CHICAGO – Twins reliever Tyler Clippard on Monday provided a look at how the Twins might approach the final two weeks of the regular season.
While fans would like the Twins to teach the White Sox a lesson this week in Chicago and claim the top seed in the American League, Clippard pointed out there's a bigger picture.
"I think with the way that the playoff structure is set up right now," he said, "winning your division isn't as important as it was in years past."
Major League Baseball on Tuesday announced the playoff schedule, which involves eight teams from each league for the first time. The Twins entered Tuesday trailing the White Sox by two games in the AL Central. The division title is within reach. If that doesn't happen, they have a good chance of being the team with the best second-place record, and home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Twins are a sizzling 21-5 at home, which could be a motivation to qualify for home field. But after the first round, everyone is headed to San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston or Arlington and MLB's version of a postseason bubble. What's the point?
"It would be very important to win your division," Clippard said, "but at the same time, using a series like this to prepare us for the playoffs regardless of what happens here. We use this in a positive way to get to the ultimate goal, which is winning a championship."
Bench coach Mike Bell understands how some covet division dominance.
"But you see a banner hanging up in a stadium and to realize that you were some small part of it, there's pride in that," he said. "And I think that's important. But you also want to see a banner with a WS next to it too. So once we get to the playoffs, however that happens, we'll figure it out then."