The Astros Won Their Division at 81-81. Here Are the 10 Worst Playoff Teams in MLB History
The Astros just won the AL West at 81-81, the first division champ without a winning record. Here are the 10 worst teams ever to make the MLB playoffs, plus the 1994 Rangers.
On Sunday, the last day of the regular season, the Houston Astros beat the A's 9-0. About the same time, the Texas Rangers lost to Minnesota, 6-4. That was the AL West race. Houston finished 81-81 and won the division by one game.
No team had ever won a division without a winning record. No team had ever made the playoffs in a full season with 81 wins. And in mid-May, these same Astros were 20-31.
"Any other team would have folded," manager Joe Espada said, "but these guys chose not to."
So where does an 81-81 division champion rank among the worst teams ever to play in October? Here's the list, ranked by winning percentage, from bad to worst.
10. 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks
84-78. Outscored on the season. Won the pennant anyway.
Arizona got in as the last wild card and gave up more runs than it scored. Then it beat Milwaukee, swept the 100-win Dodgers and beat Philadelphia in 7 games to reach the World Series. Texas beat them in 5.
9. 2023 Miami Marlins
84-78. Outscored by 57 runs.
That's the worst run differential of any team ever to make the postseason. The Marlins got there by going 33-14 in one-run games. The Phillies swept them in 2 games.
8. 2006 St. Louis Cardinals
83-78. World Series champions.
On Sept. 19 the Cardinals led their division by 7 games. Then they lost 7 in a row and barely held on. Nobody expected anything from them in October, and they won the whole thing, beating Detroit in 5 games. They're still the champion with the fewest wins in a full season.
7. 2025 Cincinnati Reds
83-79. In on a tiebreaker.
Cincinnati tied the Mets for the last wild card and got in because it had won the season series. The Dodgers swept them in 2 games.
6. 1973 New York Mets
82-79. The lowest winning percentage of any pennant winner.
On Aug. 30 the Mets were in last place. On Sept. 21 they were 77-77. Relief pitcher Tug McGraw kept yelling "Ya gotta believe!" and the team went on a late run to win the NL East. Then the Mets upset the Big Red Machine in the NLCS and took Oakland to 7 games in the World Series before losing.
5. 2005 San Diego Padres
82-80. The old record holder.
Until Sunday, these Padres were the worst full-season division winner ever. They went 22-6 in May and were outscored by 85 runs the rest of the year, and they won the NL West because nobody else in it had a winning record either. St. Louis swept them in the first round.
4. 2026 Houston Astros
81-81. The worst full-season playoff team in history.
The Astros were in last place in late April with the worst ERA in baseball. They didn't get back to .500 until August. Yordan Alvarez hit 42 home runs and won the AL batting title at .316, and he was about the only thing that went right all year. They were outscored over the season.
And yet: Houston is the No. 3 seed in the American League, ahead of 3 wild-card teams with better records. On Tuesday the Astros host the Chicago White Sox (84-78) in a best-of-3 Wild Card Series.
"Now, we go," shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
The top 3 teams on this list were even worse, but they had help: all 3 played in a strange season.
3. 1981 Kansas City Royals
50-53. A losing record, in a strike year.
A 7-week players' strike split the 1981 season into 2 halves, and baseball decided the winner of each half would make the playoffs. The Royals went 20-30 in the first half and 30-23 in the second, which won them the second-half title. Overall, they were fourth in their division. Oakland swept them.
2. 2020 Houston Astros
29-31. The losing team that almost made the World Series.
In the 60-game pandemic season, 16 teams made the playoffs. Houston got in as the No. 6 seed with a losing record, then beat Minnesota and Oakland. In the ALCS the Astros lost the first 3 games to Tampa Bay, won the next 3, and lost Game 7.
1. 2020 Milwaukee Brewers
29-31. Outscored by 17.
Same season, same record as the Astros, but a worse team. The Brewers were the first NL club to clinch a playoff spot with a losing record, and they finished with a negative run differential. The Dodgers swept them in 2 games.
The one that never got the chance: the 1994 Texas Rangers
52-62. First place.
On Aug. 12, 1994, the players went on strike and the rest of the season was canceled, including the World Series. At that moment, the Texas Rangers were 10 games under .500 and leading the AL West.
It was the first season at The Ballpark in Arlington. Kenny Rogers had thrown a perfect game on July 28. The whole division was under .500. If the season had finished, a team that was outscored by 84 runs might have hosted a playoff game.
We'll never know. So the 2026 Astros get to own the record, and on Tuesday they get to try to make it look silly.
Honorable mention: 1987 Minnesota Twins
85-77. Outscored 806-786. World Series champions.
The Twins went 56-25 at home in the Metrodome and 29-52 on the road. They were the first team to win the World Series after being outscored during the regular season, and they won all 4 of their World Series home games.
Which team on this list was really the worst? Tell us in the comments.
Comments ()