The Boston Red Sox announced Sunday that Sam Kennedy, the team's chief operating officer, will be taking over as club president on Oct. 16. He'll inherit the position from Larry Lucchino, who will remain with the franchise as the president/CEO emeritus and as part of the ownership group.

In this column yesterday I went on and on about how exciting it was to see former Athletic greats Barry Zito and Tim Hudson take the mound for opposing sides in Oakland. I thought Zito would get shelled and Hudson would guide his team to victory with a quality start. 

Whoops!

While MLB contenders are enjoying the excitement of impending playoff baseball, several big-name players will be sweating over the final week in fear of missing out on the October fun.

Over the next few slides, we'll identify a handful of well-known players who are in serious danger of being left off the postseason roster. Whether it's due to the numbers game, injuries or ineffectiveness, there's an increasing probability that the following names won't be called upon next month.

There's no question about it—the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs are the two most dangerous squads in the 2015 MLB wild-card conversation.

As the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals demonstrated a season ago, wild-card winners can make a lot of noise in October.

The best team in baseball this season may just play north of the border, and the Toronto Blue Jays will now have an entire postseason to prove their worth. 

Toronto technically clinched a playoff berth Friday night after its win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced Saturday morning: 

Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Aaron Altherr may only be a rookie, but he certainly made a name for himself Friday night against the Washington Nationals. 

It's unfortunate that both the A's and Giants have played themselves out of the playoff race. Not because both teams began last season at torrid paces, then cooled off, then snuck into the playoffs. Not because the Giants won't be a validated as a dynasty until they make the tournament in an odd year. 

No, the real reason I'd like to see this game mean something is for the comedy in today's pitching matchup. 

The fodder does not stop just because the number of relevant teams in this regular season has shrunk to about a dozen.

There was plenty of news in Major League Baseball this past week, and some of it was made by non-contending organizations such as the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers, both of whom hired new general managers—Mike Hazen and David Stearns, respectively.

For several lucky MLB franchises, the cooler temperatures of September indicate that playoff baseball is right around the corner. On the other hand, the season's final month can mean something completely different for underachieving teams.

Over the next few slides, we'll identify a handful of those teams that will be thankful to see the 2015 season come to an end. Despite the disappointment of a lost season, the following squads should feel confident about their chances of breaking out in 2016. 

Former Cincinnati Reds star Pete Rose met with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday to discuss possible reinstatement to baseball. Manfred told him to expect a ruling by the end of the year.