There have been some rather mediocre teams to sneak into the postseason via the Wild Card in recent years, especially with a third Wild Card spot now included in MLB. For the most part, however, good teams often end up winning divisions. That won't be the case in the American League West this season. The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are currently tied for the lead in the AL West despite both ball clubs currently being two games under .500 at 78-80.

There's a realistic chance that the winner of the division will finish the season below .500. Regardless of whether or not that happens, the Rangers or Astros will need to go 4-0 over their next four games to avoid finishing the season with the worst record ever for a division winner, according to Rangers broadcaster Jared Sandler.

“The worst record ever for a MLB division winner is 82-80 (2005 Padres),” Sander wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Unless either the Rangers or Astros go 4-0 to close the season, the AL West division winner will have 81-or-fewer wins, a new low-point for a division winning record.”

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The division is so bad that the Seattle Mariners — who recorded a 6-5 walk-off win against the Astros on Wednesday — are still technically in contention despite their ugly 74-84 record. Seattle sits four games back of Houston and Texas with four games remaining, so they likely won't reach the playoffs. Still, a team that is well under .500 at this point in the year is not often still technically in contention.

The overall American League has been underwhelming this year. While the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have all performed well in the AL East, the remainder of the league has been mediocre for the most part. The AL Central is a bit more competitive with the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox already at 82 wins and 81 wins, but it isn't exactly the best division in baseball. The AL East has been the only overall rather strong division in the AL.

With all of that being said, either the Astros or Rangers will end up winning the division. Houston holds the tiebreaker, which gives them an advantage.