Why aren't the Yankees being recorded as last in their division?

Question

Tampa Bay has the better HTH record vs NYY, and has the better divisional & AL record. By any standards of tiebreaking, the Yankees should be recorded as owning last place.

Answer 1

At this point in the season, the wire service usually goes by alphabetical order. There's nothing at stake now, so if the teams have the same record, it's simply a matter of New York being ahead of Tampa Bay in the alphabet.

Don't worry, though -- everyone realizes that the Yankees are tied for last. And maybe Tampa Bay will win on Wednesday.

Answer 2

As everyone else has said, it's all alphabetical. However, basebal DOES do the tiebreakers for regular season, but not until the last month or so. I know this because the Red Sox and Yankees had the exact same record in 2005, but the Yankees won because they had won the season series between the two.

Answer 3

Baseball doesn't do the tiebreaker stuff that football does for regular season standings. When the records are exactly the same and/or the winning percentages are exactly the same the tied teams are simply listed alphabetically.

Answer 4

Standings are sorted by winning percentage. In the event of a tie, alphabetical order of the team tends to take precedence but, really, it's not important -- it's a tie. So, "N" precedes "T", though without the cities it'd be "D" before "Y".

Answer 5

This is not football--there are no tiebreakers in baseball when it comes to daily stadings. I think it's simply that New York is first alphabetically and nothing more.

Answer 6

Woohoo! I have waited ten years and the Devil Rays have finally caught up to the Yankees! Take that Steinbrenner!