Preview/Prediction

With less than two weeks until MLB's non-waiver trade deadline, everyone now knows the top candidates to move.

Ryan Braun, Carlos Gonzalez, Jonathan Lucroy, Rich Hill, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller will light the rumor mill on fire leading up to August 1. Some of those guys will stay put, and the ones who go will cost a pretty penny and some valuable prospects.

While the New York Yankees have failed to play good baseball for much of the season, they have hovered around the .500 mark in 2016. That record has allowed them to stay within hailing distance of the second wild-card spot in the American League.

The New York Mets (49-42) have won all four meetings with the Chicago Cubs (55-36) so far this season and eight in a row overall dating back to last year’s National League Championship Series as they battle Monday in the first of three games at Wrigley Field.

You can't predict baseball.

Well, not with that attitude.

MLB resumed action Friday, starting the unofficial second half to 2016. Sure, every team has played more than 81 games, but the four-day reprieve created the feel of a fresh beginning.

The New York Yankees (44-44) have not enjoyed much success against the Boston Red Sox (49-38) so far this season but will try to move one step closer to evening the score when they host their American League East rivals in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

The Chicago Cubs (53-35) lost 15 of their last 21 games heading into the MLB All-Star break, including nine of 11, but they are still +375 favorites (bet $100 to win $375) to end their championship drought at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

No, it's not Christmas in July, but it might as well be the holiday season. For in every front office around MLB, there's a general manager doing laps around his desk with a shopping list of gifts he wants to put bows on and deliver to his team's clubhouse.

The problem is that many of those shopping lists look the same, and there's going to be a mad dash, if not an all-out bidding war, as teams try to add the pieces they need for the stretch.

The rosters for the 2016 Midsummer Classic are set, and Tuesday night (8 p.m. ET) we'll see the American League and National League vie for World Series home-field advantage at Petco Park.

Or, rather, we'll see the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox go head-to-head with a few friends they brought along. The Cubs are responsible for four NL starters, making up the entire infield.

MLB will display a talent renaissance during Tuesday night's All-Star Game, which will be headlined by up-and-coming studs.

The Midsummer Classic starters aren't much older than Sunday's MLB Futures Game participants. In fact, 23-year-old Bryce Harper is younger than 10 of those minor league stars who were fighting to sit at the big kids' table.

The 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is nearly here, and the star-studded festivities shouldn't disappoint when things get underway Tuesday night from Petco Park in San Diego.

But before the first pitch flies at 8 p.m. ET on Fox, it's worth taking some time to acquaint yourself with this year's rosters and starting lineups, which you can view below courtesy of ESPN Stats & Info on Twitter: