Carl Crawford

In a perfect world, according to my most favorable teams they divisions would annually end something like this:

American League East: Baltimore Tampa Toronto Boston and New York

American League Central Minnesota Kansas City Detroit Chicago White Sox, Cleveland

American League West: Texas Oakland Los Angeles, Seattle

National League East: Florida, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and Atlanta

National League Central: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Chicago, Houston, St. Louis

The grind of the Major League Baseball regular season has finally come to an end and for those fans that had the patience to stick with their favorite team over that 162 game marathon, they are now bracing themselves for the sprint that is the MLB playoffs.

Despite how entertaining it might be to watch your favorite team play a four game series against the Pirates, it's time for the playoffs to usher in a new brand of baseball where everything matters just a little bit more.

This offseason, Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford will be headlining this year's free-agent class.  Both players will be demanding major contracts, and both players might end up in New York.

Well, Lee will be in the Bronx, but the verdict is still out on Crawford.

For teams that can ill-afford to get the "Big Fish," they must look at other options—the second-tier players.  Guys that can still contribute, but will be affordable to acquire. 

The Philadelphia Phillies are the hottest playoff team in baseball right now, sporting the MLB's best record at 94-63. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and recently had an 11-game winning streak. They are playing outstanding baseball and look to be in postseason form, and have also clinched their fourth consecutive NL East title.

With the Phillies playing this well, can they be stopped? They have been to the past two World Series, and won it all in 2008. It will take a lot for a team to stop the Phillies once the postseason starts.

The Boston Red Sox are for all intents and purposes finished with their 2010 season. It has been a long and tough campaign which saw them virtually eliminated by their own inability to stay on the field.

Too many key injuries will derail any team let alone a team faced with a game of musical chairs with Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees.

The Red Sox still retain a solid core of players and with the chance that Tampa Bay may not be able to afford some its talent with expiring contracts, those Red Sox fans already moving onto the 2011 season have a few reasons to smile.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have gone through a season in which could best be described as abysmal. Missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006, they will be embarking on a sport in October that has been unfamiliar to them: golf.

The Angels will be celebrating their 50th birthday next season, and owner Arte Moreno and general manager Tony Reagins will undoubtedly be looking to put together a team in 2011 that will showcase their year-long celebration.

The Chicago Cubs will be among four teams most eager to sign free agent-to-be Carl Crawford this offseason, according to ESPN's Buster Olney (via Twitter).

If true, this is a stunning development for a team with a bloated payroll to which owner Tom Ricketts has thus far seemed unwilling to add substantial amounts.

The rain knocked A.J. Burnett out of the game and the Yankees B-squad bullpen let them down as they lost at home 7-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays to drop to just 1.5 games up in first place.

Here are some highlights:

There is a saying that bad news doesn't get better with time. However, announcing plans to cut payroll while your team is in the middle of a division race can't be a good idea.

That's exactly what Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg did when he announced that even if the Rays win the World Series payroll will be cut in 2011. The current estimate is that the Rays will cut this year's $72 million payroll by $15-20 million.

Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of Ben Zobrist. He is a switch-hitter who can play a multitude of positions and he has a great attitude. Overall, Zobrist is a solid baseball player and a great person. However, that does not mean the Rays should have given him a three-year contract extension worth up to $30 million.