The bracket is set and the 10 teams have secured their places in the 2015 MLB playoffs.
This year's field has a great mix of the usual suspects—the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers—and some teams making their long-awaited returns to the postseason—the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros.
Then you also have the Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers, all of whom have tasted relative success recently after years out in the cold but were unable to go all the way and collect a ring.
Fans won't be lacking in compelling storylines to follow once the action gets underway.
Playoff Schedule
Storylines to Watch
Can the New York Mets Capitalize on Their Postseason Window?
The New York Mets have made just four playoff appearances since winning the World Series in 1986. While the franchise is building around a talented core of young stars, the fanbase knows this year's postseason run can't be taken for granted.
Give credit to ownership for actually recognizing this window of opportunity and approving the deadline deals that energized a previously anemic offense. Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson helped fill some holes in the lineup, and Yoenis Cespedes was the proverbial missing piece of the puzzle.
Since arriving in the Big Apple, Cespedes is hitting .286 with 17 home runs, 44 runs batted in and a .604 slugging percentage. Fox Sports' JP Morosi went so far as to call the 29-year-old an MVP candidate:
I happen to think Cespedes shouldn't be penalized for opening 2015 in the AL. If, by the end of the season, he's judged to be the most valuable among those players who finished the year in the NL, then he should win the award — especially because he performed so brilliantly for the Mets during the defining stretch of their season.
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One could argue that — despite spending only two regular-season months with the Mets — Cespedes is the player most responsible for flipping the NL East race between early August and now.
No matter what he does beyond this season and no matter if he stays in New York, Mets fans will forever remember Cespedes for his contributions this year.
As much as the offensive improvement helped the Mets seal a playoff spot, their pitching staff is what will determine their World Series hopes. According to FanGraphs, New York ranks fourth in starter ERA (3.45), sixth in starter FIP (3.51) and fourth in starter xFIP (3.51).
But as good as Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Jon Niese have been, they're all untested in the postseason. None of the four are unfamiliar to tense situations—they helped the Mets win a division. But playoff baseball is a different animal, and every mistake is magnified.
Even Clayton Kershaw can't escape the criticism he wilts in the Los Angeles Dodgers' most important games in October.
You want to believe the Mets are built to contend for years down the road, but the same was thought of the 1986 Mets with Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Kevin Mitchell, Ron Darling and Lenny Dykstra leading the way.
Instead, New York made one more postseason appearance in 1988 before everything fell apart.
Maybe this year's Mets can at least bring home a World Series ring, thus giving the fans something to enjoy should their fortunes unravel in the coming years.
Does the Toronto Blue Jays' Gambit Pay off in the End?
Teams making a big trade in pursuit of a World Series title isn't a new trend. But rarely do you see the Toronto Blue Jays' level of commitment to winning now.
They bet the farm on David Price and Troy Tulowitzki in a bid to get back to the Fall Classic. The Jays also traded for Josh Donaldson in the offseason and spent big money to sign Russell Martin, so the strategy started well before the arrivals of Price and Tulowitzki.
Speaking to the Toronto Sun's Mike Rutsey following the Price trade, Toronto manager John Gibbons admitted he saw that move as the sign general manager Alex Anthopoulos was going "all in" on a ring in 2015.
"Yeah I think so, we need to do something now no question about that," Gibbons said. "You look at the two trades he's made, they're impact guys, they're at the top of MLB. It's not like he went out and grabbed some guys you're hoping can do something. They're guys that have been productive their whole careers. So we dove in head first."
The Blue Jays continue to be the best offensive team in baseball despite Troy Tulowitzki having been out of the lineup since Sept. 12. As Sports Illustrated's Emma Span noted, the All-Star shortstop wasn't necessarily hitting the ball well in Toronto even before his injury, yet his presence has still helped the team:
Tulo returned to the lineup in last Friday's 8-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, which was a great sign for the Jays. Having him get just that little bit of work in was pivotal as the postseason approaches.
As much things are looking great for Toronto now, it wouldn't take much for the franchise to slink back into being good, not great. Like the Mets, you wonder whether this year is a sign of things to come for the Blue Jays or the franchise's one real shot to win a championship.
Mark Shapiro will join the Jays as team president next year, which should ideally secure the team's future for the long term with respect to remaining a contender. But Shapiro will have a few issues to help sort out as soon as he arrives.
Price is a free agent at the end of the season, and there's no guarantee he'll re-sign with the team. Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are 34 and 32, respectively, while the team is also relying on ageless wonders Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey, the former of whom is almost assuredly walking away from the game after this year.
In Marcus Stroman and Dalton Pompey, the Jays have building blocks for the future, but they're still relying heavily on a number of veterans who are on the downward trajectory of their careers—or somewhat injury prone in the case of Tulowitzki.
If Toronto can't put it all together in 2015, then it may look back on the season with regret. The Washington Nationals are all the evidence necessary to show future success is never a guarantee in MLB.
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