Rankings/List

As the August 31 waiver trade deadline fast approaches, it will force some movement of talent in the MLB in the coming week. 

Contenders are looking to improve their playoff-bound rosters, while other clubs simply want to unload contracts of players they don't feel are key pieces of the future.

It's a two-way street, and teams that hope to compete deep into October desperately want to snag those one or two players who could spell the difference between a first-round exit and a World Series title.

As August comes to a close and September draws near, playoff baseball is just on the horizon.

The dog days of August have separated contenders from the pack, obliterated the pretenders back to earth and created some interesting playoff races. 

Anything can happen once a team makes the playoffs, so this article will be encouragement to fans as to why their team can do the distance this season. They'll have renewed and justified hope that their team can win the World Series in 2015.

How about another batch of B/R's top prospect call-up radar report? 

Last week, we profiled six minor league bats who figure to be impact players one day in the big leagues. In this edition, we'll take a look at a solid mix of hitters—Clint Frazier, Dalton Pompey, Javier Baez—and pitchers—Frankie Montas, Sean Newcomb, Robert Stephenson.

From Johnny Cueto to David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, some of the giants of the game changed addresses at the 2015 MLB trade deadline.

For all of the clubs that orchestrated those summer splashes, the thought process was simple: improve their chances of getting into October and making a run for a World Series title. With the deadline now three weeks in the past, it's time to break out the red pen and give updated grades for the 10 biggest moves of the trade season.

When MLB rosters expand from 25 to 40 players on September 1, there will be a few slam dunks in terms of likely call-ups. 

But there are also some unlikely prospects using the season's final months to campaign for a late-season cup of coffee in the big leagues. Over the next few slides, we'll identify a handful of surprising names making a compelling argument for a September promotion. 

There are three different types of "surprises" on this list: 

With the exception of the American League Central, where the Kansas City Royals are boat-racing the field, the rest of MLB's division titles and wild-card chases are up for grabs as the stretch drive ramps up.

With 17 teams within six games of a postseason trip, the future is now for more than half of baseball. Looking around the league, there are all sorts of encouraging signs for those October hopefuls.

In an age where franchise values are skyrocketing, television contracts are doing the same and player deals rise in worth every winter, Major League Baseball is the one North American professional sports league constantly having its finances evaluated and booming payrolls criticized. 

Major League Baseball's next two weeks can tell a lot about a team. Postseason hopefuls try to prove they're for real while others quietly fade away into mediocrity. 

The August 31 waiver trade deadline forces teams to competitively show their hand before the final month of the season. This week offers some notable series matchups around the league that could determine the playoff fate of several teams. 

On September 1, each MLB team will have the opportunity to add 15 extra bodies to its roster. The following slides will highlight some of the top candidates at each position who could be included in those additions.

Teams will promote promising players for a variety of different reasons.

The dog days of summer are here as we have reached crunch time in the 2015 MLB season.

Getting hot at the right time can go a long way in August and September, and even with so many games already in the books, teams continue to shuffle up and down in these rankings on a weekly basis.

So let's take an updated look at how all 30 teams currently stack up.

When putting together this list, we considered the following factors: