Five teams that could crash the 2016 MLB postseason

With the expansion of the Wild Card, almost every MLB team seems to think it has a shot of making the postseason — and making some noise in October. In reality, most clubs don’t, but it seems one surprise team always does.

Last year it was the Houston Astros, and two years ago it was the Kansas City Royals. Although baseball is not traditionally a sport full of surprises, times would appear to-be-a-changing.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five teams that could crash the 2016 MLB postseason.

1) Cleveland Indians

Terry Francona’s Indians weren’t too far off from making the Wild Card play-in game last season, finishing just four and a half games out. With their core roster intact from last year, a postseason berth is more than possible for this Indians team.

Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley are all studs at the plate and in the field, and although he seems to have become an afterthought to the casual baseball fan, pitcher Corey Kluber was the 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner. The Indians will need Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar to grow into legitimate starters, but with the talent they possess, that’s more than likely to happen at some point.

Despite the history of Cleveland sports, there are some compelling reasons to believe in the Indians at the moment.

2) Miami Marlins

I know, they’re the Marlins. Why would you ever trust this organization? Well, to start, Miami has two of the best players in baseball in Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez, two players who are only getting better, by the way. Additionally, Christian Yelich, J.T. Realmuto and Adeiny Hechavarria are all young players on the rise.

Marlins management also made a prudent move in hiring former Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly to the same position the offseason. After a contentious divorce from the “Boys in Blue,” you better believe Mattingly is out to prove that the Dodgers made a poor decision in firing him after he took L.A. to the postseason three straight years.

The pieces are all there. Marlins fans just need to hope the team doesn’t do something that screams “typical Marlins.”

3) Chicago White Sox

While we can expect the Cubs to dominate headlines, it shouldn’t be forgotten that there’s another baseball team in Chicago, and the White Sox are a team that shouldn’t be ignored. Chicago’s south-side club has an absolute murderer’s row of hitters in middle of its lineup with Jose Abreu, Melky Cabrera and the newly acquired Todd Frazier.

Along with having a retooled bullpen, the Sox also throw out one of best pitchers in baseball every five days in Chris Sale. Despite having a career ERA of 2.91 and a WHIP of 1.07, Sale is yet to win a Cy Young Award. That could easily change this year, along with the White Sox making a run at the postseason.

4) Arizona Diamondbacks

OK, we know the Arizona Diamondbacks are far from sleepers, but playing in the same division as the Dodgers and Giants makes clinching a postseason berth no easy task. The Diamondbacks made a clear statement to the baseball world that they are going all in over the next few seasons. The team signed Zack Greinke to a mega-contract and basically traded its entire farm system to the Braves for Shelby Miller.

The D-Backs DESPERATELY want to make the postseason this year. And with Greinke, Miller and Pat Corbin spearheading their rotation, leapfrogging the Dodgers and Giants isn’t out of the question. Oh, and A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt are pretty good ball players as well.

5) New York Yankees

The words “sleeper” and “Yankees” don’t end up in the same sentence too often. But when projecting the 2016 MLB season, the New York Yankees are in fact a sleeper team.

While it’s totally understandable to have reservations about the New York lineup and how much run production it can create, there’s no questioning that the “Bronx Bombers” have the best bullpen in the Majors. With Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller in the pen, if your team can’t enter the seventh inning with a lead against the Yankees, then it might as well forfeit.

Oh, and there’s more good news Yankees fans: Stephen Drew is no longer starting at second base! That honor now belongs to Starlin Castro. Despite having major holes on their roster, the Yankees made it to the Wild Card play-in game last season. This season, they have the potential to go even farther.