The New York Mets swung a trade to land star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes earlier this summer and it’s paid off in a big way. A once lethargic Mets offense now has the power and consistency to match it’s elite pitching rotation, and suddenly New York is a playoff lock with World Series aspirations.

It’s a pretty nice spot to be in if you’re the Mets. They might few differently in a few months. Per reports, New York is already thinking about life without one of their best offensive players, as they have other guys they have to worry about keeping and bringing Yo back would cost a bit more than they’d like to give up.

With Yoenis Cespedes hitting free agency this spring, it’s highly possible he’ll be on his fourth team in as many years. With that being a possibility, let’s take a second to look at five teams that could be willing to pay up to land him for the 2016 MLB season:

Kansas City Royals

One of the best teams in all of baseball can still get better, as the Royals could really use Yo’s power and defense. The Royals were already loosely tied to Cespedes this summer in trade rumors, so it wouldn’t be a shock if they pulled the trigger on a long-term deal with him after the season.

Baltimore Orioles

Camden Yards can be a beautiful place, especially with the O’s have mean power hitters to abuse opposing defenses. Cespedes could potentially be a part of that dream, as Chris Davis is a free agent and the Orioles could have to replace him. Even if Crush stays in Baltimore, the Orioles could use another bat for their sick offense to help push them over the top.

New York Yankees

Since when do the Yankees just settle with what they have? New York is going to be very busy this off-season, as they know they need a big arm or two and will also want another bat or three. Cespedes certainly qualifies as a big, effective bat and he could post career numbers spending the majority of his time at Yankee Stadium.

Detroit Tigers

Say what? Yes, Cespedes got traded to the Tigers last year and this year they unloaded him to the Mets to make sure they didn’t lose him for nothing in free agency. But Detroit will need to be looking for offensive fire power again next year and there has been chatter that landing Yo on a long-term deal is something they’re very interested in. Detroit was looking like a strong contender before they traded away their top talent, including Cespedes. It’s possible they realize their mistake and get him back in town.

New York Mets

That’s right, even with all the rumors of Cespedes moving on and the Mets not wanting to pay up, there is still a small possibility things could work out and he winds up right back in New York. The Mets can’t ignore how good they’ve been since his power was brought into town, and if they get far in the playoffs they may want to strongly consider bringing their best offensive player back to stick around for good.

Got another spot Yo could wind up in 2016? Tell us in the comments below!

The 2015 MLB season is winding down and eventually we’ll know for sure who stands above the rest, both in the standings and in individual statistics. Most people will only really care if their team makes the playoffs, but for the ones that don’t, often player awards are something to hang your hat on.

That can be the case with an MVP award, which at the very worst suggests the team who holds the winner had one of the best (or most entertaining) players in all of baseball. It’s always going to be up for debate, and if it goes to a guy who doesn’t make the playoffs there are sure to be questions. But we have our top contenders and we’re getting close to an actual verdict.

Let’s see if our predictions can’t ring true as we break down the lasting contenders for the AL and NL MVP awards:

AL MVP Top Contenders: Nelson Cruz, Dallas Keuchel, Josh Donaldson, Mike Trout

Cruz is on a bad team, so he has that working against him. He’s also not a beastly defender and is hanging his hat largely on his heavy bat. That’s fine, since he’s one behind Chris Davis for the league lead in homers. Keuchel is our only pitcher making the list from the AL, as he’s been quite the force for the Houston Astros all season – specifically at home. He hasn’t lost in his home stadium all year and has been unflappable there.

The two mashers that probably are going head to head for the AL MVP, of course, are Josh Donaldson and Mike Trout. Trout was surging and enjoying an amazing year earlier in 2015, as he had the Angels in playoff contention. He took a slide in August, though, and so did his team. Donaldson only heated up, though, as he’s within striking distance for the league lead in home runs and has his Jays in position to claim the AL East.

Who Wins: Josh Donaldson

It’s Donaldson, and it shouldn’t be all that close. Not only is Donaldson knocking the long ball and doing it while winning, but he’s doing it all in crunch time when Toronto needs him the most. He doesn’t just go yard and take a break, either, as he’s an efficient hitter (.305 on the year) that brings the power when the Jays need it (119 RBI). You can make an argument for Trout, but barring a crazy September run, this is Donaldson’s MVP trophy to lose.

NL MVP Top Contenders: Clayton Kershaw, Nolan Arenado, Jake Arrieta, Yoenis Cespedes, Bryce Harper, Paul Goldschmidt

Kershaw is Kershaw. He’s the best pitcher in the game and has been absolutely unstoppable for the past two months. Even when the run support isn’t there, he’s brought his A game, night after night. Arrieta has been a pretty close second, but he had more struggles this year. He’s been as close to perfect as you can get lately, though.

As for hitting, pick your poison. Arenado has been a total hammer with the long ball, but he gets a slight discredit for playing at Coors and being on a bad team. The same in a big way for Goldy, which probably puts this NL MVP race down to Cespedes and Harper if we’re only talking hitting. Harper has been a stretched out machine for much of the year, while Cespedes has been rock solid and really found a way to turn it on ever since being traded to the Mets.

Who Wins: Clayton Kershaw

Who else? Pitchers don’t normally win MVP awards, but Kershaw isn’t a normal pitcher and his dominance needs to be respected. It’s true that Kershaw falls apart come playoff time, but who knows, maybe this season is different? For now, all we can go off of is the fact that his Dodgers own the NL West and no one has striked out more batters in baseball this year. Other pitchers have more wins and a few have a slightly better ERA, but no one has been more dominant. When picking a league MVP, you have to ask yourself two questions: could that player’s team still be elite without them and would baseball be the same?

No and no. Kershaw should be the NL MVP.

Got a different take? Let us hear it in the comments below!

If the 2015 MLB season ended today, some really good baseball clubs would be out of a shot at the playoffs. Guess what? That’s going to happen a month from now, regardless. The bottom and the top are what they are for a reason, but sometimes really solid teams just catch fire too late and they end up stuck in the middle. They’re in the land of the forgotten, and when we look ahead to the playoffs, it’s impossible to predict which of them could make one of those historic runs.

The Boston Red Sox? Unlikely. The Seattle Mariners? Doubtful. There are some hot teams and there are slumping teams, but all we can really do is take everything for what it’s worth. That’s brought us to taking a look at the standings and predicting how the 2015 MLB playoffs could go down if we had to enter the teams as they stand today:

AL Division winners: Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros

Toronto is just barely above New York and with two more huge series against the Yanks this year, things could still change. They’re still headed for the playoffs either way, while the Royals are for sure in and the Astros should have their division locked down before long.

AL wild card matchup: New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

The Yanks take on the Rangers as we probably see a duel between Cole Hamels and Masahiro Tanaka. New York definitely has the offensive edge and might even be the better defensive squad. It’d be a good one, but we like the Yanks to move on to round two.

NL Division winners: New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, L.A. Dodgers

This is very likely how it will end, as the Cards and Dodgers have solid leads and the Mets should be able to grind out a division win over the Nats. All three of these teams can provide timely offense, but really hang their hat on defense with some elite arms.

NL wild card matchup: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs

If it ends like this, the NL Central will produce the supposed best team in baseball, plus two more teams that will duke it out for the right to advance to the next round. The Cubs have some deadly offense and Jon Lester could be trouble for Pittsburgh’s touch and go offense, but the Pirates are the more well rounded team and should get out of this clash alive.

AL Divisional Series: Royals vs. Yankees, Jays vs. Astros

This is where things could get dicey, as the Yanks have superior bats than Kansas City, but the Royals should have the overall upper hand in the pitching department. Kansas City has been one of the best teams all year long and they have unfinished business stemming from last year, so as long as their offense shows up they should be able to sneak past New York.

Toronto is a tough team to gauge, as they have probably the most explosive offense in all of baseball but can run cold in the worst moments. Doing so at anytime when facing the likes of Dallas Keuchel, Colin McHugh could be catastrophic. As good as they are and could be, I see them running out of gas in this series.

NL Divisional Series: Cardinals vs. Pirates, Mets vs. Dodgers

The two bitter NL Central rivals go at it with their seasons on the line, as fans get what they wanted when Pittsburgh and St. Louis clash. These teams are very similar in that they have solid offenses but rarely explode and aren’t really known for dominating opponents with scoring. Team defense and safe pitching has been their best path to success, as two of MLB’s top defenses go at it in this series. St. Louis appears to have the slide edge in the defense department, although this series just might be a toss-up. Even so, the Cards have the best record in the majors for a reason, so we’ll take them to at least get to the League Championship Series.

The Mets and Dodgers are tough to figure out, since they only played each other seven times this year. New York held a slight edge, taking the season series 4-3. They really brought the offense in those seven games, too, dropping 33 runs on the Dodgers and only giving up 19. New York seems like a team of destiny after swinging some big trades, while they have the arms in Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard to combat the Dodgers. Even more, Clayton Kershaw has thus far come up lame in crunch time, so it’s tough to buy him suddenly destroying when the season is on the line again.

League Championship Series: Royals vs. Astros, Cardinals vs. Mets

The team of destiny theme lives on here, as the Royals, Astros and Mets all have weird feels to them where you just know they’re going to pull it off. Kansas City runs into Houston a series away from returning to the World Series, though, and they can’t match their pitching. The only way the Royals advance is if they go nuts offensively, and I see the bats coming up lame in this matchup.

St. Louis is really good at overachieving and they’re doing it in a lot of ways this year. New York is doing the same thing in a lot of respects, but they’ve improved their offense so much that they’ve slowly become quite arguably the most balanced team in baseball. We thought that was the Cardinals, but after losing to the Mets here, we know that’s just not the case.

World Series: Astros vs. Mets

We could have had a matchup between the two teams with the best records in baseball (Royals and Cubs) and we could have even potentially had another Subway Series (Mets and Yankees). We’ll go halfway, as both the Mets and Astros certainly can pack an offensive punch, but both used elite defense to get here. Going back to the “destiny” aspect, it just seems like nothing can stop the Mets. The whole Matt Harvey debacle about innings limits is going to look really funny once New York rides him and the rest of their defense to a world title.

Think we got it all wrong? Let us know how you think the MLB playoffs will play out in the comments below!

The MLB regular season has just about a month of action to go before we know for sure who will be participating in the 2015 MLB playoffs. We already have a pretty good idea as to who the best and worst teams are, but the middle of the pack can change within a week and we never know what team will get hot late and surge into post-season play.

Let’s pause to see how each team is doing so far in our September MLB power rankings:

30. Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies are good for some random good outings, but they’re still at the bottom of the NL East and haven’t shown much life lately (3-7 in last 10), so it’s tough to give them a boost in our September MLB power rankings.

29. Atlanta Braves

Atlanta’s offense has been putrid all year and the defense has often even been worse. As bad as they’ve been lately (1-9 in last 10), they’re still a hair above the Phillies.

28. Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati has some nice young pitching to look at down the stretch and their offense can show up big, but a huge lack of consistency has doomed them all season long. They’ve at least been decent lately (5-5 in last 10 games) but still reside at the bottom of the NL Central.

27. Oakland Athletics

Oakland lost a good amount of offense in trades and the same goes for their pitching, so it’s fairly understandable that they’ve struggled in the second half. A recent 4-6 run drops them even further in our power rankings.

26. Colorado Rockies

Colorado is barely in the bottom five and they could be switched with the Marlins possibly, but both teams have had nice 6-4 stretches. Colorado’s defense is just significantly worse and they’re at the bottom of their division, so they drop one spot lower.

25. Miami Marlins

Miami has had a nice little surge that has helped keep them out of the bottom of the AL East, and it’s even more impressive because they’ve made it happen with Giancarlo Stanton (hand) still on the shelf. They’re not a great team, but they’ve turned things around lately with a nice 6-4 run and could look to end the season strong.

24. Detroit Tigers

Detroit pretty much gave up at the trade deadline and has been in an epic slide ever since. A once playoff contender, the Tigers have gone just 3-7 in their last 10 games and won’t be making the playoffs in 2015.

23. Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee was once regarded as one of the worst teams in baseball, but they’ve used a spirited run (8-2 in last 10 games) to climb out of the bottom of the NL Central. The playoffs are out of reach (26 games back from first), but the hot run is encouraging.

22. San Diego Padres

San Diego’s offense has been touch and go and their defense has been pretty spotty all year. Both were an issue in their last 10 games, when they lost seven of 10.

21. Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles were once in contention to make a run at the AL East, but they’ve fallen apart in a 2-8 slide over their last 10 contests.

20. Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona continues to bring the bats on offense, but their problem remains touch and go defense. A 3-7 slide hurts them considerably, although they can still try to close out the year at .500.

19. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox boast one of the best pitchers in the game in Chris Sale, but their offense has really hurt them for much of 2015. They’re not an awful team, but they’re wading in the murky waters of mediocrity (5-5 in last 10) and will likely stay put to close the year.

18. Boston Red Sox

Boston’s offense has been fantastic all year and they’ve even upped their play recently (7-3 in last 10), but they’re still a whopping 13 games out of first in the AL East. They did ascend out of last place, though, so they could be a team to keep tabs on throughout September.

17. Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa Bay has squandered it’s once solid positioning in the AL East and a once four-team race is now officially just two. The Rays could still surprise with a hot September (11 games out of first), but they’ll likely fade down the stretch due to a shaky offense.

16. Seattle Mariners

Seattle has brought the offense over the past two months and more recently has actually been quite good, winning seven of their last 10 games. They’re suddenly just nine games out of first place in the AL West and although their playoff hopes are faint, they have something to strive for.

15. Cleveland Indians

Cleveland’s season is all but over, but that hasn’t kept them from trying. The Indians have been a strong team lately, winning 7 of their last 10 and creeping closer to .500.

14. Minnesota Twins

Minnesota is probably toast in their bid to claim the AL Central, but they’ve shown nice signs of life recently (6-4 in last 10) and are 11 games behind the Royals. It would take an epic collapse from Kansas City, but it’s not yet impossible for the Twins to hope for the playoffs.

13. L.A. Angels

L.A. has really failed offensively lately and may not have the power to make it back from a mini collapse. They’re still just 5.5 games out of first place in the AL West but it’s starting to look like they’re just slipping away.

12. Texas Rangers

Cole Hamels has stood his ground on the mound and Texas has been getting it done on offense as they’ve pulled within two games of the Astros for first place in the AL West. There is still a lot of baseball to be played, but they’re without a doubt a team to monitor (7-3 in last 10).

11. San Francisco Giants

The defending champs have fallen down the ranks due to shaky pitching and some injuries, but they’re still alive, being 8.5 games back behind the Dodgers. They’ll need a hot September to turn things around and make sure they can get into the playoffs, of course.

10. Washington Nationals

Bryce Harper has heated back up over the past few weeks and has his Nats in contention for the NL East. The New York Mets have been better, though, and Washington has some work to do if they want to erase a five game hole.

9. New York Yankees

The Yanks are in a dead heat with the AL East-leading Blue Jays, and they’re only back half a game. New York’s offense is good enough to beat anyone, but they continue to be held back by their shaky defense. Regardless, they’ve been red hot lately (8-2 in last 10) and could very well end up winning their division when it’s all said and done.

8. Houston Astros

Houston has looked a little lethargic lately (4-6 in last 10), but still has the pitching and offense to be a very dangerous playoff team. That’s if they can stave off the Rangers, of course, who have stormed within two games of first place.

7. New York Mets

It’s arguable the Mets are the most balanced team in MLB, as they have elite pitching and really have come alive offensively over the past month thanks to some key trades. They’ve just been getting by lately, though (5-5 in last 10), otherwise they might be inside the top-5 of our MLB power rankings.

6. Chicago Cubs

Chicago has ascended the ranks with a four-game winning streak (6-4 in last 10). They’re still unlikely to win the NL Central, but just 7.5 games back, aren’t out of the running just yet.

5. Kansas City Royals

Kansas City’s magic number is just 15 to clinch a playoff spot, which goes a long way to tell us all just how good they’ve been all year long. Kansas City would be higher if not for a sluggish 4-6 run in their last 10 contests, but they remain a top-5 team and legit World Series threat.

4. Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto has remained strong as they’ve gone 7-3 in their last 10 and hold a minor 0.5 game lead over the rival Yankees. The race for the AL East will go down to the final week of the season, which naturally could have the Jays ascending these ranks or taking a dramatic drop.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers

Clayton Kershaw has rounded into form over the past 2-3 months and the Dodgers once again look like a tough out come playoff time. L.A. should have the NL West in the bag and could very well end up making it to this year’s World Series.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates are destined to make the MLB playoffs, and even gained some ground on the Cardinals in their recent series. They’ll need a very strong close to September to take over the NL Central, however.

1. St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals have endured some big injuries to remain the top team in all of baseball. Their offense comes and goes, but they still have MLB’s best defense and look like they have what it takes to win it all in 2015.

Think our MLB power rankings are all jacked up? Let us hear it in the comments below!

The 2015 MLB playoffs are closing in, as October brings a ton of great matchups and loads of excitement. If your favorite team is in the playoffs, that is. If not, baseball can be tough to watch in October and may have you already looking ahead to what your team can hope to do in 2016.

It might even have you thinking about who they can hope to sign. There are some massive names that could hit MLB free agency this year, and depending on where they go, they could shake up the entire league quite a bit. Let’s take a look at the biggest names that could hit the open market:

David Price (SP)

There won’t be a better pitcher to possibly hit the open market this year than David Price. He’s bounced around the past two years, but is headed for a massive paycheck and hopefully lands in a situation where his elite arm can vie for a World Series. That could even be in Toronto this year, but win or lose, Price could be headed elsewhere this off-season. The New York Yankees have waited long enough to add another elite arm to their rotation, so don’t be shocked if they get involved in the David Price sweepstakes.

Johnny Cueto (SP)

Cueto has been pretty shaky over his last several starts with the Royals, but he still produces that beautiful gem about twice a month. His next team would probably love to be banking on a more consistent ace, but Cueto still has a big arm and can take down the toughest of lineups when he has his stuff. Considering he hasn’t worked out quite as planned with the Royals after being traded out of Cincinnati, there’s a decent chance he’s headed elsewhere in MLB free agency. Plenty of teams need lively arms, but the Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox stand out the most.

Yoenis Cespedes (OF)

One of the top mashers in free agency, Cespedes has been traded in each of the last two years and simply responding by beating the life out of baseballs. He’s been a tremendous addition to a suddenly stacked Mets lineup, but he’s going to have to be paid a large sum to be kept around. There has been some chatter that the Tigers could bring him back with a massive deal (they just traded him away this summer), but the Mets may have something to say about it first.

Scott Kazmir (SP)

Kazmir’s 2015 MLB season has been up and down, but the 32-year old still has the goods to be a top ace in the right crew. It seems like he’s been a good fit with the Astros and considering he’s from Houston, it makes a lot of sense for him to just sign a big deal and stick around for good.

Justin Upton (OF)

Still very much in his prime, Justin Upton brings the long ball and has enjoyed a stellar season in San Diego. You can consider him gone after the Padres were shopping him in trade rumors all season long, but where does he go? He’s going to be valued by half of the league, but in the end he’s probably going to Kansas City or Anaheim. The Angels have no offense beyond Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, while the Royals will probably let Ben Zobrist go. Upton won’t be cheap, but he’s only 28 and can do it all. He brings a lot of value to the table for a playoff contender.

Chris Davis (1B)

Crush is just a total masher and he really turned on the long ball this season for the Baltimore Orioles. Another big hitter still in his prime, Davis stands a good chance to return to a pretty loaded Orioles offense. Of course, there’s something about his game that has pinstripes written all over it. Baltimore should be in the lead to hang on to him, but don’t be shocked if we hear about the New York Yankees trying to steal him away. Division rivals tend to be sneaky like that.

Jordan Zimmerman (SP)

Zimmerman’s game hasn’t really lived up to his big name in 2015, but he’s still a quality ace in his prime. In the right situation he could thrive, and that could end up being a number of spots. The San Francisco Giants don’t have much beyond Madison Bumgarner, while teams like the Astros, Blue Jays, Yankees and Royals all could use help on the mound.