The definition of what makes a “contender” in baseball is slippery. Is a contender a team that expects to compete for a World Series victory? Is a contender a team that expects to win its division? Is a contender a team that is good enough to make the playoffs? What about hoping to make the playoffs? And just how good does that mean?
There’s a lot of nuance there, but the trait that all contenders share is that they were good enough to get into the playoffs in the first place. So, let’s start there: how many wins does it take to make the playoffs?