Prospect Pipeline

Believe it or not, the New York Yankees don’t plan on being big spenders this offseason. At least compared to previous years.

The (multi) million-dollar question this offseason is whether Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda will be posted by Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hiroshima Carp.

Major League Baseball announced the 2014 Comeback Players of the Year in the American and National Leagues on Friday, and they got both of them right.

Travis Ishikawa became a postseason hero on Thursday with his walk-off home run against the Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.

Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the first baseman-turned-left fielder’s three-run blast clinched the NL pennant for the San Francisco Giants, sending the team to its third World Series appearance in the last five years.

The St. Louis Cardinals lost a heartbreaker Tuesday, as Randy Choate’s throwing error in the 10th inning gave the San Francisco Giants a 5-4 win in Game 3 of the NLCS.

However, Choate’s rough outing with the game on the line didn't define the Cardinals’ Game 3 loss.

The Detroit Tigers made a statement when they acquired David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

Having a breakout season is a challenge for most players. Pulling it off in the postseason, when playing time is limited and every next play could potentially determine the season, is another story.

However, every year there are players who do just that, as they go from little-known prospects or under-appreciated veterans to playoff heroes and household names seemingly overnight.

With the playoff games set to begin Tuesday night, it’s time to preview some of the players who appear primed for a breakout performance this October.

The 2014 MLB postseason begins Tuesday, with the Kanas City Royals set to host the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game (8:07 p.m. ET, TV: TBS).

Kansas City captured the top AL Wild Card spot to secure its first postseason berth in 29 years, and came within one game of the division-winning Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

Oakland is returning to the playoffs for the third straight year after finishing one game back of Royals in the Wild Card.

With the regular season coming to an end in a matter of days and the postseason set to begin next week, every playoff team will soon be forced to make difficult decisions regarding its roster.

The number of players a team can roster will drop from the 40 previously allowed in September back to the standard 25 next month. As a result, teams will craft their postseason rosters based on their own strengths as well as the perceived weaknesses of their upcoming opponent.

When things get tight at the end of the MLB season, some players show up and guide their teams into the playoffs.

Last season, it was right-hander Michael Wacha, who joined the St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation in early September and subsequently became one of the biggest stories of the postseason, as the rookie took home NLCS MVP honors and pitched his team into the World Series.