Heading into every season, the winners and losers of MLB's free-agency period are often already decided. Over the next few slides, we'll revisit those premature coronations and decide which players are worthy of B/R's All-2015 MLB Free-Agent Team. 

Some of the choices you'll see in this slideshow were no-brainers. Max Scherzer, Andrew Miller and Nelson Cruz all figured to be among the best free-agent pickups at their positions heading into the season. 

It's OK to leave some money on the board in MLB DraftKings contests on Wednesday.

The best players aren't the most expensive ones on the schedule. In fact, there's one game in particular that looks like a good bet to produce a fair number of offensive standouts from budget-friendly position players.

Stack the O's and Yanks

It's been a great summer for Missouri baseball.

The St. Louis Cardinals have overcome every injury and every super Chicago Cubs rookie thrown their way, have dominated what seems to be baseball's toughest division and look headed for the first 100-win season since the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies.

The Kansas City Royals have dropped the word "surprising" from their name and replaced it with "powerhouse." They have the American League's best record, and any day now they're going to clinch their first division title since 1985.

1. Clayton K-K-K-K-K-K…ershaw

The season's silliest moment, and it's not even close, came when the Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw was not originally named to the National League All-Star team and instead was listed among the NL's final-five fan vote.

Are you kidding?

Back in early August we played "Future Stardom Fact or Fiction" with this year's standout rookie class, and the piece generated some good discussion and debate among readers.

Now that rosters have expanded and several more highly regarded prospects have made their way to the majors, let's revisit that idea with this year's 10 biggest September call-ups.

First, we need to establish what it means to be a star player.

Unlike other sports, unheralded players are often the reason why MLB teams have success in the postseason. Players like Brandon Belt and Jon Jay reinforced that theory during the 2014 playoffs. 

Over the next few slides, we'll identify a player on every MLB contender who has underrated impact potential. 

George Springer has yet to gain full membership into the group of Major League Baseball’s superstars, but he is a game-changing talent regardless of his standing among the game’s elite. 

The Houston Astros are about to haul in the benefits of that talent down the final stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs after missing it since early in the summer.

All 30 MLB teams are in action Tuesday night, allowing DraftKings daily fantasy players a wide array of big names to choose from.  Deciding on a few stars like Clayton Kershaw and Josh Donaldson is the easy part—the challenge lies in filling out the rest of your roster with more affordable options who can still produce.

In a typical week, the rumor mill churns enough for us to delve into five potential trades that make sense for both clubs involved. 

But the mill apparently decided to take a breather for Labor Day, because outside of the chatter surrounding New York's Matt Harvey and innings limits, things have been relatively quiet. That doesn't mean we don't have any potential deals to discuss, though.

We'll look at four potential deals this week, including two that would find The Dark Knight himself toeing the rubber at a ballpark other than Citi Field.

Although Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole had his way with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night, it wasn't always smooth sailing for him.

When Cole went to pick up the rosin bag at one point during the game, he found himself in an unusual spot. The bag exploded on him, with the rosin emptying all over on the mound.

Umm, a little help, please?