MLB may have taken away the division winner's right to choose the playoff schedule, but home field advantage could be very important to the Red Sox for another reason and that reason is the Texas Rangers. Even though the AL West is about as close as the East right now, I still think the Rangers have the best chance of winning that division. If the Rangers hold their lead and finish with a better record than the Tigers, then they (the Rangers) will face the Wild Card team, which is practically guaranteed to be either the Yankees or the Red Sox, and have home field advantage. If the Red Sox end up as the Wild Card, that means they have to face a team that they do not match up well against and play as many as 3 of 5 games in a ballpark where they have not had much success. If the Red Sox win the division, however, they will play the team from the Central (likely the Tigers, against whom they went 5-1 this season) and only have to play as many as 2 of 5 away from home. They would also have home field advantage should they advance to the ALCS because whoever wins the East will, barring anything crazy happening, have the best record in the league. Even if it happens that they face the Rangers in the ALCS, at least they would play up to 4 games at Fenway. Therefore, it's not only pride that would come with an AL East win.
It could be that the Indians win the Central and the Angels win the West, but the most likely scenario is the Tigers and the Rangers. Home field advantage goes out the window for whatever AL team wins the pennant and represents the league at the World Series, but for the first two rounds of the playoffs, the advantage is within reach for the Red Sox. I hope they are hungry for a divisional win after losing out the the Yankees and the Rays the past 3 years. They need not lose their competitive edge settling for the Wild Card.
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