We can finally stop talking about how bad the American League was this season. Records are 0-0 now, and Wild Card rounds are set to begin today.

Here’s a breakdown for each playoff team, some interesting stats, team MVPs, and more.

(1) Tampa Bay Rays vs. (4) New York Yankees or (5) Boston Red Sox

(2) Cleveland Guardians vs. (3) Houston Astros or (6) Chicago White Sox

(1) Milwaukee Brewers vs. (4) San Diego Padres or (5) Chicago Cubs

(2) Los Angeles Dodgers vs. (3) Atlanta Braves or (6) Philadelphia Phillies

Team MVP: SP Jacob Misiorowski (16-5, 1.80 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 13.0 K/9)

Biggest October storyline: Is this the year?

Best trade deadline acquisition: RP JoJo Romero

Stat to know: The Brewers won a franchise-best 102 games while ranking 29th in home runs (154).

Player with the most postseason experience: Christian Yelich (27 games)

Season series versus potential next opponent: 2-4 vs. SDP, 9-4 vs. CHC

Summary: Since 2018, the Brewers have won more than 90 games six times with five NL Central championships. Their postseason presence is inevitable.

However, what hasn’t been inevitable is postseason success. In that same time span, the Brewers have posted a 10-20 postseason record with four Wild Card round exits. Behind an ace with a Baseball Savant page as red as a Canada Day uniform and a lineup that led the league in hits, the Brewers are looking to finally break through and prove that their regular season success can correlate to postseason success.

Team MVP: DH/SP Shohei Ohtani (8-2, 1.79 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 30 HR, 81 RBI, .889 OPS)

Biggest October storyline: The Dodgers are seeking MLB’s first three-peat since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.

Best trade deadline acquisition: SP Tarik Skubal

Stat to know: Kyle Tucker posted career-lows in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and home runs (min. 60-game season).

Player with the most postseason experience: Enrique Hernández (103 games)

Season series versus potential next opponent: 1-5 vs. ATL, 4-2 vs. PHI

Summary: A 13-14 August made some of the baseball world believe that maybe, just maybe, the Dodgers were starting to wear out. They bounced back with an 18-7 September, though, and they also earned a much-needed bye.

Heading into the NLDS, they’ll start their rotation with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, and Blake Snell, which is about as good as it gets. That also reinforces the lack of need for Shohei Ohtani to pitch, which was out of the question already.

Team MVP: 3B Junior Caminero (.276/.360/.524, 42 HR, 101 RBI, 25 2B)

Biggest October storyline: With pending labor negotiations, the Rays can be a spoiler for the anti-salary cap crowd.

Best trade deadline acquisition: C/DH Liam Hicks

Stat to know: The Rays were 55-26 at home this season, tied for the best home record this season with the Brewers. The Rays have clinched home field advantage at least through the American League side of the bracket.

Player with the most postseason experience: Yandy Díaz (25 games)

Season series versus potential next opponent: 7-6 vs. NYY, 7-6 vs. BOS

Summary: For anyone wondering if Junior Caminero could replicate last year’s success in a major league home ballpark, take that.

Caminero gets a lot of love (as he should), but the Rays continue to get tremendous results from Yandy Díaz, who had 170+ hits for the third time in his previous four seasons. Additionally, the Rays got a bang for their buck with SP Nick Martinez, who hung a 3.10 ERA and 1.09 WHIP across 31 starts.

Team MVP: SP Chris Sale (14-9, 2.16 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 11.1 K/9)

Biggest October storyline: Chris Sale gets his first postseason start with the Braves.

Best trade deadline acquisition: SP Tyler Mahle

Stat(s) to know: The Braves finished t-4th with 49 saves this season, with their back end of the bullpen headlined by Raisel Iglesias (2.55 ERA), Robert Suarez (1.06 ERA), and Didier Fuentes (2.45 ERA).

Player with the most postseason experience: Ozzie Albies (43 games)

Season series versus the Phillies: 9-4

Summary: You could argue there are bigger storylines with the Braves than Chris Sale getting his first nod as a member of the club, but his tenure with the Braves has been incredibly good. Furthermore, the last time the Braves were in the playoffs, their Game 1 starter was AJ Smith-Shawver.

The Phillies won’t be an easy out with the starting rotation that they boast, which means it’d be a great time for Austin Riley to put a lackluster regular season behind him.

Team MVP: SP Cam Schlittler (14-6, 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 11.1 K/9)

Biggest October storyline: Will Aaron Judge be available?

Best trade deadline acquisition: INF Luis García Jr.

Stat to know: The Yankees have finished first or second in MLB in home runs in four of the last five seasons. The lone miss? 2023, when Aaron Judge missed significant time with a toe injury.

Player with the most postseason experience: RF Aaron Judge (65 games)

Season series versus the Red Sox: 7-6

Summary: Aaron Judge’s status is still up in the air, and while he will definitely be needed for the Yankees to make a legitimate run at the World Series, Ben Rice deserves a lot of praise for his presence in New York’s lineup. Rice hit 41 home runs in a season where Judge and Giancarlo Stanton missed much of the season, and Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger saw their home run totals decrease year-over-year.

They’ll need Rice to produce, but it doesn’t help to have the AL Cy Young frontrunner with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Max Fried behind him.

Team MVP: Ty France (.295/.363/.502, 21 HR, 72 RBI, 24 2B)

Biggest October storyline: Setting the tone under new ownership.

Best trade deadline acquisition: SP Robbie Ray

Stat(s) to know: Since Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first home run of the season on May 30th, he hit .299 through the remainder of the season with 25 home runs, 66 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases.

Player with the most postseason experience: Manny Machado (51 games)

Season series versus the Cubs: 1-5

Summary: Am I crazy for calling Ty France the MVP? I mean, if we’re talking about value, it’s been worth way more than the $1.3 million minor league deal to which he signed prior to the season. With how close the race was between the three Wild Card teams and Arizona, France’s performance definitely aided San Diego’s push for the top spot.

Team MVP: CF Pete Crow-Armstrong (.280/.372/.570, 45 HR, 107 RBI, 31 2B, 41 SB)

Biggest October storyline: Can the pitching win them games that the offense can’t?

Best trade deadline acquisition: RP Ryan Zeferjahn

Stat to know: The Cubs ranked 1st in MLB with 850 runs.

Player with the most postseason experience: 3B Alex Bregman (102 games)

Season series versus the Padres: 5-1

Summary: Cubs and Padres may be my favourite of the four Wild Card rounds, particularly looking at Chicago’s elite offense facing San Diego’s elite bullpen. The Cubs narrowly bested San Diego during last year’s Wild Card round at Wrigley Field, outscoring the Padres 6-5 and hitting three home runs. They’ll need a similar effort from their pitching staff if they want to steal this year’s series, which is now at Petco Park.

Team MVP: Jesús Luzardo (14-5, 2.86 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 11.1 K/9)

Biggest October storyline: If not now, when?

Best trade deadline acquisition: 2B Luis Arraez

Stat to know: Philadelphia’s +15 run differential was the second-smallest of the playoff field.

Player with the most postseason experience: Bryce Harper (57 games)

Season series versus the Braves: 4-9

Summary: I sang the Dodgers’ praises for their tentative rotation for their first playoff series, but a trio of Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, and Zack Wheeler are right there with them.

My storyline for this team seems fitting as they’ve been in the mix for several years now. This lineup isn’t getting any younger, and it’d be a shame to see the aforementioned arms and their seasons amount to nothing.

Team MVP: Willson Contreras (.275/.386/.516, 27 HR, 81 RBI, 21 2B)

Biggest October storyline: Will Garrett Crochet be able to come out of the ‘pen? If so, when?

Best trade deadline acquisition: C Adley Rutschman

Stat to know: The Red Sox sandwiched a 15-game win streak in between 37-48 and 35-27 records to begin and end the season, respectively.

Player with the most postseason experience: Aroldis Chapman (46 games)

Season series versus the Yankees: 6-7

Summary: The Red Sox seemed to be in the middle of some drama each of the past couple of seasons (see Rafael Devers and/or Alex Cora). The organization was able to make a massive 180-degree turn in the middle of this season, though, so much so that Chad Tracy was promoted from interim manager to manager for the next three seasons.

Whatever success they have this October, it will have to be earned with the Yankees and potentially the Rays first and second on the docket.

Team MVP: SP Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.76 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 12.1 K/9)

Biggest October storyline: Is Cleveland good enough to take down any of the big dogs?

Best trade deadline acquisition: OF Jo Adell

Stat to know: The Guardians have posted a 51-26 record over their previous three Septembers.

Player with the most postseason experience: José Ramírez (45 games)

Season series versus next potential opponent: 2-4 vs. HOU, 6-7 vs. CHW

Summary: It’s a little strange that the Guardians won the AL Central without José Ramírez having a great season, relatively speaking. Gavin Williams and Parker Messick will be a heck of a duo leading their rotation, and the likes of Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana, and Brayan Rocchio will look to manufacture runs in the most “Cleveland” way possible.

We can joke about “Guards Ball” all we want, but adding Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe at the trade deadline were two impactful power bats to go in the middle of Cleveland’s lineup. The two combined for 12 homers, 59 RBIs, and 15 doubles since they arrived in Cleveland.

Team MVP: 3B Miguel Vargas (.250/.363/.474, 31 HR, 93 RBI, 31 2B)

Biggest October storyline: They are the most dangerous team – they have nothing to lose!

Best trade deadline acquisition: CF Brenton Doyle

Stat to know: Using their 28-man roster that ended the regular season, this could be the playoff debut for 20 White Sox players.

Player with the most postseason experience: OF Tommy Pham (37 games)

Season series versus the Astros: 2-5

Summary: The White Sox weren’t predicted to be here, but they spent 96 calendar days leading the AL Central, so they quickly shut those predictions down.

We shouldn’t look at this as a participation trophy or a “just happy to be here” kind of team, though. They’re the only team that had three hitters with 30+ home runs, including Miguel Vargas, who may model the kind of creative offseason trades teams will be looking to make with a relatively weak free agent class.

Team MVP: Yordan Alvarez (.316/.432/.601, 42 HR, 106 RBI, 34 2B)

Biggest October storyline: Are they in by default, or is there anything there?

Stat to know: Houston is the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs with a record at .500 or worse during a 162-game regular season.

Player with the most postseason experience: Jose Altuve (105 games)

Season series versus the White Sox: 5-2

Summary: My input in the “Biggest October storyline” might be a little insulting given that the likely AL MVP plays for Houston. The Astros aren’t necessarily coming into postseason baseball on a roll, but they did just get their bats going in Sacramento, scoring 34 runs over the final four games of the regular season.

Don’t get your hopes up if you believe momentum is only as good as the next day’s starter; the Astros are going with a bullpen game in Game 1.