Rankings/List

The Kansas City Royals resiliently took down the New York Mets in five games to capture their first World Series title in 30 years after coming so close a year prior.

While the World Series spotlight shines brightest on the biggest names and most established veterans every October, less hyped and somewhat overlooked players are often the ones who come through with the most surprising moments.

The 2015 World Series was no different, with a handful of players who in some ways had become afterthoughts delivering clutch performances, some bigger than others.

From World Series MVP Salvador Perez to nasty closer Wade Davis, MLB's final 2015 postseason All-Star team is stacked with members of the Kansas City Royals.

It's easy enough to understand why so many Royals would make the grade. The idea here is to highlight the top individual performers from the postseason—and the newly minted kings of baseball are loaded with players who fit that description.

From Chris Young to Mike Moustakas, plenty of unsung heroes have pushed the Kansas City Royals to the brink of winning the 2015 World Series.

With the Royals holding a 3-1 advantage over the New York Mets, this list of understated but indispensable contributors is dominated by Kansas City players.

However, there is room for one Mets veteran who made a habit of delivering in big moments during the regular season and who has been doing the exact same thing on baseball's biggest stage.

The New York Mets picked up a critical win Friday night in Game 3 of the World Series to avoid the death sentence of falling behind to the Kansas City Royals 3-0 in the series.

Now it all comes down to this final week of baseball, as the Royals will look to get over the hump after coming one win away from hoisting the trophy last year, while the Mets will aim to cap off their impressive push back to contention with a title of their own.

The World Series may be in full swing, but it's never too early to look ahead to the offseason. Over the next few slides, we'll identify a handful of teams that need significant makeovers to contend in 2016. 

The teams highlighted in this slideshow aren't cellar-dwellers with slim chances at a playoff push next season. We chose teams that entered the 2015 season with high expectations only to falter and miss the postseason after disappointing campaigns. 

Now, all of those teams face crucial decisions this winter if they want to erase the painful memories of 2015.

The lead is now commanding, and the Kansas City Royals now have their season-long goal within reach.

After Johnny Cueto once again reverted to ace form and led the Royals to a 7-1 Game 2 win over the New York Mets on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals lead the best-of-seven World Series 2-0 as it heads back to Citi Field in New York on Friday. But despite the Mets getting the next three games in their yard, the Royals control the most important series of the year.

Normally, the Arizona Fall League is chock full of some of baseball's best prospects, both on the mound and in the field.

While the six teams that comprise the offseason league are littered with familiar names, many of the very best prospects in the game are not taking part in this year's AFL, especially on the pitching side of things.

There is no shortage of star power in this year's MLB free-agent class.

Major League Baseball’s postseason can make stars out of the ordinary, and it can also legitimize existing ones. 

This year's postseason is no exception, as it has already produced wonderful storylines for the likes of Daniel Murphy, Alcides Escobar and the New York Mets starting pitchers. With the World Series starting Tuesday night, those angles could continue to develop, or give way to new players to perform in the spotlight when the Mets and Kansas City Royals meet in the Fall Classic.