Opinion

With the Wild Card Games and division series fading in the rearview and the American and National League Championship Series churning toward completion, we've reached roughly the halfway point of the 2015 MLB playoffs.

Let's take this opportunity to pause, exhale and appreciate the best personal performances we've witnessed thus far—specifically by creating a mid-postseason All-Star team.

Replay in baseball will make everything better, they said. It will help eliminate controversy, they said.

Well, Major League Baseball has had expanded replay for two years now. And though the system has indeed done its share of good, what we're seeing this postseason is baseball going through its own "tuck rule" moment.

You remember the tuck rule, right? You know. 2002 NFL divisional playoff game. Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots. Tom Brady. Charles Woodson. Snow-globe setting. Anything?

For the perfect postseason run, each team has its necessary list of ingredients. Compiling a lineup fit for the postseason is an ongoing process—one in which each team tries to find the right concoction.

With four teams left in the Major League Baseball playoffs, it seems no other team has found a more ideal mix of pitching, hitting and baserunning than the New York Mets.

The San Diego Padres spent big money last offseason to acquire legitimate talent, but, after a wildly disappointing season, it's clear the team was and still is missing a large piece.

That piece is leadership.

It was also clear at the beginning of the season that manager Bud Black was in over his head with his new group of players. Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and other big-name acquisitions failed to produce early, and Black suffered for it. 

The American League Championship Series, as advertised, has showcased a potent, high-scoring offense. The surprise? It's been the Kansas City Royals, not the Toronto Blue Jays, who've done the bulk of the mashing.

Plenty of new blood and a few familiar faces have made the 2015 MLB postseason arguably the most exciting one in years.

The bustle of the MLB postseason is rightfully commanding all the baseball chatter, but many of the players who are still competing could wind up in different uniforms in the spring.

MLB's free-agency period is arguably the most exciting in professional sports, with a horde of high-profile shifts that shuffle the competitive landscape.

CHICAGO — A 17-year-old Kyle Schwarber stood straight across from the man-child who would eventually end his football career. Schwarber, who was recruited by a slew of Division I football programs, made the fruitful decision to pursue baseball. Still, it was Schwarber’s intent to end his football career of his own accord—presumably at the Ohio state high school football championships.

That would not happen.

And so it is down to four.

Four teams left in the 2015 MLB playoffs, and four possible World Series matchups.

The New York Mets own a 2-0 edge over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series with the scene shifting to the Windy City for Game 3 on Tuesday.

The Kansas City Royals, meanwhile, hold a 2-1 advantage in the American League Championship Series over the Toronto Blue Jays, who rumbled to life with a huge win Monday north of the border.

CHICAGO — Here it came. First the horns. Then the lush orchestral arrangement. Blaring straight from the manager's office late Sunday night at such a volume that the message was received loud and clear in the clubhouse.