For the Chicago White Sox, dropping two of three in a series against the Cleveland Guardians really feels like a double whammy.

Not only did Chicago fall out of first place in the AL Central for the first time since early July, but they also fumbled away a valuable first-round bye in the postseason. If the White Sox somehow get right in the final eight games of the regular season, their best chance of making the playoffs at the moment is via the AL Wild Card -- along with the other rabble.

By carving out space for three Wild Card teams, Major League Baseball treats the division winner with the second-best record like the team with the best record. This means the Tampa Bay Rays (92-59) could win 100 games and the AL East and be rewarded almost identically to another division-winner that can't finish better than 87-75.

It doesn't seem fair, but that's what Major League Baseball gets for making it too easy -- or "fair," if you will -- to reach the postseason in the first place. The entirety of the American League has played mediocre baseball all season, and as a result, all but three teams still have a chance to be a Wild Card as of Thursday morning. It's like that "Oprah" where everyone wins a car. Sorry to say, the Kansas City Royals (67-85) dream of driving off to the playoffs crashed last night.

Someone being eliminated from the postseason in the AL isn't something that happens every day. And it won't happen today, because the earliest the Minnesota Twins can be eliminated is Friday. The Seattle Mariners, who sneakily have a day off Thursday, can't be snuffed out until the weekend. What a life.

Looking critically at the AL Wild Card field, it's probably too harsh to say "they all stink," but they definitely are thoroughly flawed teams. Even the ones from the mighty AL East. For all of the handwringing about how the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox "deserve" a bye more than any of the AL Central or AL West unmentionables, sure, let's feel sorry for someone from the AL East.

Because of their starting pitching, the Red Sox have a legit shot to emerge and reach the World Series. They'd supercharge their chances if they had a bye. But if you break up their outlier 15-game winning streak from two months ago, their 82-70 record looks a lot more like the other Sox.

The Yankees -- won't someone think of the Yankees?! -- could use a bye because it would give Aaron Judge a few extra days to stay off his feet. He's hurt again. They could still attrit (as in attrition) their way to the World Series -- but only because the competition ain't too good.

Save the "re-seeding" talk for another season. The AL is just bad, and the reward is a playoff spot.

The Guardians still have time to mediocre themselves (mediocre is a verb now) back into the Wild Card portion. Their 9-7 September surge is not synonymous with a run that erased a 15 1/2 game deficit on the Detroit Tigers a season ago. Going back to the start of June, they're four games under .500. Are the Guardians like a watch dog? Because, woof.

And don't even look at the Texas Rangers or Houston Astros out of the AL West. Don't look! What the league should do in their case is tell the winner they've made the playoffs and send them to an empty stadium in a recreation of that scene in "Goodfellas" with Joe Pesci in his nicest suit. And then have their moms make them dinner. But no playoffs.