With only 15 games left in the season for the Atlanta Braves, things are beginning to turn south.  Since the Philadelphia Phillies stole the lead in the NL East on September 12^th, the Braves have fallen 2.5 games behind. 

Although the Houston Astros have spent a majority of the 2010 season in the cellar of the National League Central, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the team’s future.

Today, we’re going to look at 15 solid reasons to get pumped up about next year’s Astros squad.

Let’s begin by taking a look at five honorable mention candidates before quickly narrowing down to the top 10 players on Houston’s young and talented depth chart with the highest probability of becoming future MLB stars.

Mike Napoli will be traded this offseason. There is no question about it.

As paradoxical as it seems, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a team severely lacking in power and RBI production this year, are headed down an inevitable and potentially dangerous path toward trading their current team leader in home runs.

Many might contend it's a bit early to start dissecting the dynamics of the Red Sox' 2011 bullpen, but with Boston all but eliminated from playoff contention, the Nation needs something positive to even begin keeping the faith through an extended offseason.

To say that Atlanta Braves fans have been disappointed in him over his first two years would be somewhat of an understatement.

As far as I can remember, the only time we had been completely satisfied with his performance was after his first start with the Braves, when he shut out the Philadelphia Phillies for eight innings on Opening Night last season.

Ever since I first seriously considered the concept, I have taken home/road splits seriously. If you are a Boston Red Sox fan, don't talk to me about Jim Rice or Wade Boggs. Are you are a Chicago Cubs fan? Well, you probably don't want to hear what I have to say about Ron Santo and Billy Williams. And if you want to hear good things about Sandy Koufax, I suggest you look somewhere else.

In what is likely the final September call-up, the Arizona Diamondbacks purchased the contract of Konrad Schmidt from the Double-A Mobile BayBears. Schmidt, who was with the Diamondbacks in spring training, left a very favorable impression with the coaching staff.

Everyone was impressed with Schmidt’s poise behind the plate and how he handled the pitching staff. Add to this the fact that he posted good offensive numbers while with the BayBears and Schmidt earned a late season call.

When Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia talks, people tend to listen. A distinguished 35-year career in Major League Baseball as a player and manager has given him a sphere of influence, and he utilizes it when called upon.

This past weekend, Scioscia proposed cutting back the MLB regular season schedule to 158 games from the current 162-game format and increasing the divisional playoff series format from five to seven games.

One minute, Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez is quoted as considering the possibility of not picking up his option for 2011. The next thing you know he’s telling the Sun-Times, ''I'm staying here, put it that way.''

This sounds to me like a guy who is working with the Cubs front office to restructure his contract.

Just a few short weeks ago, Atlanta Braves' starting pitcher, Derek Lowe, was struggling. On Monday night, Lowe pitched eight shutout innings, struck out a career high 12 batters, reached a career milestone of 1,500 strikeouts, and earned his 13th victory of the season. What's changed?