By Peter Sblendorio
Sports Editor
While there are still two races for postseason spots going on in the National League, the teams that will make up the American League playoff picture have been fairly certain for the past month. The final weekend of the season will serve as more of tune up for these teams, with only all four teams having clinched within the past few weeks.
Start with the American League East teams. While the Rays and Yankees are tied for first place and would each like to claim home field advantage for the playoffs, the team that fails to win the division will be the Wild Card winner. Each team has issues with their rotations that they would like to fix in the final three games of the year.
For New York, the questions come after ace CC Sabathia. Andy Pettitte has had a strong year in 2010, but he missed two months and is just getting back now. After these two lefties, New York will have to rely on right handers A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes, two pitchers that have struggled to find consistency of late.
Like the Yankees, the Rays will also use the last weekend to evaluate their pitching staff. Starters Matt Garza, James Sheilds and Jeff Niemann have all pitched poorly in September, and they hope that they can boost their performances in the final weekend.
Across the nation, the Rangers will look to solve the issue that is Josh Hamilton. Hamilton, who has two fractured ribs, has not played in weeks, but he will start the final three games of the season. Should Hamilton get back into the swing of things, the Rangers will receive a major boost on offense for the postseason.
Lastly, the Minnesota Twins will have to find ways to get new forms offensive production. Former AL MVP Justin Morneau, who has missed the past few months following a concussion, has been officially ruled out of the ALDS and the Twins will need to find a new source of power for the heart of their lineup.
The AL teams have been locked up for a while, and they will use their last few games to get ready for October baseball.
Click here for a look at the American League Standings.
