Opinion

Teams around baseball that venture into the offseason free-agent market looking to upgrade their lineup, bench or bullpen should be able to find some useful assets. The same can't be said for those clubs hoping to improve their rotation with extremely limited options at starting pitcher.

On a Monday night when Madison Bumgarner was mortal, the San Francisco Giants found a way to stay alive.

Sure, they're down 2-1 in the best-of-five National League Division Series to the young, potent Chicago Cubs. They'll face another elimination game Tuesday. A win in that game will only assure a trip back to Chicago for Game 5.

He was supposed to be wiping champagne from his eyes, rather than tears.

It was supposed to end that way for David Ortiz. Not this way.

That's what I thought. That's what we all thought.

Canadians dig the long ball.

If that wasn't true before the Toronto Blue Jays completed a sweep of the Texas Rangers Sunday night with a 7-6 extra-inning win, it's certainly true now.

Toronto got a pair of home runs Sunday off the bats of first baseman Edwin Encarnacion and catcher Russell Martin. In all, seven Jays hitters have combined for nine home runs in the team's four postseason games.

An hour or so before the National League playoffs began, a scout with one of the participating teams wondered what the New York Mets had been thinking.

"Why'd they let Murphy go?" he asked, incredulously.

The American League Division Series could reach a rapid conclusion Sunday with the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers already facing elimination after dropping the first two games against the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, respectively.

When the goal is to snap a World Series championship drought that's existed for longer than Wrigley Field itself, it's best to leave as little as possible to chance.

That pretty much explains the 2016 Chicago Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs have no shortage of burgeoning stars.

Toss a fungo bat during Chicago's pregame warm-ups, and you're likely to hit a young stud: Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell—the list goes on.

When pitcher David Price was introduced as the Boston Red Sox's new $217 million toy last December, he said something the future would either vindicate or bring back to haunt him.       

It's Friday, baby, which is great news on its own, but it's also a Friday with a full slate of MLB postseason games, which basically makes it the best Friday possible.

Rejoice, my friends, and watch baseball all day.

Below, we'll break down the schedule, viewing options and make a few predictions for all the day's action.