockies	124
Chicago White Sox	123
Pittsburgh Pirates	123
St. Louis Cardinals	123
New York Mets	119
San Francisco Giants	117
Seattle Mariners	110
Toronto Blue Jays	101
Miami Marlins	98
Kansas City Royals	90
Baltimore Orioles	83
Detroit Tigers	83

A couple of things:

• The TOSS Tie Table and Soccer-Style Table look very similar from a playoff perspective however the gaps between teams are significantly larger because of the higher point totals.
• NFL Style actually places the Diamondbacks in the playoffs over the Nationals as the WC and places more emphasis on winning games, no matter if it’s in Extra Innings or not.
• TOSS Style creates the closest outcomes and point totals while keeping the totals lower and creating more emphasis on winning games in 9 innings.

Each style has it’s own pros and cons and I believe the TOSS formula works better for a full season competition and keeping more teams involved down the stretch of the regular season.

Let me know what you all think?

-J-Raz