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We interrupt your wild-card races to give you Henderson Alvarez and one of the strangest celebrations you'll ever see.

The Miami Marlins right-hander struck out Matt Tuiasosopo to end the top of the ninth -- completing nine no-hit innings against the Detroit Tigers. But it wasn't -- yet -- a no-hitter. The Marlins hadn't scored a run and a no-hitter isn't official unless it comes in a complete game.

Ask the great Pedro Martinez. He never threw a no-hitter in his career but in 1995 with the Expos he pitched nine perfect innings against the Padres. But the game was tied through nine innings. Bip Roberts led off the bottom of the 10th with a double and Martinez lost his perfect game and no-hitter (at least he'd get the win).

So Alvarez watched the bottom of the ninth from the dugout and then the on-deck circle, his moment of fame perhaps resting on the Marlins' ability to push across a run (although with just 99 pitches it's likely he would have come out for another inning). Giancarlo Stanton singled with one out and the Marlins eventually loaded the bases with two outs, Greg Dobbs facing Luke Putkonen, who had already thrown one wild pitch in the inning.

Putkonen threw a hard-breaking curve that dived low and in toward Dobbs, catcher Brayan Pena was a little lazy getting down to block it and Stanton raced home with the winning run as Alvarez, who was on deck, was mobbed by his teammates in foul territory along the third-base line. A great moment for Alvarez and the Marlins' fans.

It was sort of reminiscent of the perfect game Mike Witt threw for the Angels against the Rangers on the final day of the 1984 season, except that game was between two teams counting down their hours until the first round of offseason golf. We don't have pitch counts for that game, but it was played in a brisk 1 hour, 47 minutes, so I'm guessing there may have been a few aggressive approaches at the plate. (The only other no-hitter on the final day was a combined four-pitcher no-hitter by the A's in 1975.)

The Tigers, however, are heading to the postseason. Even though their Division Series doesn't start until Friday they did sit several regulars, including Miguel Cabrera, Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter, but it was a decent lineup out there. Still, give Alvarez credit for his efficient four-strikeout, one-walk affair. He threw 66 of his 99 pitches for strikes, throwing his fastball 66 times all told. He's a guy who throws harder than his strikeouts would indicate, averaging 94.1 mph on his fastball against the Tigers and topping out at 96.9 mph. But he struck out just 57 in 102 2/3 innings for the Marlins this season. The scouting report when he was with Toronto was the fastball was too straight and he didn't have a put-away breaking ball.

The interesting thing about Alvarez is that he changed his approach in the 17 starts he made with the Marlins. In 2012, he threw 46 percent four-seam fastballs and 29 percent two-seam fastballs. This year, he threw 56 percent two-seamers versus 25 percent four-seamers, while mixing in his slider 15 percent of the time. The net result was huge: Not more strikeouts, but after allowing 29 home runs for the Blue Jays in 187 innings, he surrendered just two with the Marlins. There may be a degree of luck there as his overall fly ball rate was basically the same; last year they left the park, this year they didn't, but perhaps better movement on the two-seamer helped, as well.

Anyway, he remains an intriguing arm, especially if he can develop a change or curveball to offset the fastball-slider combo. While unlikely to develop into an ace, he's a guy who could slot into the rotation nicely next season after Jose Fernandez, Nate Eovaldi and Jacob Turner.


As for the Tigers, they were no-hit on Sunday, scored one run in 10 innings on Saturday and just two on Friday in getting swept by the 100-loss Marlins. Even though the games didn't mean anything, it's not how you want to head into the postseason. They did hit .270 in September -- fourth in the majors -- but their power disappeared as they hit just 16 home runs in 26 games after hitting 37 in July and 38 in August. This is a team that doesn't manufacture runs with speed, so it relies on the long ball -- and Miguel Cabrera -- to generate offense. With Cabrera hobbled in September, the Tigers averaged just 3.7 runs per game after averaging more than five per game the previous two months.

You don't want to read too much into those September numbers, but I'd be concerned if I were a Tigers fan. If Cabrera can't generate any power -- and he had just two extra-base hits in September -- somebody else needs to step up.

Here are my choices for the 2013 American League All-Star team:

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Twins (.324/.404/.476, 11 HRs, 47 RBIs, 5.2 WAR)
There's not a real clear choice, as Mauer played just 75 of his 113 games behind the plate, but he's the best hitter among the catchers and threw out a league-leading 43 percent of base stealers. Carlos Santana has good offensive numbers, but he played a lot of first base and DH and struggled defensively. Jason Castro's fine season was buried in the Astros' awfulness, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia has hit .272, raising his average 50 points from last year, while bashing 40 doubles and 14 home runs. If he had played a little more behind the plate -- he started 95 games -- he might have been my choice.

First base: Chris Davis, Orioles (.287/.370/.637, 53 HRs, 138 RBIs, 6.7 WAR)
Davis is the easy choice in a weak year at first base in the AL. The only other two first basemen to slug .500 were Edwin Encarnacion, who spent a large chunk of his time at DH, and Brandon Moss, a platoon player. Davis joined Babe Ruth and Albert Belle as the only players with 50 home runs and 40 doubles in a season.

Second base: Robinson Cano, Yankees (.313/.383/.514, 27 HRs, 106 RBIs, 7.6 WAR)
In a year when so much went wrong with the Yankees, Cano was the one constant, missing just one game and putting up his usual excellent numbers. Now the Yankees have to decide exactly how much they're willing to pay for those numbers. Teams like the Dodgers and Nationals could pursue the free agent this winter.

Third base: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (.347/.441/.637, 44 HRs, 137 RBIs, 7.1 WAR)
Despite the injury issues that have slowed him in September (.265, just two extra-base hits and seven RBIs), Cabrera remains the likely MVP winner, thanks in part to a .397/.529/.782 mark with runners in scoring position. It's a deep position with Josh Donaldson having his own MVP-caliber season, Manny Machado catching everything at the hot corner and Evan Longoria and Adrian Beltre once again doing everything, but it's hard to deny Miggy's dominance with the bat.

Shortstop: J.J. Hardy, Orioles (.262/.305/.432, 25 HRs, 74 RBIs, 3.6 WAR)
There's not an obvious guy at the position. Hardy is good defensively and has power, but that .305 OBP lowers his offensive value. Yunel Escobar may have had the best year on defense, but a slow start dragged down his offense. Elvis Andrus plays great defense and has 41 steals but doesn't give you much at the plate. Jed Lowrie stayed healthy and hit but lacks range. In the end, I went with Hardy, who has played 157 games and gives you a little on both sides of the ball.

Left field: Mike Trout, Angels (.323/.431/.554, 26 HRs, 94 RBIs, 9.1 WAR)
OK, I cheated a little bit since Trout actually started more games in center than left. But the state of left field in the AL is pretty pathetic, with Alex Gordon and Michael Brantley the only other two rated as even 2.0 WAR players.

Center field: Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox (.297/.355/.421, 8 HRs, 52 RBIs, 5.7 WAR)
Ellsbury also stole 52 bases in 56 attempts, the second-best percentage ever for a player with at least 50 steals. Orioles fans will argue for Adam Jones, who has 33 home runs and 108 RBIs, but he's drawn just 25 walks so his OBP is a mediocre .318 and his defense doesn't match Ellsbury's.

Right field: Shane Victorino, Red Sox (.297/.354/.456, 15 HRs, 61 RBIs, 6.2 WAR)
He's been solid offensively -- including hitting .303 and slugging .515 while having to bat right-handed against right-handed pitchers after a hamstring injury prevented him from batting left-handed. He has been terrific defensively with 24 Defensive Runs Saved, the sixth-best total in the majors at any position. Again, nobody with big numbers here on offense, especially with Jose Bautista's season-ending injury, but Victorino is a worthy selection.

Designated hitter: David Ortiz, Red Sox (.308/.395/.565, 30 HRs, 103 RBIs, 4.3 WAR)
At 37, he's still going strong with his seventh 30-homer, 100-RBI season. Hall of Famer? He's up to 431 career home runs and 1,429 RBIs.

Starting pitchers: Max Scherzer, Tigers (21-3, 2.90 ERA, 6.6 WAR); Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners (14-6, 2.66 ERA, 7.0 WAR); Chris Sale, White Sox (11-14, 3.07 ERA, 7.0 WAR); Yu Darvish, Rangers (13-9, 2.82 ERA, 5.7 WAR); Anibal Sanchez, Tigers (14-8, 2.64 ERA, 6.0 WAR)
Apologies to Bartolo Colon and Felix Hernandez, and even Clay Buchholz, who went 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 16 starts.

Left-handed setup guy: Neal Cotts, Rangers (7-3, 1.13 ERA)
Cotts was one of the great stories of the season. He hadn't pitched in the majors since 2009, having Tommy John and four hip surgeries in the intervening years. He pitched in 25 games for the Rangers in Triple-A last year and started there again this season before getting recalled. In 55 2/3 innings, he's allowed just eight runs and 35 hits while striking out 63.

Right-handed setup guy: David Robertson, Yankees (5-1, 2.07 ERA)
For those worried about replacing Mariano Rivera as Yankees closer, the bigger question may actually be: Who replaces Robertson as the eighth-inning guy?

Closer: Koji Uehara, Red Sox (4-1, 21 saves, 1.10 ERA)
Apologies to Kansas City's Greg Holland, who has a 1.23 ERA and 46 saves, and Texas' Joe Nathan, who has a 1.41 ERA and 43 saves. But Uehara, who began the year in middle relief, has put up one of the most dominant relief seasons ever, limiting batters to a .129 average with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 100-to-9.

Bud Selig has officially announced that he'll step down as commissioner in January 2015. Jerry Crasnick will assess his legacy (hey, if Bowie Kuhn made the Hall of Fame I suspect Selig will eventually as well), but here are five key issues for the next commissioner to address.

1. Instant replay and quality of umpiring

We finally get expanded replay next season, so that should help resolve some of the controversial and blown calls. It remains to be seen how effective and efficient the system will be, but it can be adjusted as necessary. Just as importantly, the new commissioner has to work to improve consistency of ball/strike calls and reduce the episodes of ump rage.

Right now, the best umps (Eric Cooper, Chad Fairchild, Phil Cuzzi) get about 90 percent of ball/strike calls correct, according to our pitch data; the worst umps (Wally Bell, Tim Welke, Kerwin Danley, Jerry Meals) are at 86 percent. That difference may not seem like a lot, but that's a spread of 10 incorrect calls per 250 pitches. Even a 90 percent correct rate means the best umps are missing about 25 to 30 ball/strike calls a game. Maybe the human eye can't do better, but MLB needs to pay its umpire better, and in particular pay minor league umpires a living wage, so you can recruit from a wider field of candidates.

2. To DH or not to DH?

This ridiculousness has gone on too long. You simply can't have one sport with two leagues playing under different rules. The answer seems to be pretty obvious: Get rid of the designated hitter. There were only four full-time DHs this year: David Ortiz, Victor Martinez, Billy Butler and Kendrys Morales. They all batted at least 500 times as a DH. Nobody else even had 300 plate appearances (including Adam Dunn, who played a lot of first base). With so few teams actually using a DH, the resolution should be pretty clear. OK, so Butler is the youngest of those four and signed through 2015. No DH starting in 2016.

3. Oakland and Tampa Bay stadium issues

Look, both organizations have shown they can compete and win in spite of their lousy ballparks and low revenue. Part of the problem is that other teams are tired of propping up the Rays and A's. "The key here is to recognize that without the revenue-sharing dollars, we wouldn't even be able to compete or do what we're doing," Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg said in August. "The other owners are looking at this and saying, 'How many years is this going to be? How much money is this going to be to a failing situation?'"

Oakland's problem is more easily solved. The A's want to move to San Jose; the Giants hold territorial rights to Santa Clara County (given to them years ago by the A's). A three-quarters majority vote of all owners can return those rights to the A's, but Selig has refused to call for a vote, wanting unanimity, including the Giants. Well, of course, the Giants would vote against it. The new commish should side with the A's here and get them, literally, out of the sewage.

4. Tanking

I've written about this issue. Buster Olney addressed it the other day. The current collective bargaining agreement makes it beneficial for teams to lose -- either to get a higher draft position (and thus more money to spend in the draft) or finish with one of the 10 worst records and thus have a protected first-round pick when signing free agents. What kind of sport essentially encourages tanking for 10 or more teams?

This season, we'll likely finish with 10 teams and maybe 11 winning 90 games ... and seven to 10 losing 90 games. You don't want to read too much into one season, but it's possible we'll see more seasons like this: Contenders and non-contenders, which makes for a less interesting sport. Back in 2004, only five teams won 90 and six lost 90. That's a healthier sport.

But the draft rules tie into another problem. For the most part, the owners love the new rules and capping the amount teams can spend in the draft. Why give more money to amateurs when you can pocket some of that money instead and buy new leather seats for your private jet? The long-range issue here is obvious: You risk talented athletes choosing other sports as signing bonuses decrease. The new commissioner should find ways to get more athletes playing baseball, rather than potentially pushing them towards a different sport.

5. The schedule

Nobody likes the fact that interleague play is now a constant throughout the season, but that's unavoidable with 15 teams in each league. But the unbalanced schedule creates issues of teams competing for the same thing (a wild-card spot) while playing vastly different schedules.

My own personal pet peeve is that the season drags too long into October. Last year's World Series games in Detroit were played in brutally cold weather. Depending on which teams advance, you're often playing your most important games of the year in your worst weather. The World Series can be as much a test of ability as a test of weather fortitude. There isn't a good solution, unless your shorten the regular season or the playoffs, add some doubleheaders, or -- god forbid -- play some World Series games during the day. The weather in Detroit in the afternoon last October was quite lovely. At night? Not so much.

With four scoreless starts in his past five outings, Seattle Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma has forced his way into the Cy Young discussion. He's now 14-6 with a 2.66 ERA.

Eric Karabell calls Iwakuma his fantasy MVP among pitchers, but that's factoring in Iwakuma's relatively low average draft position. Eric's also right about this: Max Scherzer will probably win the award easily thanks to his sterling 21-3 record.

But whether Scherzer should be a lock is no longer such a sure thing.

Iwakuma ranks third in the AL in ERA (just behind the 2.64 marks of Bartolo Colon and Anibal Sanchez, both of whom have pitched far fewer innings), second to James Shields in innings pitched, second to Scherzer in opponents' OBP, third to Yu Darvish and Scherzer in batting average allowed and fourth in strikeout/walk ratio behind David Price, Chris Sale and Felix Hernandez.

In terms of Baseball-Reference WAR, however, it's not a two-pitcher race but a three-pitcher one:

Sale: 7.2 WAR (11-13, 2.97 ERA)
Iwakuma: 7.0 WAR (14-6, 2.66 ERA)
Scherzer: 6.7 WAR (21-3, 2.90 ERA)

The raw totals are close: Sale has allowed 77 runs in 209 innings, Iwakuma has allowed 69 in 219 2/3 and Scherzer has allowed 73 in 214 1/3. The statistical edge Sale and Scherzer have over Iwakuma is strikeouts -- 240 for Scherzer, 221 for Sale, 185 for Iwakuma.

(For the record, Iwakuma is rated much lower via FanGraphs WAR, which focuses on strikeouts, walks and home runs as opposed to actual run prevention. Scherzer, however, has pitched slightly worse with runners on base, or at least had worse results, than Iwakuma. For example, Iwakuma has allowed 25 home runs, but 19 have been solo shots. He's allowed a .228 average with the bases empty but .184 with runners in scoring position. Scherzer has allowed a .186 average with the bases empty versus .223 with runners in scoring position.)

One thing I like to look at is starts allowing two runs or fewer. You should win most of those starts; allow three and it's more of a 50-50 proposition; allow four or more, and you rarely win (only three pitchers have won at least four games this year when they allowed four-plus runs and only five, including Scherzer, have won three).

Record when allowing two runs or fewer:

Scherzer: 20 starts, 15-1, four no-decisions, 1.61 ERA
Sale: 14 starts, 9-3, two no-decisions, 0.98 ERA
Iwakuma: 20 starts, 12-1, seven no-decisions, 0.97 ERA

Iwakuma has pitched better than Scherzer in his good starts yet has three fewer wins. In fact, he's had four no-decisions when allowing zero runs. (All three pitchers have had seven starts allowing four runs or more.)

So yes, Scherzer has had better run support. Really, you can dissect this a lot of ways and all three are pretty even. But I suspect if you put Scherzer on the Mariners, we wouldn't be talking about a landslide Cy Young vote.

(For the record, I'd probably go Scherzer, Iwakuma, Sale, Darvish and Hernandez on my five-pitcher ballot. But maybe that's the Mariners fan in me not trying to be biased.)

I’ll be honest: I never quite got the love affair with the 2011 and 2012 Detroit Tigers. They were good teams winning bad divisions, top-heavy with stars, but the sum of the parts was never as good as the national media made them out to be.

I mean, this is a team that tried to win the World Series last year with career minor leaguer Quintin Berry batting second. No wonder they scored just six runs in getting swept by the Giants.

The 2013 Tigers, however, are bigger, stronger and deeper. Even with Miguel Cabrera battling injuries, they’re a better team than they were the past two seasons.

The Tigers clinched their third straight division title with Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the Twins -- it’s the first time they will make three straight postseason appearances since 1907 to 1909 (some guy named Cobb was the star of those teams) -- so let me illustrate why this team is better.
2011: 95-67, run differential of +76: This team ranked fourth in the AL in runs and eighth in runs scored and exceeded its projected Pythagorean record by six wins, thanks in part to Jose Valverde’s perfect 49-for-49 mark in save opportunities. They also won 95 games in a division where no other team finished above .500. They were 50-22 against the AL Central and 45-45 against everyone else.

2012: 88-74, run differential of +56: The Tigers were sixth in runs and fifth in runs allowed. The offense had added Prince Fielder, but Victor Martinez missed the entire season and Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta declined after big seasons in 2011. They struggled to hold off a mediocre White Sox team in a division that featured three teams with 90 losses. The Rays and Angels actually had better records than the Tigers but missed the playoffs. Detroit was 43-29 against the Central and 45-45 against everyone else.

2013: 93-66, run differential of +175: The Tigers rank second in the AL in runs and fourth in runs allowed (and they’ve allowed just two more than No. 2 Oakland). Their run differential is more than 100 runs greater than last season, and they’ve done it with two other good teams in the division. They’re 47-29 against the Central and 46-37 against everyone else.

So it’s a much stronger Tigers team. Give credit to GM Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland on a several fronts. They didn’t panic about the closer situation, letting things sort themselves out until Joaquin Benoit finally took over the role (he’s 24-for-25 in save chances). They showed patience in Martinez after he was hitting .228 with two home runs through May. When Peralta got suspended, Dombrowski acquired slick-fielding shortstop Jose Iglesias from the Red Sox, a move that improved the team’s defense (although he’s missed the past six games after getting hit by a pitch).

Of course, the big question surrounding the Tigers these days is Cabrera’s health and offensive production. He went 0-for-4 on Wednesday and since Aug. 27 is hitting .257/.382/.311 with just one double and one home run in 23 games. The abdominal strain has affected his ability to turn on inside pitches -- through August he was hitting .401 on pitches on the inner half of the plate; in September, he’s hitting just .200 on inner-half pitches. His groin is bothering him perhaps because of the ab injury, which further limits him. He’s obviously a shell of the guy who terrorized pitchers for the first four-plus months.

But Leyland is not going to sit him and he can’t use him at DH because Martinez is locked in there. Part of what makes great, however, is that one player can’t carry a team, no matter how often we use that phrase. Last year, the Tigers needed Cabrera and Fielder to carry a heavy load, but even with Cabrera’s struggles, Martinez is hitting .322 in September, Fielder .352 with four home runs and even Avila is hot, hitting .344/.429/.541. They’ll get Peralta back this weekend from his suspension and the plan is for him to play some left field. (Hey, he can’t be any worse out there than Young was last year.)

Look, the Tigers’ offense is still down this month, averaging 4.1 runs per game after averaging 5.0 in August and 5.9 in July. With Cabrera struggling it’s not the same powerhouse attack we saw in the summer. But it’s good enough. And good enough may be good enough if those guys named Verlander, Scherzer, Sanchez and Fister deliver on the mound.

Let's take a break from these hectic final days of the season and look back at the 10 best decisions of the season. To me, these were decisions based on good analysis or good scouting or both, with a reasonable chance of working out. Signing Zack Greinke is easy. Having Scott Kazmir work out is good luck. These were calculated decisions that paid off.

10. Tigers don't overpay for a closer. Throughout the offseason, during spring training and into April and May, there were cries for the Tigers to go out and acquire a Proven Closer. General manager Dave Dombrowski resisted and eventually veteran setup man Joaquin Benoit took over as closer ... and has been perfectly great, going 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 23 saves and just one blown save. Why give up a good prospect for a closer when one isn't that hard to find?

9. Rays acquire Yunel Escobar. Last year, the Rays got so desperate for some offense at shorstop that Joe Maddon eventually had to move Ben Zobrist there. Escobar went from Toronto to Miami in the big Jose Reyes-Josh Johnson-Mark Buehrle trade, and then Tampa Bay got him for marginal prospect Derek Dietrich. Escobar wore out his welcome in Atlanta and Toronto, but hasn't had any issues in Tampa. The Rays didn't panic when Escobar was hitting under .200 in mid-May. He turned things around and has had a solid .258/.333/.370 season. These days, that's good offense from a shortstop.

8. Dodgers sign Hyun-Jin Ryu. For all the talk about the Dodgers' enormous payroll, they brought Ryu over from Korea with a $25.7 million bid and a reasonable six-year, $36 million contract. That's about $10 million a year for a pitcher who has gone 14-7 with a 2.97 ERA. That's only $8 million more than the Cubs gave for four years of Edwin Jackson, who has a 4.74 ERA. Chalk it up to good scouting.

7. A's trade for Jed Lowrie. Oakland had terrible production from its shortstops in 2012 and only had to give up platoon first baseman/DH Chris Carter to acquire the injury-prone Lowrie. It was a trade with little risk for the A's but high upside: Yes, Carter had power but he was never going to be a star with all of his strikeouts. Lowrie has stayed healthy and been one of the top hitting shortstops in the majors.

6. Reds trade for Shin-Soo Choo. This was a perfect example of a team identifying an obvious need -- the Reds needed a leadoff hitter -- and going out and solving the problem. Even though he struggles against left-handers, Choo is second in the National League in on-base percentage, walks and runs. His defense in center field has been a minor liability instead of a major one and the Reds are heading back to the playoffs.

5. Red Sox acquire good clubhouse guys. More importantly, Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli and Jonny Gomes also produced on the field. Victorino was a signing I liked even though it was widely panned -- I liked the idea of having a second center fielder in right field and a good option in case Jacoby Ellsbury got injured. Victorino's offense has been a bonus and his defense has been terrific.

4. Marlins give Jose Fernandez a job out of spring training. Fernandez didn't pitch above A-ball last year, so when he broke camp with the Marlins everybody wondered why the desire to rush him and start his service time when the Marlins weren't going to be any good. But sometimes you have to do the obvious thing: Like Dwight Gooden in 1984, Fernandez had to be in the major leagues because he was that good. All Fernandez did was post a 2.19 ERA and hold batters to a .522 OPS, the lowest for a starter since Pedro Martinez in 2000.

3. Pirates sign Russell Martin. The Pirates made several smart moves -- trading for Mark Melancon, giving the closer job to Jason Grilli, signing Francisco Liriano (although that one produced more upside than anyone could have imagined) -- but Martin was an under-the-radar move that solved a huge problem for the Pirates. Last year, the Pirates allowed 154 stolen bases while catching just 19 basestealers, an abysmal 11 percent caught stealing rate. Thanks to Martin, they've cut that total to 93 steals and 43 caught stealing, a 32 percent rate (Martin has caught 40 percent). Martin is also one of the better pitch framers around and his offense has been about league average. With what he's meant behind the plate, he could see some down-ballot MVP support.

2. Dodgers call up Yasiel Puig. It looks like an easy decision in retrospect, but this was still a 22-year-old kid with just 67 games of minor league experience, 40 of them above A ball. It took some guts to call him up in early June, even if the move was born out of a little desperation. Give credit to the Dodgers correctly analyzing the raw ability and believing he would hold his own in the majors.

1. Cardinals move Matt Carpenter to second. You can probably count the number of successful third base-to-second base conversions on one hand; players rarely move up the defensive spectrum to a tougher position, which is why many expected that Carpenter would soon return to a utility role. But in Carpenter the Cardinals had the perfect pupil: A player in his second season who wanted to break into the starting lineup, but also a 27-year-old with more maturity than most second-year players. He's a smart player with a good ethic. Plus, the Cardinals knew he could hit, not that they expected a .324 average and 55 doubles.

We're making the MVP cases today for the five top AL contenders. Here's the case for Miguel Cabrera, and here are the previous arguments for Mike Trout, Chris Davis, Josh Donaldson and Robinson Cano.

1. Please.

2. Cabrera is having a historic offensive season -- even more impressive than his Triple Crown year last season. He leads the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and RBIs. His OBP is 52 points higher than last year and his slugging percentage is 41 points higher. If he was the easy MVP winner last year, it's an even easier choice this year.

3. Cabrera's wRC+ (a park-adjusted offensive metric from FanGraphs) is 195, tied for 17th-highest since 1950. Since George Brett in 1980, the only players with a better figure are Barry Bonds (2001 to 2004), Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas in the strike-shortened 1994 season, Mark McGwire in 1998, Bonds in 1992 and Mike Schmidt in the strike-shortened 1981 season. So, yeah, he's good with the bat.

4. Cabrera's offensive totals clearly surpass Davis and he plays a more important defensive position. No, he's not a Gold Glover, but he's made just 12 errors.

5. Trout, Davis and Cano are going to be watching Cabrera on television in the postseason. Trout didn't even have to play in the pressure of a pennant race. Yes, Cabrera has slowed down the past few weeks with his injury problems, but the Tigers had already wrapped up the division title by late August. Plus, his OBP is still over .400 in September.

6. Cabrera is hitting .401/.535/.796 with runners in scoring position. Not a misprint. His walk rate, 14 percent overall, jumps to 22 percent with RISP. So he has all those RBIs even though he often gets pitched around in those situations.

7. With two outs and runners in scoring position, the numbers jump to an insane .459/.612/.934 in 84 plate appearances.

8. WAR is nice and all, but it doesn't factor in the timing of those hits as shown above. Trout has hit a fine .328 with runners in scoring position, but that's not close to Cabrera. Plus, Trout hits his best when the game is out of reach -- when the score is greater than four runs, he's hit .466, so he pads his stats a bit in blowouts. Cabrera, by contrast, has hit just .250 when the margin is greater than four runs.

9. Against the Indians, the Tigers' main competition for the AL Central title, Cabrera hit .317 with 20 RBIs in 17 games.

10. Yes, Comerica is a good hitter's park, but it's not necessarily a good home run park. Cabrera has hit 27 of his 44 home runs on the road. Imagine if he got to play half his games at Camden Yards like Davis. The Triple Crown may have been a lock.

That's clinching a playoff spot in style. John Lackey completed Boston's metamorphosis from worst to first -- OK, the Red Sox haven't officially clinched first place just yet -- with a two-hit, 3-1 victory over the Orioles on Thursday. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished it off with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Lackey's own transformation was officially stamped as well. Two years ago, he was the most hated man in Boston -- at least next to the fried chicken chef -- when he posted a 6.41 ERA in 28 starts. On this night, the Fenway faithful chanted "Lac-key! Lac-key!" as he retired Adam Jones on a fly ball for the final out, the city's love affair with baseball as strong as ever after last year's disastrous season.

In watching Lackey power his way through the Orioles' lineup, there was little doubt about the statement he and the Red Sox are making these days: They're the best team in baseball, a team whose only weakness right now is waiting to see if center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury will return from a fracture in his foot for the postseason.

As Lackey also showed, this is a starting rotation that goes four deep, especially with Clay Buchholz looking good in two starts since returning from three months on the disabled list. The Red Sox can line up their postseason rotation with Jon Lester, Buchholz, Jake Peavy and Lackey, a group deep enough that you'd feel confident no matter who had to start the first game of the American League Championship Series or the first game of the World Series.

Buchholz is 11-0 with a 1.51 ERA, but Lester has matured into the leader of the staff, with a 2.38 ERA since the All-Star break, pitching his best baseball since he finished fourth in the 2010 Cy Young voting. Peavy has a 3.68 ERA in nine starts since coming over from the White Sox, cutting his home run rate since leaving the hitter-friendly confines of U.S. Cellular Field.

But it's Lackey as the No. 4 starter who makes this group as good a foursome as any playoff team's. Maybe the Red Sox lack the dynamite 1-2 the Dodgers have in Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, but considering Lester's second half and Buchholz's overall numbers, that pair isn't far behind. Against the Orioles, Lackey threw 82 of 113 pitches for strikes, pounding the strike zone and hitting corners like he's done all season, once again showcasing why he has a career-best walk rate. Ninety of those 113 pitches were fastballs -- primarily going outside corner to lefties and outside corner to righties. Even though he's up in the zone a lot, he gets late movement on the pitch, making him one of the few starters who can rely on his fastball as a strikeout pitch and not just to set up his off-speed stuff -- he's recorded 83 strikeouts on his fastball, 11th most in the majors.

When you look at the other rotations in the American League, you see holes. Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez have been great for the Tigers, but Justin Verlander hasn't been JUSTIN VERLANDER this year and Doug Fister has a 4.73 ERA against teams over .500. The A's group is solid, although helped by their home park, and I'm not taking A.J. Griffin and Dan Straily (or Sonny Gray) over Peavy and Lackey. The Rays aren't even a lock to get in and Matt Moore got pounded on Thursday and has battled control issues all season. Baltimore? Cleveland? Please. In the National League, the Cardinals are counting on two rookies, the Braves lack an ace and have beaten up on some terrible offenses in the NL East and the Pirates are relying on A.J. Burnett -- 5.32 ERA over his past eight starts -- and Charlie Morton.

Even if you don't think Boston's rotation is the best, it's the offense that sets the Red Sox apart. No team can match their lineup depth; they've scored 36 more runs than the Tigers (in a division with better pitching), and Miguel Cabrera, the driver of the Detroit attack, has battled injuries in September, hitting just .227 with two extra-base hits. He's just not the same MVP force he has been most of the season, and if he's not a force the Tigers obviously have a less threatening lineup.

In the NL, the Cardinals are deep but have one empty hole in shortstop Pete Kozma and cleanup hitter Allen Craig is still out with a sprained foot. The Dodgers don't quite have the same depth, although if Hanley Ramirez (who went 4-for-4 on Thursday) and Matt Kemp prove to be healthy, they can get on a roll as we saw for much of the summer. The Braves are still without Jason Heyward and Justin Upton has three RBIs in his past 24 games.

In September, the Red Sox lead the majors in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs. Their pitching staff has allowed the lowest batting average in September and the second-lowest OPS (to the Nationals). Their closer has allowed one run in his past 32.1 innings.

The best team in baseball right now? It's the Red Sox.

Which probably means absolutely nothing once the playoffs start.

Just more than two weeks ago, the Texas Rangers were in pretty good position, leading the A’s by 2.5 games in the American League West and coming off a 20-7 August that had them angling for the best record in the league, even with the Red Sox and Tigers in the lead as September began.

In other words, they were at least making preliminary plans on how to line up their postseason rotation. Matt Garza, acquired from the Cubs on July 22 for four players, would be a big part of that rotation, slotting in behind Yu Darvish and perhaps ahead of Derek Holland. He was one of the big fish at the trade deadline, the top-of-the-rotation starter teams desired to bulk up their rotation.

Well, Garza has proven to be one of the key deadline acquisitions -- only in a negative way. The Rangers are a disastrous 2-12 in September, collapsing down the stretch for the second straight season, and Garza has become the symbol of this horridness. He had another poor effort in Monday’s 6-2 loss to the Rays, getting knocked out in the fifth inning while allowing eight hits and six runs. Over his past nine starts, he has a 5.72 ERA and just one quality start. He has hardly been an improvement over the replacement-level pitchers the Rangers had been throwing out there.

Garza is not the only reason the Rangers have struggled. Their success in August was masked somewhat by their schedule -- they played only four games against winning teams in the month, beating up on the likes of the Astros, Mariners and White Sox. As the schedule got tougher, the Rangers’ weaknesses have been highlighted. As Gerry Fraley pointed out on Twitter, the Rangers haven’t led now in seven consecutive games, the first time that has happened since the franchise moved from Washington. That was 1972. The Rangers have a great bullpen, but they can’t get the lead.

Meanwhile, Alex Cobb delivered another solid outing for the Rays, with 10 strikeouts over eight innings, improving to 9-3 with a 3.02 ERA and giving the Rays temporary breathing room in the wild-card race (one game over Texas, 1.5 over Cleveland).

With that game in mind, speaking of playoff rotations, how do the contenders line up? Let's check some of the things managers are looking at.

Atlanta Braves
Mike Minor probably lines up as their No. 1, but it’s possible that Kris Medlen slots ahead of Julio Teheran even though Teheran has better numbers on the season, especially if the Braves lock up home field for the first round (they currently have the best record in the NL). Medlen has pitched well of late, but he also has a sizable home/road split (2.45 ERA at home, 4.27 on the road).

Los Angeles Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke are the easiest one-two on the board, with Ricky Nolasco (terrific with the Dodgers other than his last start) and Hyun-Jin Ryu after that, perhaps depending on who finishes best over these final two weeks.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitchers who started on Monday in the NL are lined up to also start the wild-card game, which takes place on Tuesday after the season ends on Sept. 29, given four days between starts. For the Pirates, that suggests that if they don’t win the division, A.J. Burnett draws the assignment for that game. Here:

Monday, Sept. 16: Pitch
Tuesday, Sept. 17: Off
Wednesday, Sept. 18: Off
Thursday, Sept. 19: Off
Friday, Sept. 20: Off
Saturday, Sept. 21: Pitch
Sunday, Sept. 22: Off
Monday, Sept. 23: Off
Tuesday, Sept. 24: Off
Wednesday, Sept. 25: Off
Thursday, Sept. 26: Pitch
Friday, Sept. 27: Off
Saturday, Sept. 28: Off
Sunday, Sept. 29: Off
Monday, Sept. 30: Off
Tuesday, Oct. 1: Start wild-card game

Now, that’s assuming the NL Central division race goes down to the season’s final day and rotations aren't altered. However, the Pirates have another option: Francisco Liriano is scheduled to start this coming Friday, then again on Wednesday the 25th. So he could also pitch the wild-card game on five days’ rest if he doesn’t start the season finale on short rest (otherwise that would be Gerrit Cole’s game). If the Pirates end up facing the Reds, Liriano could get the start in an attempt to neutralize the Reds’ left-handed batters of Shin-Soo Choo, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce.

St. Louis Cardinals
Using the same math we did for the Pirates, the Cardinals would be lined up with Shelby Miller (Sunday’s starter) or Lance Lynn (Monday’s starter) in the wild-card game. Adam Wainwright starts Wednesday and Monday, putting him in line for a Saturday start in the final weekend and out of the wild-card game (he’d be pitching on two days’ rest). Again, all that is contingent on the division not being settled until the very end.

Cincinnati Reds
Perhaps the most interesting result from Monday was Johnny Cueto's making his first start for the Reds since June 28 and going five innings and 82 pitches against the Astros, allowing no runs. Yes, it was the Astros, and Reds fans on Twitter said Cueto was bailed out a couple of times but that his curveball looked great. If Cueto can get up to 100 pitches, Dusty Baker has to consider him for the rotation. Of course, the Reds have to get past the wild-card game first, and Baker has Mat Latos or Homer Bailey lined up full rest to start that game, as he’s going with six starters this week (with a day off on Thursday). He’s starting Greg Reynolds on Wednesday against Houston, lining up Latos and Bailey to pitch against the Pirates (and Liriano and Burnett) on Friday and Saturday. Good stuff.

Boston Red Sox
Jon Lester is presumably the No. 1 here, although Clay Buchholz has shown good results in two starts since coming off a three-month DL stint. Jake Peavy and John Lackey would fill out the 3-4 spots in some order.

Oakland A’s
Bartolo Colon has the better season numbers, but would Jarrod Parker draw the A's Game 1 start? He was Oakland’s Game 1 starter last year as a rookie, losing twice in the Division Series to Justin Verlander. He’d been on a roll until Monday’s start against the Angels, going 9-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 21 starts since struggling early in the season. Colon had a little blip in early August with back-to-back five-run starts, but has a 1.13 ERA over his past four starts. This could be a matchup thing: If the A’s play a team with a heavy dosage of left-handed hitters (like Boston), maybe Parker gets the start since his changeup is so effective against lefties. Against a right-handed team (Detroit), maybe Colon draws Game 1. After that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see rookie Sonny Gray get Game 3 over the homer-prone Dan Straily or A.J. Griffin.

Detroit Tigers
Two questions: (1) Anibal Sanchez or Justin Verlander as the No. 2 starter behind Max Scherzer (I’d go Sanchez, as he’s simply better than Verlander right now); (2) Has Rick Porcello jumped over Doug Fister as the Tigers' fourth guy? Porcello has pitched well his past two starts, but those came against the Mariners and the White Sox. Before that, the Red Sox pounded him for nine runs. But Fister has also been inconsistent, with two seven-run starts mixed in with a one-run and no-run effort in his past four outings.

I’m not going to go through all the wild-card contenders, but since the AL wild-card game is played on Wednesday, Oct. 2, here’s each team’s probable wild-card starter:

Tampa Bay: David Price. He’s scheduled to go on Friday and next Wednesday, giving him six days of rest before the wild-card game.

Texas: Martin Perez, Matt Garza or Alexi Ogando. Right now, Yu Darvish is scheduled to go Thursday/Tuesday/Sunday. If Darvish isn’t need on that final day, he gets the wild-card game.

Cleveland: Zach McAllister, Scott Kazmir or Corey Kluber. The Indians have an off day next week, so they could end up skipping Danny Salazar and starting Ubaldo Jimenez next Tuesday and then again on the final day of the season (if needed) or the wild-card game (if not needed the final day).

Baltimore: Miguel Gonzalez or Scott Feldman.

New York: With an off day, next week, the Yankees can skip Phil Hughes and go with Hiroki Kuroda (Tuesday), CC Sabathia (Wednesday), Ivan Nova (Thursday), Andy Pettitte (Friday), Hughes (Saturday), Kuroda (Sunday). So, it could be Sabathia, Nova or Pettitte in the wild-card game.

Kansas City: James Shields. The Royals have an off day on Thursday, so Shields is slated to pitch again on Sunday, then next Friday, which sets him up for the wild-card game on four days’ rest.

Whew. Got all that? And I'm sure I'll hear it from Nationals fans for not including them ...

Your team is out of it, but you still love baseball. You intend keep checking box scores and watching the big games these final two weeks. You'll watch the playoffs, but you need a team to root for.

So, who to pick from the remaining teams in contention? I mean, you could just go with the team that's gone the longest without a World Series title -- that would either be the Indians (1948) or the Rangers (never). You could go with the biggest underdog -- probably the Pirates, who hadn't had a winning season since 1992. You could go with the smallest payroll -- that would be the Rays. Or maybe you just want Bud Selig to hand Alex Rodriguez that World Series MVP trophy.

But there are various factors you should consider in order to make the correct choice. I've weighted five different categories: misery (how much suffering have those franchise's fans gone through?), 2013 storyline (what made them interesting?), star factor (stars make October baseball more intriguing), payroll (high, medium or low payroll?) and fan support (do their own fans care?). The first three categories are judged on a five-point scale (five being highest) and payroll and fan support are judged on a three-point scale. Total maximum points is thus 21. Ties are broken by the team that's gone longest without winning a World Series.

14. New York Yankees: 12 points
Misery: 1
2013 storyline: 4
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 1
Fan support: 3

No, Yankees fans, suffering through Jayson Nix, Austin Romine and Brent Lillibridge doesn't count as misery. There's no denying this has been a compelling season in the Bronx, with all the injuries and a team of, in many cases, replacement-level players hanging in the race. Throw in the A-Rod saga and Mariano Rivera's final campaign, and the Yankees certainly would make October fascinating if they sneak in. Still, they're the Yankees, even with Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira injured and CC Sabathia pitching more like Andy Hawkins.

13. Atlanta Braves: 12 points
Misery: 3
2013 storyline: 2
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 2
Fan support: 2

It's been 18 years now since the Braves won their only World Series during their glorious run of 14 consecutive playoff appearances. It's also been 12 years since the Braves won a playoff series, the 2001 Division Series. While they lack that one big star, perhaps the most interesting aspect is their youth -- Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Mike Minor, Julio Teheran and Craig Kimbrel are all 25 or younger. It's a young team that's going to be around a long time. But it's also a team that's doing exactly what everyone expected, minus the expected competition from the Nationals.

12. Tampa Bay Rays: 12 points
Misery: 3
2013 storyline: 2
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 3
Fan support: 1

Heres the deal: Maybe we're getting a little Rays fatigue. OK, we get it; small payroll, genius manager, genius front office, crummy stadium. But this is the sixth year since that shocking 2008 World Series appearance -- isn't it time the team actually does something in the postseason? Plus, this isn't really that compelling a team, and if they do make it, we have to watch postseason games played indoors. Then again, I'd rather have a World Series game indoors than in that 20-something wind chill last year in Detroit.

11. St. Louis Cardinals: 13 points
Misery: 1
2013 storyline: 3
Star factor: 4
Payroll: 2
Fan support: 3

The Cardinals will be back in the postseason for the fourth time in five seasons and 10th in 14 going back to 2000. It's not quite a dynasty on the level of the 1990s Braves or 1995-to-present Yankees (although Cardinals fans will be quick to point out they've won one more championship in this run than the Braves did). With all their recent success, they score well in star factor, although two of their best players are the underappreciated Matt Carpenter and Allen Craig (although Craig is out right now with a foot sprain). The Cardinals have had an interesting season, with the gutsy move of Carpenter to second base, a rotation now relying on two rookies and Edward Mujica taking over as closer. But they've won two titles recently, so it's hard to muster up much enthusiasm for them.

10. Cincinnati Reds: 13 points
Misery: 4
2013 storyline: 2
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 2
Fan support: 2

No team has had a season closer to what you would have expected from them on paper than the Reds. The rotation has been very good, even with Johnny Cueto missing a lot of time; Joey Votto has been an MVP candidate; Shin-Soo Choo gave the team the leadoff hitter it missed last year; Jay Bruce has hit home runs; and Dusty Baker struggled to find a No. 2 hitter. The team has been one of the healthiest in the majors, a few injuries in the bullpen notwithstanding. It's a fun team to watch with Votto, Choo, Bruce and Brandon Phillips; Mat Latos and Homer Bailey turning into a dynamic one-two punch in the rotation; Bronson Arroyo keepng hitters off-balance with his broad arsenal of stuff; Aroldis Chapman firing 100-mph fastballs in the ninth; and the anxiety (if you're a Reds fan) of wondering how Dusty will screw it up.

9. Boston Red Sox: 14 points
Misery: 2
2013 storyline: 5
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 1
Fan support: 3

Red Sox fans will argue that the past two seasons caused undue amounts of misery, but this is still a franchise with a lot of recent success. What's interesting about this team is its lack of star power once you get past Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. In fact, Shane Victorino, the much-criticized free-agent signing, leads the team in WAR at 5.6 and closer Koji Uehara -- who took over the role only after injuries to Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey -- has had one of the best relief seasons in history, with a 1.06 ERA and an amazing .126 batting average allowed. And remember: Most people didn’t even pick the Red Sox to make the playoffs. It's not exactly an underdog team, but it is a team that has exceeded expectations.

8. Kansas City Royals: 14 points
Misery: 5
2013 storyline: 3
Star factor: 2
Payroll: 2
Fan support: 2

Here’s a weird thing: With the Astros moving over to the American League, the AL has seven of the worst teams in attendance, with only the Marlins cracking the bottom eight from the NL. And while you can point to market size or team quality, consider that the Rockies, playing in a midsize market with a lousy team, are averaging over 34,000 fans per game -- more than 12,000 per game more than the A’s, Royals, Indians or Marlins. Of course we'd like to see the Royals make the playoffs, since they haven't done so since 1985, but is it really a team built to do any damage in October? Well, possibly. They don't score a lot of runs, but the rotation and bullpen are good enough to get on a roll.

7. Texas Rangers: 15 points
Misery: 5
2013 storyline: 3
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 1
Fan support: 3

It's easy to root for the Rangers. After all, they've never won a World Series and were one strike away in 2011 before losing in excruciatingly painful fashion. They lost in the wild-card game last year and have had to battle through injuries to the pitching staff and the suspension of Nelson Cruz and loss of Josh Hamilton. On the other hand, a lot of the misery has been self-inflicted. Ron Washington mismanaged that 2011 World Series, they choked down the stretch last year and Cruz wasn't suspended for helping old ladies cross the street. On the other hand, Yu Darvish would be fun to watch in October, even if the Metroplex is more interested by then in the Cowboys' backup fullback.

6. Cleveland Indians: 15 points
Misery: 5
2013 storyline: 5
Star factor: 2
Payroll: 2
Fan support: 1

Here come the Indians! They are now just a half-game out of the wild card (thank you, slumping Rays and Rangers). So, yes, there's been misery. Lots of it. I would say the Indians arguably deserve to top this list, except their own fans haven't even bothered to show up this year; only the Rays have averaged fewer per game. If the Indians do get into the wild-card game, Ubaldo Jimenez could be a tough foe to face considering his pitching of late (assuming he would be in line to start the game).

5. Oakland A's: 16 points
Misery: 4
2013 storyline: 4
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 3
Fan support: 2

As Matt Meyers wrote here on Friday, the amazing thing about the A's is they're doing this the exact same way as last year: without big stars, without a slew of high draft picks, without -- of course -- a large payroll or great fan support (they are not large in numbers, but they're passionate). Josh Donaldson leads the team in WAR at 7.3, but he's hardly a household name outside of the Bay Area. Bartolo Colon leads the pitching staff in WAR, which is really one of the most incredible stats of the season: A team that is going to win its division is led by a 40-year-old with the highest percentage of body fat in the majors. How can you not love this team?

4. Detroit Tigers: 16 points
Misery: 4
2013 storyline: 3
Star factor: 5
Payroll: 1
Fan support: 3

Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer have garnished all the headlines this year, and deservedly so, although once again it hasn't been the easiest trek to a division title despite all that star power. The Tigers have an interesting misery rating, with World Series losses in 2006 and 2012, those awful teams of the early 2000s, and all the high expectations in recent seasons. Is this finally the year?

3. Baltimore Orioles: 16 points
Misery: 5
2013 storyline: 4
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 2
Fan support: 2

It's been 30 years since the Orioles have made it to the World Series. From Jeffrey Maier to 14 consecutive losing seasons to last year's heartbreaking playoff loss to the Yankees, O's fans have certainly suffered. Unfortunately, they just can't get on that five- or six-game winning streak they need, and we're probably looking at a playoffs without Chris Davis and Manny Machado.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers: 17 points
Misery: 3
2013 storyline: 5
Star factor: 5
Payroll: 1
Fan support: 3

With Clayton Kershaw, Yasiel Puig, Zack Greinke, Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez and maybe Matt Kemp -- not mention Magic Johnson in the owner's box -- there’s no denying the star power on this team. Their regular season has certainly been one of the more interesting in recent years, with a 30-42 record through June 21 nearly leading to manager Don Mattingly getting fired, followed by a 42-8 stretch that was the best in the majors since the 1942 Cardinals. After dropping to sixth in the NL in attendance in the final year of the McCourt regime, Dodger fans have returned in full force, leading the majors and up nearly 5,000 per game from last year. I will say this though: While they haven't won (or been to) a World Series since 1988, the misery suffered under Frank McCourt has been vastly overstated -- the Dodgers made the playoffs four times in eight years under him. A lot of franchises should enjoy such misery.

1. Pittsburgh Pirates: 18 points
Misery: 5
2013 storyline: 5
Star factor: 3
Payroll: 3
Fan support: 2

No surprise. The Pirates are more than just an underdog; they're a team with many great backstories, as well as a team that is just flat-out fun to watch and easy to root for. Obviously, the Pirates rate high in the misery and 2013 storyline categories. They are lower in the star factor once you get past MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen, but that doesn't make then uninteresting. A rotation led by A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano isn't lacking for backstories, rookie Gerrit Cole will refreshingly continue to pitch even though he could top 200 innings if the Pirates go deep into the postseason and the bullpen duo of Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli were basically obtained off the scrap heap. Kudos to GM Neal Huntington for acquiring Marlon Byrd and Justin Morneau down the stretch to improve the team's depth.

Some quick thoughts on Thursday's results and a look forward to Friday.

At-bat of the night: Can a sacrifice bunt be the play of the night? It can when Jim Johnson chucks the throw into center field, setting up the winning run in the ninth inning of the Yankees' 6-5 win over the Orioles. Or maybe the key at-bat was Brendan Ryan leading off the inning with a base hit. Brendan Ryan and Chris Stewart. Your 2013 Yankees. Somehow it's working.

Pitching performance of the day: All-Star Jeff Locke has struggled of late -- well, struggled isn't quite right. In his past eight starts he'd gone 0-3 with a 6.57 ERA and opponents' batting line of .352/.443/.465. Sure enough, he pitched seven three-hit innings as the Pirates beat the Cubs 3-1. Most importantly, he walked just one, as his control has been awful of late. Whether this outing said more about Locke or the Cubs' offense, I'm not sure, but the Pirates moved into a first-place tie with the Cardinals after the Brewers beat St. Louis.

Most important win: We've been paying attention to the AL East battles this week, but the Indians got a big win in a big way -- 14-3 over the White Sox as Ryan Raburn knocked in five runs. Cleveland had lost their past two games to Kansas City, so this four-game set against the White Sox is a great chance to win three or four. They're 1.5 behind Tampa Bay but as we've pointed out before, they have the easiest schedule the rest of the way of all the wild-card contenders. If the AL East teams beat up on each other ...

Most important loss: The Orioles lost the final three games in their four-game series against the Yankees and now hit the road for a 10-=game road trip to Toronto, Boston and Tampa Bay. You feel their season slipping away.

Friday's best pitching matchup: Dan Straily versus Derek Holland (A's at Rangers, 8:05 ET). The free-falling Rangers are 3.5 behind the A's and anything short of taking two out of the three in this series probably spells the end of the division race. It's the final three games against each other in what has been a tight season series -- 9-7 in favor of the Rangers, with each team scoring 66 runs. Holland is coming off three straight shaky starts. Straily doesn't go deep into games so look for the bullpens to play a big part in this game.

Player to watch: Bruce Chen, Royals. He takes on Justin Verlander. Guess who has the better ERA? In 11 starts since moving into the rotation, Chen has a 2.98 ERA while holding opponents to a .205 average. He beat the Tigers on Sept. 8, allowing two runs in seven innings.

Eric Karabell and myself take a closer at a survey that found Alex Rodriguez to be "The Face of Baseball." Say what?

With Clay Buchholz returning to the Boston Red Sox's rotation with his first start since June 8 and resembling the pitcher who had started off 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA, it's a good time to examine the potential playoff rotations of the teams already locked into playoff spots. (Well, close to locking up playoff spots at least.)

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw
Zack Greinke
Ricky Nolasco
Hyun-jin Ryu

Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball, a guy who has allowed one run or no runs in nearly half his starts (14 out of 30). If there's one pitcher most likely to go on a dominant playoff run, he's the guy, the only issues being a pretty heavy workload this year (he's fifth in the majors in total pitches) and the fact that he has never been asked to make those five or six postseason starts necessary for an ace to lead his team into the World Series.

It's the next three starters, however, that give the Dodgers the best-on-paper rotation. Greinke has arguably been better than Kershaw of late, with a 1.58 ERA over his past 12 starts. Some still question Greinke's mental toughness but I'll take talent over some nebulous characterization of a player's ability. Nolasco has been brilliant with the Dodgers with an 8-1 record and 2.07 ERA and strong peripherals and Ryu has been consistent all year long.

You have two lefties, two righties, and and four guys throw strikes and limit home runs. It's clearly the best foursome going right now. Some may knock the lack of postseason experience -- Kershaw has two playoff starts, Greinke has three -- and point to the 2012 Giants as an example. Fine, I'll point to the 2010 Giants and argue that postseason experience doesn't really matter.

2. Boston Red Sox
Jon Lester
Clay Buchholz
Jake Peavy
John Lackey

If Buchholz is healthy and effective -- let's not declare him 100 percent just yet after one 74-pitch outing, no matter how good he looked in throwing five scoreless innings to beat the Rays on Tuesday -- I love this top four. Lester is pitching his best baseball since going into the downward spiral at the end of the 2011 season, Peavy has been solid since coming over to Boston and Lackey has been consistent all season (ignore the 9-12 record; he has received poor run support).

The issue here is that unless Buchholz is close to what he was in April and May, they lack a clear ace in the Kershaw/Greinke mold, but I like the depth and all four guys have the ability to dominate on any given day and pitch deep into a game.

3. Detroit Tigers
Max Scherzer
Justin Verlander
Anibal Sanchez
Doug Fister

I'm not too concerned by Scherzer having two bad outings in his past three starts. He's still the likely Game 1 starter for the Tigers based on his body of excellent work throughout the season. The bigger issue is the inconsistency of Verlander and Fister, both of whom have been much more hittable than the previous two seasons, and how Leyland lines up the rotation: Verlander ahead of Scherzer seems unlikely but do you start Verlander ahead of Sanchez? It's not that big of a factor, especially since only the Game 1 starter is likely to start twice in a five-game series, but it does potentially affect who starts the first game of the American League Championship Series.

4. Cincinnati Reds
Mat Latos
Homer Bailey
Bronson Arroyo
Mike Leake/Tony Cingrani

This is a very underrated group putting up solid numbers in a tough park to pitch in. Dusty Baker's dilemma: If the Reds end up in the wild-card game, do you start Latos or Bailey? It could depend on who the Reds play. If it's St. Louis, it should be Latos, whose fastball/slider combo is a better matchup against the right-handed-heavy St. Louis lineup (opponents are hitting .176 against Latos' slider). If it's the Pirates, Bailey may be the better matchup. Of course, that's assuming the remaining schedule lines up for that decision to be made. If the Reds are still battling for the division title, it could just fall to whoever is due up in the rotation.

5. Atlanta Braves
Mike Minor
Kris Medlen
Julio Teheran
Paul Maholm

Minor and Teheran have been excellent all season and have the luxury of handing the ball over to what has arguably been the game's best bullpen. (Interesting postseason decision: Will Fredi Gonzalez have Craig Kimbrel get four or five outs if the situation warrants it?) Anyway, Medlen has been on a roll lately so I could see him bumped ahead of the rookie Teheran in the postseason, even if Teheran has better season numbers. Maholm is a bit of a question mark as the No. 4 starter; in four starts since missing a month, he has a 4.03 and 14/11 SO/BB ratio.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates
1. Francisco Liriano
2. A.J. Burnett
3. Gerrit Cole
4. Charlie Morton

Liriano allowed one run in six innings in Pittsburgh's 5-4 win over Texas on Tuesday, improving to 16-7 with a 2.92 ERA -- that despite a couple recent poor outings. It's that inconsistency of late that could lead to Clint Hurdle giving the ball to Burnett in a possible wild-card or Game 1 of the division series. Again, it could depend on matchups: Liriano against the Reds in a wild-card game (to counteract lefty-swinging Shin-Soo Choo, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce) or Burnett against the Cardinals. Cole and Morton wouldn't be expected to go deep into games, but to provide six solid innings and turn the game over to the Pirates' bullpen.

7. Oakland A's
Jarrod Parker
Bartolo Colon
Sonny Gray
A.J. Griffin/Dan Straily

Parker has probably surpassed All-Star Colon as the team's No. 1. He had a no-decision on Tuesday, running his string of starts without a loss to 19. He has allowed more than three runs in a game just once since May 6. When he gets to two strikes, that changeup becomes one of the best pitches in the game: Batters are hitting .158 off it with 68 strikeouts in 158 at-bats. Gray has to slot ahead of Griffin or Straily, both of whom are homer-prone, with his excellent performance in six starts.

8. St. Louis Cardinals
Adam Wainwright
Shelby Miller
Joe Kelly
Michael Wacha

Those are the four I would go with right now, considering Lance Lynn has allowed four-plus runs in each of his past five starts and also struggled last postseason. That's a rotation with one stellar veteran, two rookies and one second-year guy. As I said, I don't put a lot of weight on postseason experience, but you do have to worry about how much Miller and Wacha may have left in October. It's also an all-righty foursome, and in a perfect world you may want a lefty in there to help create some balance or better matchups.

What do you think?

Some quick thoughts on Monday's results and a look forward to Tuesday.

Inning of the day: I wrote about Ned Yost's tactical errors in the ninth inning of the Royals' 4-3 loss to the Indians. According to coolstandings.com, the Royals' playoff odds are down to 5.2 percent. By the way ... the Indians are only four back of the Tigers in the loss column. They have no games remaining with the Tigers so that hurts their chances, but the AL Central isn't over quite yet.

Argument of the day: Buck Showalter and Joe Girardi had a nice little war of words, Girardi apparently upset that Orioles' third-base coach Bobby Dickerson was trying to steal signs from Yankees catcher Austin Romine. That little flare-up overshadowed the more important news of the night: The Orioles beat the Yankees 4-2 behind a strong effort from Chris Tillman, who improved to 16-5 with a 3.66 ERA. The one flaw on Tillman's season ledger is 29 home runs, but some of that is a Camden Yards effect -- he's allowed 22 home runs at home, just seven on the road, where his ERA is a run lower. If the Orioles get into the wild-card game and can line up their starter, you have to think it would be Tillman.

Pitching performance of the day: Gerrit Cole outdueled Yu Darvish 1-0, clinching a winning season for the Pirates and handing Darvish his third 1-0 loss of the season, the most since Orel Hershiser lost four such games in 1989. ESPN Stats & Info breaks down Cole's superb outing, the best of his rookie season.

Most important win: While the Pirates' win was big from a psychological standpoint after getting swept by the Cardinals over the weekend, the Indians and Orioles picked up an important half-game on the Rays.

Most important loss: The Royals. They're now 4 back of the Rays and 2.5 back of the Orioles and Indians. If 90 wins is the line to get into the playoffs, they have to go 15-3 the rest of the way.

Awards watch: Max Scherzer had his worst start of the season in a 5-1 loss to the White Sox and Chris Sale, pushing his ERA to 3.01, seventh-best in the AL. Scherzer is still the Cy Young favorite with his 19-3 record and league-leading WHIP and high strikeout total, although Sale now has a healthy lead in WAR (but an 11-12 record), 7.1 to 5.5.

Tuesday's best pitching matchup: Clay Buchholz versus David Price, Red Sox at Rays (7:10 ET). After missing three months, Buchholz returns to the Red Sox rotation. He was 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA before going down, but looked shaky in a couple rehab starts. Price is coming off six-run and four-run outings on Tampa's recent road trip.

Player to watch: Francisco Liriano, Pirates. An interesting matchup here as well against Martin Perez. The Rangers are scuffling, having lost seven of 10. Liriano has run hot and cold of late, with four scoreless starts in his last nine, but a 10-run game and four-inning and three-inning outings mixed in.

As Mike Trout's lead over Miguel Cabrera in Wins Above Replacement continues to grow -- 8.6 to 6.9 on Baseball-Reference, 9.8 to 7.3 on FanGraphs -- it seems the Cabrera camp is actually starting to get a little more defensive than the Trout camp, which has more or less conceded that Cabrera will win the award, no matter how vociferous the debate should be.

For example, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and the MLB Network, attempts to defend Cabrera's case by tearing down WAR:

Check out the WAR of Carlos Gomez (6.7, fifth best in baseball) and Gerardo Parra (5.1, tied for 20th best). Now it's possible they are indeed the fifth- and 20th-best players in baseball this year. But I doubt it. According to these figures, Parra is tied with Adrian Beltre and ahead of a plethora of other stars despite his mundane .725 OPS, and Gomez (.832 OPS) is ahead of everyone but Trout, Andrew McCutchen, Cabrera and Robinson Cano -- and he's barely behind Cabrera and Cano at that.

Even within the center-field ranks, WAR looks pretty suspect. Shin-Soo Choo, who has helped make the Reds go with his second-in-the-NL .425 on-base percentage, has a 3.7 WAR. One spot ahead of Choo is Mets rookie Juan Lagares, at 3.8.

It's a reasonable argument to bring up -- Gomez, Parra and Lagares benefit from outstanding defensive metrics that help their WAR total -- but not really germane to the Trout-Cabrera discussion, since Trout has been credited with -8 Defensive Runs Saved this season. (FanGraphs' defensive measurement has him at +6 runs.)

No, I think the MVP discussion, such as it is, is really about old-school basics: It's hard to convince some that Trout has been as good, or better, than Cabrera, when Cabrera has 20 more home runs and 49 more RBIs (his lead in batting average over Trout is down to 15 points).

First off, the 20 home runs. That's a huge advantage for Cabrera. But Trout has three more singles, 12 more doubles and eight more triples -- plus eight more walks, nine fewer double plays hit into and 29 more stolen bases. Based on those numbers, Cabrera's offensive advantage just isn't as large everyone thinks it is. In fact, Cabrera leads Trout in Runs Created by a slim margin, 147 to 143 according to Baseball-Reference. Put it this way: Cabrera only has 29 more total bases than Trout. Factor in steals, baserunning, double plays hit into, walks and defense ... well, is it really that surprising that Trout would have a higher WAR?

(Ballparks also play a small role here in WAR. Trout plays in a lower run-scoring environment, so the runs he creates are a little more valuable than the runs Cabrera creates. And, no, Comerica Park is NOT a pitcher's park; it's been a good place for hitters in recent years.)

So this gets us to RBIs. Cabrera has 133, Trout has 84.

It's not cool to trumpet RBIs these days -- are you ready to defend Brandon Phillips as the second-best player in the National League? -- but this is exactly what the Cabrera camp should be pointing out, because it's the crux of his MVP case.

According to Baseball-Reference, the average player with Cabrera's plate appearance total drives in 60 runs -- 73 fewer than Cabrera's total. Cabrera has had more runners on base than the typical hitter -- 405 to 346 -- but he's knocked in 90 out of those 405 runners (22 percent), plus himself 43 times.

Trout has knocked in 84 runs compared to the average of 65 for his plate appearances. Trout has actually had fewer runners on base than the average player -- 353 to 373 -- and he's driven in 61 of those 353 (17 percent), plus himself 23 times.

Cabrera is hitting .418 with runners in scoring position and .383 with men on base. With two outs and runners in scoring position he's hitting .466. In tie games he's hitting .351/.447/.696. When the margin in the game is greater than four runs, he's hitting .246/.306/.385 in 72 plate appearances; in other words, he's not piling up the stats in blowouts. It's almost like Cabrera tunes out when the game has been decided. Trout, meanwhile, has hit .331 with runners in scoring position and .309 with men on, good but not Cabrera. He's hit .471/.554/.843 in 83 PAs when the margin is greater than four runs.

That's your Cabrera argument -- that he's risen his game when runners are on base. He has been an RBI machine.

Of course, so has Chris Davis, who is now only nine RBIs behind Cabrera. By the way, here's one last stat to consider. Late and close situations, when the games are most on the line:

Davis: .329/.394/.817, 10 HR, 30 RBIs (94 PAs, 82 at-bats)
Cabrera: .264/.404/.444, 4 HR, 10 RBIs (89 PAs, 72 at-bats)

If you want to dismiss the "better" argument and bring in value ... well, that's a lot of clutch hitting there from Mr. Davis. Maybe he's your MVP?