Michael Wacha

Free agency gets all the headlines this time of year in Major League Baseball, but a dreadful crop of talent for all 30 teams to choose from should boost interest and activity in the trade market over the winter. 

The end of November is often the calm before the storm, as MLB players and executives are making their final preparations for the winter meetings that will begin on December 4. 

In just a few hours, (5:07 p.m. CT to be exact), a pivotal Game 3 of the of the National League Division Series will take place at the historic Wrigley Park, where the hometown Chicago Cubs are looking to break the series tie against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Not everyone gets the Bryce Harper treatment.

While the Washington Nationals' right fielder has been generating all sorts of much-deserved buzz, there's also a slew of MLB players like Brian Dozier and Michael Wacha who have quietly carried their teams into postseason contention.

In the list that follows, there's room for one masher who's making a dark-horse run for MVP honors and a few starters who are making lots of noise in the Cy Young Award chases.

Baseball's best franchise is about to be tested.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha never wanted to be called “Wacha Flocka Flame.”

“I guess it’s just something I have to get used to,” he said on Friday before the Cardinals played the Pittsburgh Pirates.