MLB playoff scenarios: Tigers likely will be No. 3 seed if they win division

Only six games remain on the Detroit Tigers' 2012 schedule, and Jim Leyland's team currently clings to a slight edge on the Chicago White Sox for first place in the American League Central. But even with an expanded number of teams set to reach postseason this year for the first time ever, the Tigers, as Bless You Boys points out, would still be hard-pressed to end up with anything other than No. 3 seed in the AL.

Still 6½ games away from the New York Yankees' No. 2 spot at the moment, the Tigers would need a jaw-dropping set of events to move up in the standings with so few games remaining. Due to the fact that the playoff schedule was already set before the second Wild Card team was finalized by Major League Baseball, the No. 3 seed will actually open the playoffs with home field advantage against the second divisional winner (No. 2 seed).

This means that based on the most recent standings, Detroit would kick off the playoffs from Comerica Park against the Yankees for two games, and then head back to the Bronx for the final three games of the series. Though the league will revert back to its preferred 2-2-1 format in 2013, the odd 2012 scheduling will also force the winner of the No.1 seed vs. Wild Card series to play the very next day in the league championship series.