Opinion

After six months, the 2016 MLB regular season has come to a close.

None of the wild tiebreaker scenarios came to pass, as the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays claimed the final wild-card spots. The postseason will begin Tuesday.

Before we turn our attention to another exciting October of playoff baseball, now is the perfect time to put a bow on the regular season by naming our biggest winners and losers of 2016.

A lot is up for grabs on Sunday in MLB, including three of the four wild-card berths and a bit of postseason positioning. 

With the possibility of tiebreaker games in both leagues, Sunday's finales have turned the day into a postseason of its own. Below, we'll break down each division and the playoff picture in both leagues.

AL East

The MLB postseason is just about to begin, but for a number of teams, only the offseason approaches. And that means preparing for free agency.

Below, we'll break down some of the latest rumors and speculation surrounding some of the top free agents set to hit the market.

Lourdes Gurriel

Throughout most of the second half, the San Francisco Giants have been cursed by black magic rather than blessed by the strange magic that led them to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

But if Saturday is any indication, they may finally have a handle on that strange magic once again.

All six division titles have already been celebrated around baseball, which leaves just the two wild-card spots in both leagues up for grabs during the final days of the regular season. There are a total of seven teams still battling for those remaining postseason berths.

Normally, we'd open the final Bleacher Report MLB Team of the Week with a quip or amusing anecdote. 

But this was the week we lost Jose Fernandez, one of baseball's brightest young talents, and we're not in a quippy mood.

Still, plenty of players did impressive things as the playoff races wrapped up or came down to the wire.

Here are 10 guys—one per position, including a starting pitcher and designated hitter—who busted box scores over the past seven days.

They won't have Matt Harvey, they won't have Jacob deGrom, and they won't have Daniel Murphy.

If you're expecting the New York Mets to be the same roadblock they were for the Chicago Cubs they were last October, well, a lot of the power pitching is hurt, and the power-hitting second baseman is gone.

But they do have Jay Bruce.    

While the top teams in the league are focused on the postseason, the rest of Major League Baseball is looking toward the future for players who can turn around fortunes next year.

The upcoming postseason may be the main focus of the baseball world right now, but as the regular season winds down, the debate over who should win each of the league's major awards generally starts to heat up.

Kris Bryant looks like the front-runner to win NL MVP honors, while the AL race is still wide-open with Boston Red Sox teammates Mookie Betts and David Ortiz perhaps the co-favorites heading into the final week.

Unlikely heroes rise in the postseason.

With the Baltimore Orioles fighting for their playoff lives, right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez is getting an early start.

Jimenez twirled 6.2 scoreless frames Thursday in the Orioles' 4-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing one hit with three walks and five strikeouts.