MLB

Now that baseball is back, there's no slowing down until October. The daily fantasy grind continues on Saturday with a full day of MLB action.

While this guide focuses heavily on the 11 evening games, one sneaky stack looks like a nice early complement to an afternoon lineup led by Clayton Kershaw and/or Michael Pineda.

It’s official.

The second half of the Major League Baseball season is underway, or the post-All-Star break portion of the season for the technical types.

With this part of the year comes renewed excitement. The division races heat up through the non-waiver trade deadline this month, the waiver trade market in August and the stretch run in September. With at least one team in every division within striking distance of the leader, it makes the final two-plus months of the regular season ripe with intrigue.

With the second half of the 2015 MLB regular season beginning Friday night, why not analyze which players will have the biggest say in how the playoff race will shake out?

Timing is critical in every aspect of life, and that adage holds true in sports. Players who find their groove in the second half can spark their teams to postseason glory.

With MLB in the midst of incredible parity, there are a host of potential X-factors throughout the league.

It's seemingly come out of nowhere, but right there on the horizon is the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. For the next two weeks, all would-be contenders will be scrambling to make deals. 

Some deals are more likely to happen than others. Likewise, some deals are going to have a bigger impact than others. What we're here to do is put these two ideas together and narrow down which impact deals you can count on happening.

For so many, Alex Rodriguez is providing something close to their worst-case scenario. 

The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers survived two delays after lights went out at Nationals Park on Friday evening, but a third outage proved to be too much.  

According to Fox Sports MLB, the final stoppage resulted in a complete suspension of play until Saturday: 

Fox Sports MLB also provided a view of the ballpark at the time of the decision: 

The Houston Astros are in the hunt for starting pitching as the trade deadline approaches, and the San Diego Union-Tribune's Dennis Lin reports the AL West contenders could target Tyson Ross if they strike out on a bigger name. 

Continue for updates. 

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Dennis Lin, the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres "have held preliminary talks" regarding a trade for starting pitcher Andrew Cashner. 

Continue for updates. 

The 2015 All-Star break may be baseball’s midway point, but in fantasy baseball, it means you have about one month-and-a-half left to make a push for the postseason.

First-half standouts can easily become second-half duds. Conversely, the post-All-Star break portion of the season may be when the underperforming early draft pick finally proves his worth.

Chances are your lineup has at least one or two holes in it, so let’s take a look at 10 players (one per position plus a utility bat) who should give your lineup that extra something it needs.

The Atlanta Braves and manager Fredi Gonzalez have agreed to a contract extension that will keep him with the team for at least one more season.   

Per the Braves' official Twitter account, Gonzalez's deal has been extended through 2016 and includes a team option for 2017.