Yankees Aiming For Top Seed, Home-Field Advantage in AL

The American League playoffs may run through the Bronx.

Sep 22, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Jasson Dominguez (89) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a two-run home run against the Oakland Athletics in the second inning at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees are looking to make a deep playoff run - and they're in the perfect position to do just that.

After their victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, the Bronx Bombers whittled down their magic number for clinching the AL East to one game; a win over the Baltimore Orioles in their ensuing series will end the race for the division and clinch the crown.

However, the Yankees have plenty of room for error in securing the division title. With their magic number only being one, the only way New York wouldn't claim the AL East is if they lose all six of their remaining games, while the Orioles win out. Even if Baltimore sweeps the upcoming three-game set in the Bronx, a single loss on their end in their final six games will give the division title to the Yankees.

Barring an unprecedented collapse, the Yankees winning the AL East almost seems inevitable at this point. As a result, their attention will instead shift to claiming the number one seed in the American League and being awarded home-field advantage throughout; the Yankees last had the top seed in 2012. Once again, the odds are greatly in New York's favor.

The top seed in the AL has come down to just three teams: the Yankees, Orioles, and Cleveland Guardians. Entering Tuesday, the Yankees are ahead of the Guardians by 2.5 games (three in the loss column); New York also has the head-to-head tiebreaker in hand over Cleveland in case both teams finish with identical records. With six games remaining for the Yankees and five for the Guardians, the Yankees' magic number for the top seed is three.

As a result, PlayoffStatus.com has given the Yankees extremely favorable chances for securing home-field in the AL; they currently have a 98% chance of winning the top seed, while the Guardians have a roughly 2% chance. As for the Orioles, while they haven't been outright eliminated from this race, they have a less than 1% chance.

Securing home-field advantage in the AL would make the Yankees' path to the World Series significantly easier, as a winner-take-all game in the ALDS or ALCS would be played in Yankee Stadium. This would be especially important if the Yankees face the Houston Astros in the ALCS; although Houston has defeated New York for the pennant three times in the past seven seasons, the Astros had home-field advantage in all of these series, so perhaps the Yankees can see different results if they earn the top seed.

It is looking increasingly likely that the American League playoff field will have to run through the Bronx, which should work wonders in the Yankees' quest for their first pennant and World Series title since 2009.