Opinion

If they aren't mashing the panic button in New York, they're at least tapping it forcefully.

Yes, the New York Yankees enter play Monday as the first-place team in the American League East, a position they've held since July 3. But after a disheartening sweep at the hands of the hard-charging Toronto Blue Jays, the Bronx Bombers' division hold feels tenuous at best.

We've vaulted into August and well past the 100-game mark of the 2015 MLB season. So you'd think the playoff picture would be coming into focus.

And it is—sort of.

Four of the six first-place teams hold division leads of three games or fewer entering play Sunday. And the wild-card races in both leagues are clear as pine tar, with a crowded field of viable contenders jockeying for position.

So it's too early to crown any winners. In many cases, it's hard to even pick a favorite.

The Washington Nationals needed something.

Some sort of a boost, a spark, whatever, but it had to be the kind of performance that kick-started their stalling, sputtering second half. Because as things stood going into Saturday night, Washington was a flailing club in danger of falling out of arm’s reach of the rival, first-place New York Mets.

After last week's trade deadline craziness, the 2015 MLB season got back to plain, ol' baseball in its 18th week of action. All told, it was a nice change of pace.

Happen to miss anything? Worry not, friend. We're here to recap the good stuff.

Evidently, the Texas Rangers feel the key to getting back to the postseason for the first time since 2012 is to reunite with as many members of that team as possible.

And given the names they're reuniting with, that's actually not a bad idea.

The Atlanta Braves making a headline-grabbing trade? After all they've done in the last few months, odds are you're not surprised to hear that.

Rather, if you're surprised by anything, it's the nature of the Braves' latest swap.

MLB's non-waiver trade deadline came and went on July 31 with plenty of action across the league, but teams are far from done when it comes to attempting to improve for the playoff push.

Organizations are still able to strike deals for the remainder of the season, but the deadline for a traded player being able to take part in the playoffs is Aug. 31. Any player traded between now and the remainder of the 2015 campaign must first pass through waivers.

This past spring, Barry Bonds didn't reprise his somewhat scene-stealing cameo as special hitting instructor at the Giants' 2014 spring training camp. The Giants, however, are looking toward a more meaningful return to the fold for Bonds.

DraftKings players dig the long ball.

With one swing of the bat, position players can almost certainly exceed their per-game average for fantasy points and give your lineup a huge boost. When hunting for home run-hitting candidates on Friday's schedule, you should focus on two matchups.

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.