MLB

1.(↑1) New York Yankees (21-8): The “Bronx Bombers” edge out the Rays this week by just three points (249 to 246) for the first place spot. Yankees fans have a lot to cheer about as their team is in the top 10 in every category, with the exception of strikeouts. They're doing this without Curtis Granderson in the lineup and with Javier Vazquez doing everything he can to ruin their ERA. Scary!

Alright, I'm finally ready to talk some baseball.

Not that I haven't been paying attention, quite the opposite actually. Because of my line of work, I find myself watching more baseball than ever before—on Mondays and Thursdays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, not to mention the nationally televised games on Saturday and Sunday.

I see more of Buster Olney and John Kruk then I do of my own family. I even hear Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan's voices in my dreams, which as you might guess, very quickly become nightmares.

Pedro Martinez was a better pitcher than Roger Clemens. The basic premise is that the pitcher's job is to prevent the opposition from scoring. Pedro did that better than Roger.

On July 22, 2009 the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox, opening up the first base position. The next day they called up Steve Pearce and on the 29th they traded Ian Snell and Jack Wilson to the Seattle Mariners for Jeff Clement and Ronny Cedeno, creating a competition at first between the two college superstars.

Admit it: you've started thinking about next winter's free agent market.

It's nothing to be ashamed about. Baseball's Hot Stove is boiling all year long; it's only natural to be curious about who will sign where.

This week, the Bleacher Report Featured Columnists are here to assure you that you are not alone.

For this survey, I asked each respondent to say how much money and how many years eight big names should get when they hit the open market in six months.

According to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork , the Mets have designated outfielder/pinch hitter Frank Catalanotto for assignment and have promoted outfielder/first baseman Chris Carter to take his spot on the roster.

Catalanotto, 36, has served primarily as a pinch hitter off the bench, but has had a truly putrid season putting up a .160 batting average, a .192 OBP, and a .200 SLG.

He's been known to say some crazy things in the Mets booth, which has led to awards and criticism.

Now, the man behind one of sport's most famous mustaches finds himself in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Mets legend and SNY broadcaster Keith Hernandez is a Web sensation thanks to taking a bit of a catnap during an extra-innings game recently.

We have the video, plus a few other tasty treats related to our favorite "Just For Men" dude.

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Here’s a look at the unheralded players who played well yesterday.

As we will do each week throughout the season, we will today take a look at Accuscore's playoff forecaster to see how the previous weeks games influenced the division's playoff race. The Nationals tremendously improved their chances to make the playoffs last week as the club went 4-2.

With this their projected playoff chances jumped from 10.5 percent to 23.8 percent. Disappointingly, their chance to win the division only grew 4 percent to 10.1 percent as the Phillies continue to play great baseball.

A review of each season's Most Valuable Player voting typically reveals the best players in the game at that particular time. Although each player's team's regular season success is a factor, the vote tally usually has a strong correlation to statistical leader boards.

Those players have almost always earned this recognition through quantifiable performance from RBI, HRs and batting average to wins and saves. Individual team MVP selections often mirror the same approach.

However, determining which players are most indispensable can often entail a much more complex equation.