MLB

MLB's championship series will shift venues heading into the new week. Home-field advantage didn't matter much during the wild card and divisional bouts, but both hosts stormed out to early leads.

After cementing the American League's premier record on the season's final day, the Kansas City Royals utilized the benefit with two home victories over the Toronto Blue Jays. Awarded a dubious advantage due to division seeding, the New York Mets also jumped to a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs.

As hard as it may be to believe, the picture above is of Noah Syndergaard.

Yes, the same Noah Syndergaard who just pitched the New York Mets within two wins of the World Series.

What a transformation he has made.

Two teams are halfway to clinching a berth in the 2015 World Series, but the American League and National League Championship Series both have a 2-3-2 format. Although the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets hold commanding 2-0 leads in their respective series, they have to sweep to avoid playing three road games in a row.

For all but four teams in baseball, the offseason has already begun, and so has the speculation and buzz. With the winter meetings about a month-and-a-half away, the rumor mill is starting to buzz once again.

Let's break down some of the more interesting buzz making the rounds.

Stephen Strasburg, SP, Washington Nationals

If you were looking for a closely contested LCS, well, sorry about your luck. The Mets and Royals have each raced out to 2-0 leads in their respective series, sweeping home contests while putting the Cubs and Blue Jays' backs against the proverbial wall.

The "debate" about Matt Harvey's innings limit is over: There isn't one. It's become clear the New York Mets ace will keep pitching until his arm falls off or New York is eliminated from the playoffs—whichever comes first.

Daniel Murphy had a very strong 2015 season for the New York Mets and has had an amazing postseason run. That might not be enough to keep him with the Mets after this season, however.

Continue for updates.

Veteran pitcher Barry Zito announced his retirement from baseball Monday in an article he wrote for the Players' Tribune:

The postseason is still in full swing, but it's never too early too look ahead to what might be in the cards for each team this coming offseason.

This year's free-agent class is headlined by a foursome of starting pitchers in Zack Greinke, David Price, Jordan Zimmermann and Johnny Cueto, and there are plus arms behind them as well, including Mike Leake, Scott Kazmir, John Lackey, Yovani Gallardo, Wei-Yin Chen, Brett Anderson, Jeff Samardzija, Marco Estrada and Ian Kennedy.

The New York Mets are two wins away from the World Series after beating the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Sunday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.