With the American League West title firmly in their possession, the most prominent questions facing the Angels during the final 2 1/2 weeks of the regular season will be who, where and when.

As in who will the Angels -- who clinched their division on Wednesday -- face in the postseason? Where will they play and when will they start?

One of the best-of-five AL Division Series is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Oct. 1, with the other to follow on Thursday, Oct. 2. The Angels will almost surely have home-field advantage in the first round, playing host to games 1, 2 and 5, if necessary.

If the season ends with all the playoff contenders in their current places, the Angels would face the Red Sox in what would be a rematch of the 2004 and 2007 Division Series, both won by Boston in three-game sweeps.

The Red Sox are currently in second place in the AL East but lead the Wild Card race by five games over Minnesota. In each league's four-team playoff format, the Wild Card is assigned to play the team with the league's best record -- unless the Wild Card team and the best-record team are from the same division.

That makes it likely that the Angels' opponent will come from the AL East. The Angels and East-leading Rays are a half-game apart, with Los Angeles holding an 88-57 record and the Rays at 87-57. The Central Division-leading White Sox are 81-64, so either Tampa Bay or Los Angeles is likely to hold the AL's best record when the regular season ends on Sept. 28.

That accomplishment would carry with it one other advantage: Because the AL won the All-Star Game, the team with the league's best record will get to choose whether it wants to open the Division Series on Oct. 1 or 2. The series that is to begin on Oct. 1 is scheduled to have three off days. The other is scheduled to have two.

Should the Red Sox overtake the Rays in the AL East -- they trail Tampa Bay by 2 1/2 games -- the Rays would almost surely still get the Wild Card, and thus would draw the Angels in the first round.

If either the White Sox or Twins -- separated by one game in the AL Central -- were to catch Boston and take the Wild Card, the Angels would play the Wild Card team if they retained the league's best record, or the AL Central champion if Tampa Bay were to finish with the best record.

The Angels are 8-1 against the Red Sox, 3-6 against the Rays, 5-5 against the White Sox and 5-3 against the Twins this season.