The Opsera is a statistic RealGM Executive Editor Chris Reina created in order to objectively rank teams by how well they hit (OPS) and pitch (ERA). In order to determine the Opsera rating for each, we take their OPS, multiply that number by 10 to move the decimal point over one place to the right and then subtract their ERA from that number. Below are the rankings through the Wednesday, September 28th games: The rankings from last week are in parenthesizes. 1. (2) Texas Rangers - 4.21 For the first time in months, a team other than the Yankees sits in first place. The Rangers would love to send New York packing in the ALCS for a second straight year. T2. (1) New York Yankees - 4.15 With nothing to play for, the Yankees saw their Opsera total take a hit (-0.06) over the final week of the season. -- (3) Philadelphia Phillies - 4.15 The Phillies played spoiler, keeping the rival Braves from the playoffs with an extra-inning win on Wednesday night. Hunter Pence could become an October hero. 4. (5) St. Louis Cardinals - 3.92 The Cardinals, who have already locked up Lance Berkman for another season, may have increased their chances of re-signing Albert Pujols by getting into the postseason. 5. (4) Boston Red Sox - 3.90 They were not the only team to collapse down the stretch, but the Boston market and their huge payroll make their slide one of the most intriguing in sports history. 6. (6) Milwaukee Brewers - 3.87 Like St. Louis, Milwaukee is trying to enjoy additional time with their slugging first baseman. 7. (8) Detroit Tigers - 3.69 No team, not even the Yankees, wants to face the possibility of seeing Justin Verlander multiple times in a postseason series. 8. (9) Tampa Bay Rays - 3.66 Evan Longoria entered not only Rays lore, but baseball history with his walk-off home run that gave his team the American League Wild Card. 9. (7) Los Angeles Angels - 3.57 Pitching was not the problem for the Angels, who may not even need to add firepower to their offense if their young hitters continue to grow in the offseason. 10. (12) Arizona Diamondbacks - 3.56 The lowest-ranking playoff club in our end-of-season rankings, the Diamondbacks have the moxie to beat more talented teams in October. 11. (10) San Francisco Giants - 3.51 12. (11) Atlanta Braves - 3.47 13. (13) Los Angeles Dodgers - 3.43 14. (14) Washington Nationals - 3.33 15. (15) Cincinnati Reds - 3.18 T16. (16) Florida Marlins - 3.11 -- (17) San Diego Padres - 3.11 18. (18) Oakland Athletics - 3.09 19. (19) New York Mets - 3.06 20. (24) Kansas City Royals - 3.00 21. (22) Toronto Blue Jays - 2.98 T22. (21) Chicago White Sox - 2.96 -- (23) Colorado Rockies - 2.96 24. (20) Cleveland Indians - 2.91 25. (25) Chicago Cubs - 2.82 26. (26) Pittsburgh Pirates - 2.72 27. (27) Seattle Mariners - 2.50 28. (29) Baltimore Orioles - 2.40 29. (28) Houston Astros - 2.33 30. (30) Minnesota Twins - 2.08

A late home run by Ryan Braun and some help from the Cubs allowed the Brewers to clinch their first division title since 1982. Milwaukee clinched the National League Central title shortly after their 4-1 win over the Marlins because the Cubs topped the Cardinals. Braun hit a three-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth with chants of "M-V-P" ringing throughout the sellout crowd at Miller Park. "I think for me honestly, I live for that moment. You play the game to have the opportunity to play meaningful games down the stretch in September," Braun said. "I truly expected to come through in that situation."

The Angels lost to the Athletics on Friday night, allowing the Rangers to clinch the American League West following their own victory over the Mariners. Gio Gonzalez outdueled Jered Weaver and Oakland scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on an error to help spoil L.A.'s playoff hopes. The Angels are alive in the AL Wild Card race, but their chances are becoming slim. The Rangers have won consecutive division titles after three straight won by the Angels. "It hurts that we can't win the division title. That's understandable. But Texas played so well, we just couldn't catch up to those guys," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said. "Now we still have a shot at the wild card, and we still have some life left. All you want is just to have a chance to get in. We still have a shot, but it's very frustrating that we can't gain any ground."

The Diamondbacks beat the defending-champion Giants on Friday night to clinch their first National League West division title in four years. They did so in manager Kirk Gibson's first full season as rookie Paul Goldschmidt gave them the win with a two-run triple off San Francisco's Sergio Romo in the eighth inning. "I don't care if it's your first year or your 10th year, it's what you set out to do," Gibson said. A year after going 65-97, Arizona is 91-66 and heading to the playoffs.

The Opsera is a statistic RealGM Executive Editor Chris Reina created in order to objectively rank teams by how well they hit (OPS) and pitch (ERA). In order to determine the Opsera rating for each, we take their OPS, multiply that number by 10 to move the decimal point over one place to the right and then subtract their ERA from that number. Below are the rankings through the Thursday, September 22nd games: The rankings from last week are in parenthesizes. 1. (1) New York Yankees - 4.21 Despite a patchwork rotation behind CC Sabathia, the Yankees are cruising towards the postseason with another division title wrapped up. 2. (3) Texas Rangers - 4.11 The Rangers have won eight of their last ten games as they are hot at the right time. 3. (2) Philadelphia Phillies - 4.10 Philadelphia has already clinched the best record in the National League, but they are limping into October. 4. (4) Boston Red Sox - 3.95 The Red Sox are choking, there is no doubt about it, but all will be forgotten when the playoffs begin and only three starting pitchers are required. 5. (5) St. Louis Cardinals - 3.87 They have been a staple of our top five this year, but they have just a 24.4 percent chance of making the postseason with a week left. 6. (6) Milwaukee Brewers - 3.79 Milwaukee has the third-best record in all of baseball. 7. (10) Los Angeles Angels - 3.64 Losing to the Blue Jays on Thursday night hurt the Angels badly. They could have moved to within two games of the Red Sox for the American League Wild Card. 8. (7) Detroit Tigers - 3.61 The Tigers have absolutely run away with the AL Central, owning the biggest lead in the game. 9. (9) Tampa Bay Rays - 3.59 The Rays will need some help from the Yankees to make the playoffs. New York has three games against Boston and then will wrap up the season next week in Tampa Bay. 10. (11) San Francisco Giants - 3.58 The defending champions are not out of the National League Wild Card race yet, but elimination is imminent. 11. (8) Atlanta Braves - 3.56 12. (12) Arizona Diamondbacks - 3.53 13. (T14) Los Angeles Dodgers - 3.39 14. (13) Washington Nationals - 3.30 15. (T14) Cincinnati Reds - 3.17 16. (19) Florida Marlins - 3.15 17. (T21) San Diego Padres - 3.08 18. (20) Oakland Athletics - 3.05 19. (17) New York Mets - 3.04 20. (23) Cleveland Indians - 3.02 21. (18) Chicago White Sox - 2.99 22. (T21) Toronto Blue Jays - 2.98 23. (16) Colorado Rockies - 2.97 24. (24) Kansas City Royals - 2.95 25. (26) Chicago Cubs - 2.85 26. (25) Pittsburgh Pirates - 2.74 27. (27) Seattle Mariners - 2.61 28. (28) Houston Astros - 2.47 29. (29) Baltimore Orioles - 2.39 30. (30) Minnesota Twins - 2.07

The Yankees rallied late against the Rays on Wednesday afternoon to win 4-2 in New York and clinch a playoff berth. New York's magic number was two prior to the game, with the team needing a win and a Tampa Bay loss to get in. The Yankees can wrap up the American League East title on Wednesday night if they win Game 2 of their double-header and the Red Sox fall to the Orioles.

The Opsera is a statistic RealGM Executive Editor Chris Reina created in order to objectively rank teams by how well they hit (OPS) and pitch (ERA). In order to determine the Opsera rating for each, we take their OPS, multiply that number by 10 to move the decimal point over one place to the right and then subtract their ERA from that number. Below are the rankings through the Wednesday, September 14th games: The rankings from last week are in parenthesizes. 1. (1) New York Yankees - 4.25 The Yankees do not have the best record in baseball, but they own the best run differential (+206) by a wide margin. 2. 2) Philadelphia Phillies - 4.20 The Phillies became the first team to punch their playoff ticket on Wednesday and locking up the National League East is around the corner. 3. (4) Texas Rangers - 4.07 The Angels are keeping the pressure on Texas, but at least the Rangers can sleep a little better knowing the Wild Card is another possibility as the Red Sox continue to struggle. 4. (3) Boston Red Sox - 4.01 Do I think the Rays will leapfrog the Red Sox? No, but the Rangers and Angels could be another story. 5. (6) St. Louis Cardinals - 3.76 Technically, the Cardinals are alive. 6. (5) Milwaukee Brewers - 3.75 A mid-September swoon will be soon forgotten if they can get back on track by the end of the month. 7. (10) Detroit Tigers - 3.64 Detroit is hot at the perfect time, but with the American League Central all but locked up, are they going to run out of gas in October? 8. (7) Atlanta Braves - 3.63 The Braves are in control of the Wild Card and I doubt the Brewers or Diamondbacks want to face them in the divisional round. 9. (8) Tampa Bay Rays - 3.60 Joe Maddon deserves Manager of the Year honors. The Rays have been able to get back into playoff contention because of poor play in Boston, but he has kept his young crew focused on controlling only what they can. 10. (9) Los Angeles Angels - 3.59 If they are not able to surpass either the Rangers or Red Sox, the Angels will be the best team in baseball not to make the postseason (sorry, Tampa Bay). 11. (12) San Francisco Giants - 3.51 12. (11) Arizona Diamondbacks - 3.49 13. (16) Washington Nationals - 3.25 T14. (13) Los Angeles Dodgers - 3.24 -- (14) Cincinnati Reds - 3.24 16. (19) Colorado Rockies - 3.13 17. (18) New York Mets - 3.11 18. (15) Chicago White Sox - 3.09 19. (22) Florida Marlins - 3.07 20. (17) Oakland Athletics - 3.06 T21. (T20) Toronto Blue Jays - 3.00 -- (T20) San Diego Padres - 3.00 23. (23) Cleveland Indians - 2.97 24. (T25) Kansas City Royals - 2.84 25. (24) Pittsburgh Pirates - 2.83 26. (T25) Chicago Cubs - 2.77 27. (27) Seattle Mariners - 2.57 28. (28) Houston Astros - 2.45 29. (29) Baltimore Orioles - 2.43 30. (30) Minnesota Twins - 2.06

The Opsera is a statistic RealGM Executive Editor Chris Reina created in order to objectively rank teams by how well they hit (OPS) and pitch (ERA). In order to determine the Opsera rating for each, we take their OPS, multiply that number by 10 to move the decimal point over one place to the right and then subtract their ERA from that number. Below are the final rankings through the Thursday, September 8th games: The rankings from last week are in parenthesizes. 1. (1) New York Yankees - 4.29 The Yankees dropped two straight to the Orioles, missing out on a chance to extend their lead over the Red Sox to 4 1/2 games. 2. (3) Philadelphia Phillies - 4.23 The Phillies are the only team in baseball with a double-digit lead in their division. 3. (2) Boston Red Sox - 4.10 They have a .811 OPS, far and away the highest in the Major Leagues. 4. (4) Texas Rangers - 3.95 Texas ranks third in runs scored and slugging percentage and fifth in on-base percentage. 5. (T6) Milwaukee Brewers - 3.77 The Brewers have lost three straight, but their lead over the Cardinals is still eight games in the National League Central. 6. (5) St. Louis Cardinals - 3.75 St. Louis has the same number of victories (38) at home and on the road. 7. (T6) Atlanta Braves - 3.65 The Braves are 10 games back of the Phillies, but they currently have a 98.4 percent chance of making the postseason as the NL Wild Card. 8. (8) Tampa Bay Rays - 3.58 The Rays will no doubt be after hitting this winter. An extra bat or two would have made it a three-team race in the American League East 9. (9) Los Angeles Angels - 3.52 With no games left against the Red Sox, it will be very hard to capture the Wild Card. Winning the AL West is their best bet. 10. (12) Detroit Tigers - 3.49 After reeling off six straight wins, the Tigers are the front-runners in the AL Central. 11. (10) Arizona Diamondbacks - 3.48 12. (11) San Francisco Giants - 3.43 13. (14) Los Angeles Dodgers - 3.30 14. (15) Cincinnati Reds - 3.25 15. (13) Chicago White Sox - 3.21 16. (16) Washington Nationals - 3.20 17. (19) Oakland Athletics - 3.15 18. (20) New York Mets - 3.11 19. (22) Colorado Rockies - 3.07 T20. (17) Toronto Blue Jays - 3.06 -- (21) San Diego Padres - 3.06 22. (23) Florida Marlins - 3.04 23. (18) Cleveland Indians - 3.00 24. (24) Pittsburgh Pirates - 2.89 T25. (25) Kansas City Royals - 2.77 -- (26) Chicago Cubs - 2.77 27. (27) Seattle Mariners - 2.54 28. (28) Houston Astros - 2.38 29. (29) Baltimore Orioles - 2.37 30. (30) Minnesota Twins - 2.12

The Opsera is a statistic RealGM Executive Editor Chris Reina created in order to objectively rank teams by how well they hit (OPS) and pitch (ERA). In order to determine the Opsera rating for each, we take their OPS, multiply that number by 10 to move the decimal point over one place to the right and then subtract their ERA from that number. Below are the final rankings through the Thursday, September 1st games: The rankings from last week are in parenthesizes. 1. (1) New York Yankees - 4.34 The Yankees had an OPS of .784 prior to the All-Star break, but that number has jumped to .834 in the second half. 2. (2) Boston Red Sox - 4.22 While the Yankees have seen a spike in offensive production, the Red Sox have been incredibly solid. They had a .809 OPS in the first half, matching their second half number. 3. (3) Philadelphia Phillies - 4.21 There was talk that the Phillies could have three or four 20-game winners this season. With less than a month left, they will be very lucky to have one. 4. (4) Texas Rangers - 3.91 Their series against the Red Sox in Boston this weekend could very well be a division round preview. 5. (6) St. Louis Cardinals - 3.73 The Cardinals remain near the top of our rankings, but they sit more than seven games behind the Brewers in the National League Central with time ticking. T6. (5) Atlanta Braves - 3.72 The Braves could flirt with 100 wins and finish a very distant second in the NL East. -- (7) Milwaukee Brewers - 3.72 The Brewers have lost just 19 games at home this season, while the Marlins have won just 25 contests at their home park. 8. (9) Tampa Bay Rays - 3.58 9. (8) Los Angeles Angels - 3.54 10. (13) Arizona Diamondbacks - 3.45 11. (10) San Francisco Giants - 3.43 12. (11) Detroit Tigers - 3.31 13. (14) Chicago White Sox - 3.29 14. (T17) Los Angeles Dodgers - 3.27 15. (12) Cincinnati Reds - 3.25 16. (T15) Washington Nationals - 3.24 17. (T17) Toronto Blue Jays - 3.21 18. (21) Cleveland Indians - 3.16 19. (19) Oakland Athletics - 3.14 20. (22) New York Mets - 3.11 21. (T15) San Diego Padres - 3.09 22. (20) Colorado Rockies - 3.03 23. (24) Florida Marlins - 2.92 24. (23) Pittsburgh Pirates - 2.84 25. (25) Kansas City Royals - 2.81 26. (26) Chicago Cubs - 2.74 27. (27) Seattle Mariners - 2.59 28. (29) Houston Astros - 2.45 29. (28) Baltimore Orioles - 2.39 30. (30) Minnesota Twins - 2.13