2014 MLB Playoffs

The 2014 MLB playoffs begin for 10 teams on Tuesday, but that number will be reduced to eight by Wednesday evening. The Oakland Athletics are set to take on the Kansas City Royals, and the San Francisco Giants meet the Pittsburgh Pirates in single-elimination contests to determine which two teams will move on to the best-of-five Division Series.

The Kansas City Royals have waited quite a while for this—29 years, to be exact—but at long, long, looooong last, they're returning to the postseason.

We've reached the final week of the 2014 MLB season, and there are still five postseason spots up for grabs heading into Tuesday's slate of games.

The National League field is essentially set, with the Milwaukee Brewers all but eliminated at five games back in the wild-card standings. The big question is who will host the Wild Card Round game, as the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates are currently tied atop the standings.

There's less than a week left in the regular season, but there are still plenty of 2014 MLB playoff spots up for grabs.

The Detroit Tigers and the underwhelming David Price have lots of work to do before they can take home the American League Central title, while the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers have also yet to lock up their respective divisions. 

Regular-season success and postseason success are often two different things in Major League Baseball, as some teams are simply better built for postseason success.

The article ahead offers an in-depth look at the seven teams best built to win in October.

The following areas carried the most weight when it came to ranking the teams:

We have officially hit crunch time in the 2014 MLB season, as the month of August comes to a close and teams have roughly 30 games left to secure a spot in the postseason.

In the National League, seven teams still boast a winning record, and the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds are hanging on the fringe of contention as well.

This is exactly how Bud Selig and Major League Baseball drew it up three years ago.

With the second wild-card spot, the number of viable postseason competitors increases and more teams remain in the hunt for longer. As the summer concludes and October quickly approaches, the drama spikes.

Each team now has 30 games or fewer to do one of a few things: catch their respective division leader and avoid the play-in game, hang on to their wild-card hold or chase down that second and final spot.

1. Golden State will rule in October

"Don't know much about history...

"Don't know much biology..."

Dang. That time of year again, huh? Time to trade the sun block for the textbooks, the pool for the school. Already? Believe me, if I could roadblock summer's end, I would.

"Don’t know much about geography..."

Wait! I can help get you on track there. Geography? Easy. Follow the bouncing hardball west.