Another week, another team removed from our eliminator power rankings. This time, it’s the White Sox who join the ranks of the dearly departed. When the week began, Chicago had won eight of its past 11 games and trailed the first-place Guardians by just four games in the American League Central. Then, Cleveland came to town for a make-or-break three-game set, and everything fell apart. The Guardians swept the White Sox, then the Tigers did too, putting to bed any hopes of a late-season turnaround.
For the sake of inclusion, we’ve decided to keep the Orioles around for at least one more week. Baltimore trails Seattle by four games for the final wild-card spot with 10 to play, putting the team’s playoff hopes officially on life support. But hey, that’s better than any reasonable Orioles fan could have ever hoped for back on Opening Day, so maybe chalk it up as a moral victory.
