The Best of the Rest: 2017

The very weird part about the 2017 season was that there was a great divide between the teams that did well, and the teams that didn't. There were one or two teams that skirted the line between playoff-ready and playoff-missing, but for the most part, a lot of this year's main contenders were set in stone around May-ish, after the Orioles, Reds and Tigers' leads had evaporated.

So, to be honest, I could have done up this post last month and we would have been all the wiser. But, as my tradition, I feel it's best, on the last day of the regular season, before we embark on a month-long odyssey with a few teams we're gonna learn to like again, to look at the twenty teams that could not make it to October 2nd.

Here are stories of triumph in the face of inevitability, thrilling upsets, disappointments, and teams that could very well leap from this list next year. Looking back on the 2016 version, I see teams like the Yankees, Twins, Diamondbacks, Astros and Rockies, so it can definitely happen, and if everything stayed the exact same from year to year, then...then this would be the NFL.

So, here are some superlatives for the 20 teams that missed the playoffs, so we can at least make sure they leave the 2017 season with something.

Most Likely to Succeed (According to the Sportswriters in January): Seattle Mariners

Most Frustrating Use of a Youth Movement: San Diego Padres

Best Squanderer of Hopes Their Fans had in 2016: Texas Rangers

Best Complete Dissolution of a World Series squad from two years ago: New York Mets

Best Example of Injuries Severely Hurting a Great Team: Seattle Mariners

Best Example of a Team That Completely Gave Up in August for the 2nd Time in 3 Years: Detroit Tigers

Best Pitching Staff for a Team that Didn't Make the Playoffs: Milwaukee Brewers (without a doubt)

Worst Pitching: Cincinnati Reds. Again, without a doubt.

Most Promising Pitching Staff (that will likely be amazing in 2021): Tampa Bay Rays

Most Likely to Succeed (Next Decade): Philadelphia Phillies

Best Example of a Team That Brought Up a Youth Movement that Completely Negated the Youth Movement they Brought Up Last August: Oakland Athletics

Team in Dire Need of Something Different: San Francisco Giants

Team Just Now Realizing How Lucky They've Been the Last Two Years: Toronto Blue Jays

Most Depressing Team to Talk About Every Few Weeks: (TIE) Chicago White Sox & San Diego Padres

Best Example of 'Too Little, Too Late': Los Angeles Angels

Best Cosmic Justice, 2nd Year Running: St. Louis Cardinals

Most Unwilling to Recapture the Lighting in the Bottle: Baltimore Orioles

Team That Needs to Realize That What Helped them win the Series is Hurting Them Now: Kansas City Royals

Team That Would Have had a Chance in Literally Any Other Division: Miami Marlins

Team That Has No Idea What Wants: Atlanta Braves

Best Overall Team That Didn't Make the Playoffs: Milwaukee Brewers (This was their year)

Team That Needs a new Franchise-Saving Youth Movement in place of the Current One: Pittsburgh Pirates

Most Likely to Not End Up on this list in 2018: Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners

Alright, those are your faithful 20, whose fans are taking today as their last opportunity to see them until Spring Training. It's been a good year, but here's hoping for some of these 20 that next year will be better.

Tomorrow, we go over the guys that made it in.