Baseball

The 2014 season is nearing its final month, so that means it may be time to start thinking of what the New York Mets' 2015 team could look like.

Most of the current team should return next season unless any potential trades happen during the offseason. Some trades at certain positions would be nice, but if next season's roster is very similar or identical to the current roster, here is what a likely 2015 Opening Day lineup could look like.

When an early morning team meeting is needed just before facing a team 20 games under .500 in your own house, it might be time to start choosing pallbearers.

The New York Yankees won Thursday, a fine shutout against the Houston Astros, but let’s be real here: When this is the win a team hopes turns around a lackluster season, it’s just going to keep going in the same direction.

The Los Angeles Angels suffered a potentially crushing blow Wednesday night when they lost ace Garrett Richards for the next six to nine months with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee.

In the immediate aftermath of Thursday evening's team-record-tying 10th straight victory, it's apparent that the Washington Nationals are finally living up to their potential and putting the rest of the National League, if not all of baseball, on notice.

We’re almost at the point in the season where rosters expand to 40 players and teams call up all sorts of minor league prospects to supplement their rosters.

Some of these September call-ups go a long way in helping their teams qualify for the playoffs. Others flame out and ride the bench until the end of the season. Either way, these prospects have the chance to make their mark while also giving a much-needed boost to weary rosters at the end of a long season.

Following Monday's 4-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs, the New York Mets have become the first team in the last 10 years to record four or fewer hits in five consecutive games, per ESPN Stats and Info.

The rare streak may sound familiar to diehard fans of the Amazin's, as the 2004 Mets were the last team to compile such a run of futility.

For the past several seasons, expanded September rosters have provided the Seattle Mariners with a chance to look toward the future.

Things are a little different in 2014. The Mariners are firmly in contention for a playoff spot, meaning they will be focusing on the present rather than giving playing time to prospects.

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Ender Inciarte pushed his hitting streak to 18 games with a 10th-inning double in Monday's 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals, thus extending his own franchise rookie record.

The Baltimore Orioles (71-52) are soaring high as of late and have been on a roll in August, acquiring a record of 11-5 so far this month.

As the calendar turns, MLB rosters will expand, allowing teams to add on some depth at crucial positions and enabling for some of their star players to take a few more days off than usual.

Following the disaster in Colorado, most Cincinnati Reds fans finally said farewell to a painful season full of hopes and what-ifs. That was, of course, before another walk-off defeat in St. Louis.

While the attitude inside of the clubhouse is probably still focused on 2014, the fact remains that this depleted Reds team probably won't be able to compete for the last wild-card spot (they need to jump four teams now), so the focus will shift to 2015.