Rankings/List

One upon a time the 50 home run mark was a milestone for only the very best power hitters in baseball.

The feat has only been accomplished 42 times in baseball history by 26 different men.

Recent history has sadly diminished this feat.  Between 1995 and 2007, the feat was accomplished 23 times (four times each by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa).

Despite the intervention of the steroid era, baseball fans should still remember the significance of the 50 home run club. 

On September 23rd, Jose Bautista hit his 50th home run of the 2010 season. 

It's been a bad year for Cleveland Indians fans.

Most of us Tribe faithful had low expectations when the season began. This was supposed to be a transition year, as the fruits of one of the deepest farm systems in the game got their first taste of the big leagues.

But even if they weren't supposed to be serious contenders, it's hard to see the Indians flailing behind even the Kansas City Royals in the basement of the AL Central without wondering how things went this wrong.

The 2010 Major League Baseball season is quickly winding down to the final 10-plus games, and the race for postseason play—and postseason awards—is in full swing.

And with those final two weeks of races coming down to the wire, it’s time to take a quick look at the 10 biggest contenders for one of baseball’s most prestigious awards: Most Valuable Player.

So, from the likes of Cincinnati’s Joey Votto to Texas’ Josh Hamilton, who are the 10 players with the highest probability of bringing home the 2010 MVP hardware?

Last night the Minnesota Twins became the first team in 2010 to clinch a playoff berth.

The Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers were competitive in the AL Central through the first half of the season, but the Twins used a fantastic August and September to pull away from the pack.

Despite the loss of Justin Morneau for the last two months and Joe Nathan's Tommy John surgery at the start of the year, Minnesota has won yet another AL Central title.

The Minnesota Twins were the first MLB team to punch their postseason ticket on Tuesday night after defeating the Cleveland Indians 6-4 at Target Field.

The Twins are currently a game back of the Yankees for the best record in baseball after their division clinching victory improved them to 91-60 on the year.

Minnesota clinched their second straight AL Central title, and they will be one of the top World Series contenders when the playoff get underway in October. 

If you hit 30 home runs for a playoff team, everyone in baseball knows who you are.  If you win 20 games for a team that clinched a playoff berth a month ago, there will be no shortage of accolades.

But what if you are an above average hitter and play standout defense for a mediocre team?  What if your pitching is leaps and bounds ahead of your appallingly bad staff?  What if you got off to a slow start but were on fire in the second half?

The advent of sabermetrics has changed the way we look at "clutch."

"Situational hitting" is luck. "Inducing weak contact" is luck. "Performing under pressure" is luck. It's all been proven with math and logic and regression analysis.

But screw that, because it's a pennant race, and even the most logical stathead has subjective ideas about who he'd most want to see step to the plate with his favorite team's season on the line.

Doesn't the photograph of A.J. Burnett say it all?

I think it does (Yankee fans, including myself are used to it). 

Therefore, sit back, relax and enjoy, as you read "AJ Burnett and MLB’s 10 Contending Pitchers Who Do Not Deserve a Playoff Start".

Let's play ball.

The playoffs are around the corner. 

Begin Slideshow

The trade deadline always brings new excitement to MLB teams and their fans, and it doesn't matter whether the team is struggling or on their way towards the postseason.

This year there was a bevy of players who were sent all over the place and for some, it was really hard to keep up, but for others it was a torrent of player news they couldn't get enough of.

It all started with Roy Oswalt, and went on from there, so let's take a look at my Top Ten List of who I feel were the best trades in 2010.

Important Notes: The stats were last updated on September 20, 2010.  Sorry about that pitcher getting cut off.

Keep in mind, this will be in an order of the teams I think that made the cut.

Each week or two I will evaluate the top four things (two from the AL and two from the NL) coming into October ball.  This week I'll be talking about the top-four teams with the top 1-2-3 punch that will give them the best chance to win the World Series.