Fan News

We've made it to that bittersweet juncture of the MLB playoff races where the remaining regular-season series' can be counted on one hand.

Which contenders are scheduled to slip during the sprint to the finish? Continue reading, curious person.

The following teams have something at stake, whether it be a postseason berth, division title, home-field advantage or some combination of the three.

From innocuous to overwhelming, these rankings order baseball's elite by the difficulty of their impending matchups.

With nearly two weeks left in the 2012 MLB regular season, every organization continues to evaluate their call-ups as a means of offering experience and determining a player’s role for next year.

Furthermore, there are are a number of prospects with the potential to be key contributors over the home stretch and possibly guide their respective organization into the postseason.

Here’s a look at five very talented rookies with the most to gain over the remainder of the 2012 season.

After about half of a day of uncertainty—no thanks to Hall of Fame writer Peter Gammons—the Robinson Cano performance-enhancing drug rumors can be put to bed as false.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today broke the news yesterday that a MLB official denied such rumors:

With less than two weeks remaining in the 2012 MLB season, most of the playoff field has been determined.

Thanks to the addition of a second wild-card playoff spot, however, hope is alive for more teams as we approach the end of the season. We count 16 teams that have a chance of playing past Oct. 3 on their schedules. 

What are the odds of those contenders making the playoffs? Well, that's what we're here to figure out.

I’ll be the first to admit it: Sometimes it’s hard not to get wrapped up in a specific prospect’s performance. So when I see a player like C.J. Cron hit 27 home runs with 122 RBI but walk only 17 times in the California League, I’m forced to temper all excitement.

The American League Cy Young award race is going to be tough to call. While there are some traditionally dominant arms like Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez or Jered Weaver in the discussion, there are plenty of other arms joining them.

In particular, David Price and Chris Sale are both having excellent seasons and could easily receive votes when the ballots are cast.

So, who has the upper hand right now?

With the 2012 regular season in its final days, a number of teams across the league are working on positioning themselves for a postseason run, while others are already making plans for the offseason.

A number of free agents-to-be have performed well enough to warrant significant contracts on the free market, but only time will tell as to whether or not their teams will let them go.

Here are some players that could very well end up wearing the same uniform when spring training rolls around just five months from now.

Chris Perez may have had it wrong.

The image of Derek Jeter playing for a team other than the New York Yankees is difficult to visualize. 

Jeter wearing a different uniform (and likely playing a position other than shortstop) would seemingly cause a rip in the fabric of the universe. This is the sort of thing that just isn't supposed to happen.

When the going gets tough, blame it on the manager.

For good or ill, that's how it is in baseball. Managers aren't the ones throwing the pitches or swinging the bats, but it's almost always their fault when things aren't going well.

So it goes this year. The 2012 MLB season has seen several surprise contenders pop up throughout the landscape, and it's also seen some would-be contenders struggle to live up to expectations. As always, their managers are to blame.