MLB

Nothing complicates a decision quite like an abundance of high-quality choices.

The MLB trade deadline may be in the rearview mirror, but that doesn't mean teams can't improve their roster over the next month.

Looking at the American League heading into 2015, it was easy to imagine a three-team scrap for the AL Central title and a five-team battle royale for the AL East title. But the AL West title? Meh, there didn't seem to be much to see there.

But in the latest case of YCPB, here we are with two months left to go and the AL West is home to the most hotly contested division race in the Junior Circuit.

Not everyone needs an earth-shattering trade to save their fantasy baseball season.

A subdued transaction often gets the job done, especially in larger leagues where depth matters. Most peers also deserve the benefit of a doubt to not give away a superstar for nothing. Nobody was actually worried about Clayton Kershaw in May, right?

The calendar has flipped to August, the division and wild-card races are heating up, and we've put another week of baseball action in the rear-view. 

That means, among other things, that it's time for a fresh installment of Bleacher Report's Team of the Week.

In case you're new to the party: These are the players (one per position, plus a designated hitter) who have busted box scores over the past week. Forget their overall stats. We're judging them solely on what they accomplished between July 31 and August 6.

It doesn't get any worse than facing Madison Bumgarner in the one-game wild-card playoff.

Just ask the Pittsburgh Pirates, who ran into the Bumgarner buzzsaw last fall.

"If you don't want to pitch in these games, you probably need to find something else to do," Bumgarner told the Associated Press, via ESPN.com, after authoring a four-hit shutout and punching out 10, as the San Francisco Giants dispatched the Bucs 8-0.

It has only been a week since the Toronto Blue Jays traded for Troy Tulowitzki, only a week since my colleague and close friend Scott Miller graced this very space with a column headlined, "Troy Tulowitzki Blockbuster Does Nothing to Change AL Playoff Picture."

Down 9-3 with two outs and a runner on first in the top of the eighth inning Thursday night, the Minnesota Twins' Miguel Sano hit a deep line drive to center for what would have been a clean extra-base hit...had it not been for Kevin Pillar.

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Mike Leake has a strained hamstring. 

Continue for updates.

Two of the National League’s best teams will duke it out Friday in the first of three games at PNC Park as the Pittsburgh Pirates host the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are road favorites for the contest at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.