Last season, one of the longest postseason droughts in MLB finally came to an end after the Tigers reached the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Now, the Angels stand alone as the owners of the longest active playoff drought.
It's not looking likely that the Halos will be playing into October this season, either, so their league-leading streak of 10 straight seasons without a postseason berth could increase to 11. We'll take a look at some of the longest playoff droughts in the league history.
Longest Postseason Droughts in MLB History
Throughout MLB history, there have been some extremely long postseason droughts, though none of the recent stretches have been longer than that of the Montreal Expos, who's playoff drought eventually transferred to the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated. From 1982 to 2011, the Expos/Nationals were held out of the postseason, a streak that lasted 29 years. Prior to 1969, the teams with the best record in American League and National League met in the World Series, without any expanded postseason play.
That drought remains the longest ever in MLB's divisional era, and we'll compare how it stacks up against some of the other lengthy droughts throughout league history, as well as since the introduction of the divisional era in 1969.
Longest Playoff Droughts in MLB History (All Time)
Team
Length of Drought (seasons)
Years Between Appearances
St. Louis Browns
41
1903 to 1943
Cleveland Guardians
40
1955 to 1994
Oakland Athletics
39
1932 to 1970
Chicago White Sox
39
1920 to 1958
Chicago Cubs
38
1946 to 1984
Longest Playoff Droughts in MLB's Divisional Era (Since 1969)
Team
Length of Drought (seasons)
Years Between Appearances
Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals
29
1982 to 2011
Kansas City Royals
27
1986 to 2013
Texas Rangers
26
1969 to 1995
Cleveland Guardians
24
1969 to 1993
Milwaukee Brewers
24
1983 to 2007
Longest Active Playoff Droughts in MLB
Team
Length of Drought (seasons)
Last Playoff Appearance
Los Angeles Angels
10
2014
Pittsburgh Pirates
9
2015
Colorado Rockies
6
2018
Washington Nationals
5
2019
Chicago Cubs
4
2020
Cincinnati Reds
4
2020
Oakland Athletics
4
2020
Of the teams with the longest active droughts, only the Cubs are currently on pace to reach the postseason. The Reds are still in the hunt for a wild card spot, but would need a tremendous month of September to snap their four-year long drought.