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Football Pick’em
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A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast
NFL Draft recap
As we head to Memorial Day, it’s worth wondering how many 2024 Major League Baseball teams are actually in the top tier. It isn’t a large group. There are a small handful of terrible teams, some sub-par teams, a sea of mediocrity, some pretty good teams and then our upper-tier group. 
I’d describe the criteria for the upper tier as teams that have looked great so far and are very likely to continue to be great. It’s still very early, but they all feel like locks for the playoffs. I’ve got five. 
That’s where I draw the line. 
I’m sure fans of the Guardians, Royals and Brewers, along with a few others, would like to argue they fit in the top tier as well, but I’ve got a drop-off after a clear-cut top five. The Guardians in particular have looked like a great team for a sizable portion of the 2024 season and maybe they belong above the line, but I expect them to keep playing at a 13-11 pace (their record since April 23) rather than the torrid 17-6 start. 
The good news for the teams not in the top tier? Well, the Rangers and Diamondbacks weren’t in it last year and they squared off in the World Series. The number of playoff teams in this current format means it’s anyone’s game once we get to October. We’re just as likely to see something like the Guardians against the Brewers as we are the Dodgers vs. Yankees. 
And that is, yes, a whole lotta fun. 
Now let’s rank ’em. As a reminder, we do these once a week. If a team is going well and then loses five straight starting on Tuesday, you don’t get to yell at me on social media about how the team should’ve been ranked lower. It’s a snapshot in time, not a set of predictions. 
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