Rafael Soriano

With the MLB playoffs just hours away, many fans are inevitably experiencing their own version of postseason baseball butterflies.

But it isn’t just the fans that are trying to quell their nervousness; it’s also a handful of players who are playing for more than just a shot at the Fall Classic.

No pressure, really.

Lurking in the dugouts of the eight remaining teams are a collection of various players who are not only trying to help their respective teams advance in the playoffs but are also trying to prove their free-agency worth.

The Tampa Bay Rays have won their second American League East title in their brief history. This season's division championship came down to the final day of the regular season. The Rays had the division in hand once the Yankees lost to the Red Sox but would've won regardless by defeating Kansas City.

The Philadelphia Phillies are the hottest playoff team in baseball right now, sporting the MLB's best record at 94-63. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and recently had an 11-game winning streak. They are playing outstanding baseball and look to be in postseason form, and have also clinched their fourth consecutive NL East title.

With the Phillies playing this well, can they be stopped? They have been to the past two World Series, and won it all in 2008. It will take a lot for a team to stop the Phillies once the postseason starts.

The advent of sabermetrics has changed the way we look at "clutch."

"Situational hitting" is luck. "Inducing weak contact" is luck. "Performing under pressure" is luck. It's all been proven with math and logic and regression analysis.

But screw that, because it's a pennant race, and even the most logical stathead has subjective ideas about who he'd most want to see step to the plate with his favorite team's season on the line.

The All-Star Game rosters usually have a way of working themselves out. Usually at the end of the day, thanks to injuries and whatnot, the players who are supposed to be there get there.

Two closers who many felt were snubbed when the original rosters were announced have found their way into the game.

With Milwaukee Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo and New York Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera pulling themselves from the game, San Diego Padres closer Heath Bell and Tampa Bay Rays closer Rafael Soriano have been named to the NL and AL rosters respectively.

A fistful of names in baseball this year are steadily producing, but not necessarily gaining the recognition that they deserve. Many of these performances that are flying under the radar are overshadowed by those of early Cy Young and MVP candidates.

By now, Ubaldo Jimenez, Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and others are household names this year.

One of the great misconceptions of fantasy baseball is that a player is destined for a monster season simply because it happens to be his walk year. Theoretically, if a player has a slow start in a contract year, he may be pressing, and just needs time to get his game together.

The beauty of a 162-game schedule is that even the most frustrated players have enough time from this point forward to turn their season around. If a big contract is at stake, a player destined for free agency in 2010 will play hurt, and is likely to be a model citizen.