Blue Jays: What the Wild Card picture really looks like

Just ahead of the Blue Jays

Texas Rangers (4.5 of the 2nd WC spot)

The Rangers have had a season that has been equally disappointing to that of the Blue Jays, and have basically thrown in the towel for 2017. They still have a talented core, but the front office elected to trade some crucial pieces in Yu Darvish to the Dodgers, and Jonathan Lucroy to the Colorado Rockies, signalling that their focus is on next year and beyond.

Adrian Beltre added a significant highlight of their franchise history, collecting his 3000th career hit, and cementing himself into the Hall of Fame once he retires from the game.

Fan Graphs gives them a 4.2% chance of taking a Wild Card spot, so things don’t look good for them either. Stranger things have happened though, and they’re only 4.5 games behind the Royals for that second spot.

Minnesota Twins (3.5 back of the 2nd WC spot)

The Twins weren’t supposed to be contenders this year, but they’ve outperformed their expectations, even if they’ve faltered a bit recently.

They started out as buyers prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, but quickly reversed course after a stretch of losses. They acquired Jaime Garcia from the Atlanta Braves, and then dealt him to the Yankees after just one start with Minny. It’s hard to fault the front office for getting creative, because again, they weren’t planning on being contenders this year.

Ervin Santana, Brian Dozier and others have lead them to a 53-56 record, and they’re currently just 3.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot, and have a 5.2% chance of qualifying for the playoffs. They’re seemingly resigned themselves to focusing on the future as well, but a hot streak could make them change their minds in a real hurry.