Preview/Prediction

For all their successes in recent seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals enter their National League Division Series matchup as relative strangers. They have not met in the postseason despite combining for seven division championships in the past five seasons.

The Dodgers' two NLDS battles against NL East champions came during the two campaigns (2013 and 2015) where Washington was sitting at home.

After a brilliant 11-game winning streak in September allowed them to move into first place and clinch the American League East title, the Boston Red Sox (93-69) played indifferent baseball in the final week of the season and lost five of their final six games.

That allowed the American League Central champion Cleveland Indians (94-67) to take advantage and finish with a better season-long record than the Red Sox and earn home-field advantage in their American League Division Series.

After an exciting September that featured tightly contested postseason races in both leagues, the 2016 MLB playoffs are finally upon us with the field already set despite the regular season ending on Monday.

Two American League East clubs will vie for their postseason lives when the Toronto Blue Jays host the Baltimore Orioles in Tuesday's AL Wild Card Game.

MLB nearly faced a scheduling nightmare when a four-team tie remained plausible as late as Saturday. If the Detroit Tigers were required to make up a rained-out game Monday, they could have forced another tiebreaker game before playing the actual elimination game.

Sometimes sports can be cruel, and the American and National League Wild Card Games are perfect examples. 

Major League Baseball's 162-game regular-season schedule is a serious commitment for players and fans alike. The players must grind through the dog days of summer and all the peaks and valleys that come with them, while the fans must devote significant chunks of their time to watching, attending and following such a large number of games.

The 2016 regular season is over, and the field is set for the MLB playoffs, which begin Tuesday.

The postseason field was largely set heading into Sunday, with a handful of games determining the last few wild-card spots.

After battling for the East Division title throughout the summer, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles won the two wild-card spots in the American League playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

The two teams clinched their playoff spots as the Orioles beat the New York Yankees and the Blue Jays defeated the A.L. East champion Boston Red Sox.

October baseball doesn’t get much better than Wednesday’s National League Wild Card Game.

Two iconic franchises will square off with their aces on the mound in a pressure-packed, do-or-die contest. The winner of the showdown between the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants will then have a chance to spoil the Chicago Cubs’ quest to end their World Series drought in the National League Division Series.

All six MLB divisions are settled. 

That doesn't diminish the chaos in store for the season's final four days, though.

Every division is wrapped up, but all four wild-card spots have yet to be determined. Don't be surprised if bonus baseball is needed to settle a tiebreaker on Monday.

The MLB postseason is quickly approaching, but many teams around the league already have their sights set on the offseason and potential improvements before the 2017 campaign.