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Atlanta Braves pitcher Jose Ramirez has been hit with a three-game suspension and fine for throwing at Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez during Wednesday’s game.  

Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Ramirez’s punishment, adding the right-hander’s fine was for an undisclosed amount. Mark Bowman of MLB.com also reported the discipline and noted Ramirez will appeal the decision.

Ramirez threw at Fernandez in the seventh inning of Miami’s 7-5 win on Wednesday, which resulted in both benches clearing.

Fernandez hit Braves outfielder Nick Markakis with a pitch in the sixth inning after Markakis hit a two-run homer earlier in the game to give the Braves a 4-1 lead. 

Braves manager Brian Snitker told Joe Frisaro and Pat James of MLB.com after the game he felt that Fernandez was intentionally targeting Markakis.

“To me, Nick hits the ball out and then almost another one and then gets squared up,” Snitker said. “I don’t think that was an accident. When we play, I don’t feel bad blood. It’s just two teams going at it. It was a pretty hard-fought game, really. Their team is trying to get into the playoffs, and for my take on it, we’re not trying to get in the playoffs but we’re trying to win every game we play.”

Per Frisaro and James, Fernandez said the pitch that hit Markakis “slipped out of my hands” even though he explained he was just trying to throw a fastball inside after Markakis was late on them earlier in the game. 

Ramirez has quietly had a solid season for the Braves. He’s posted a 3.38 ERA and 30 strikeouts in a career-high 26.2 innings. 

The Marlins are chasing a wild-card berth, entering play Friday four games behind the New York Mets for the second spot in the National League. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Usually a trial run for rookies, MLB‘s September roster expansions have instead become a portal for second chances.

Prominent prospects are now typically promoted before the final month, especially if they can help a contender. In years past, Alex Bregman, Gary Sanchez and Jameson Taillon might have debuted as September call-ups.

Now it looks like they should have arrived sooner.

Outside of Yoan Moncada, who has quickly proven too raw for a grand stage, no star youngster has began his MLB career this month. In most cases, the most notable call-ups are working their way back into good graces after an earlier demotion.

Regardless of their journey to the majors, the following players can impact the playoff picture and earn a postseason roster spot.

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The Chicago Cubs lost on Thursday, but they still became the first team to clinch a postseason berth when the San Francisco Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals.

Now, nothing can go wrong. They’re the Cubs, after all.

Speaking of nothing going wrong, we here at Bleacher Report’s MLB Team of the Week are out to honor 10 players—one per position, including a starting pitcher and designated hitter—who busted box scores over the past seven days.

To qualify, a player needs to have made at least two starts at the position in question, or one start in the case of pitchers. And while this is primarily about individual output, we award extra credit for flashy stats that led to ticks in the win column.

Stretch out your commenting muscles and proceed when ready.

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The Chicago Cubs took a step toward ending their World Series drought Thursday night when they clinched the National League Central. The milestone came by virtue of the St. Louis Cardinals‘ 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants despite Chicago’s 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.  

The Cubs not only clinched the division; they ran away with it. No team in baseball holds as commanding of an advantage as Chicago’s 17-game lead over the Cardinals. In fact, St. Louis is closer to the last-place Cincinnati Reds (30.5 games back) in the division than it is to Chicago, and it is still a legitimate wild-card contender.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Cubs made history by clinching at such an early juncture: 

This marks the Cubs’ first division crown since 2008, when they finished 97-64 but lost in the division series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

There are a number of reasons Chicago won the National League Central this year, including the guiding presence of three-time Manager of the Year Joe Maddon. However, it begins with the starting pitching staff that holds the best ERA in baseball at 2.89.

It is a testament to the depth of the group that defending National League Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta may be the third-best starter on his own team this year. He has been excellent with a 17-6 record, 2.91 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, but Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks have matched or surpassed his efforts.

The 32-year-old Lester is pitching as if he is in the middle of his prime with a 2.40 ERA that has paved the way for a 17-4 record. Hendricks uses pinpoint control and a nasty changeup to dominate hitters to the tune of a 2.03 ERA and 0.96 WHIP even though he doesn’t light up the radar gun.

The offense doesn’t need to pile up runs with a staff like that, but it has all season and ranks third in the league in runs. What’s perhaps most impressive about the offense is it performed so well even though slugger Kyle Schwarber suffered a season-ending injury after two games and free-agent signing Jason Heyward has disappointed at the plate with a .228 average, six home runs and 43 RBI. 

Kris Bryant is the National League MVP front-runner thanks to his eye-popping numbers at .295/.388/.562 with 37 dingers and 95 RBI. Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs wrote that the only way to make the case for someone else as MVP was to “knock Bryant down a few pegs,” but he noted it “can’t reasonably be done, on account of Bryant having been the best all-around performer in his league.”

Sullivan pointed to Bryant’s impressive fielding and versatility in addition to the offense.

Elsewhere, Anthony Rizzo protects Bryant in the order with 31 home runs and 101 RBI, and they represent as fearsome a one-two punch as pitchers will face in the league.

Chicago’s complementary pieces would be stars on many other teams. Addison Russell is only 22 years old and provided a power boost in his second year with 20 home runs and 91 RBI. Dexter Fowler sets the table from the leadoff spot with speed and power, and Javy Baez’s versatility allowed the club to survive Schwarber’s loss.

There are also veteran leaders such as Ben Zobrist and David Ross who will likely prove beneficial in the postseason.

Attention will turn toward the upcoming playoffs now that Chicago has clinched the division, and it will face a pressure-packed scenario given its history. This franchise has not won the World Series since 1908, and the expectations from a desperate fanbase could weigh on it.

However, the Cubs picked up valuable postseason experience last year by winning the do-or-die National League Wild Card Game and beating the Cardinals in the next round. They lost to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, but October baseball won’t be a new experience for the Cubs’ core.

Chicago’s pitching staff will make it a difficult out in any postseason series since Arrieta, Lester, Hendricks and playoff-tested John Lackey will likely start every game. What’s more, Maddon can shorten individual contests with a lights-out bullpen that features Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon and Aroldis Chapman.

The formula is in place for a drought-killing postseason, but the Cubs will first celebrate their division crown.

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Much like convenience-store lackey Dante Hicks in Kevin Smith’s seminal 1994 film Clerks, the New York Yankees weren’t even supposed to be here.

They sold their veteran assets at the August 1 trade deadline and fixed their gaze on the future. They surrendered.

Then, a funny thing happened. They started winning—and kept winning. On Sept. 8, yours truly wrote a rosy, they’re-in-this-thing column. 

It’s not over, not mathematically anyway. But after a crushing 7-5 defeat against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, the Yankees’ playoff hopes are fading fast.

For most of Thursday’s tussle at Fenway Park, New York was in control. The Yanks held a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. Ace Masahiro Tanaka continued his run of dominance with seven frames of four-hit, one-run ball.

Then, Boston mounted a rally. David Ortiz went deep in the eighth for his 537th home run, passing Mickey Mantle and taking sole possession of 17th on the all-time list (salt, meet wound). And the Sox plated five more runs in the ninth, capped by Hanley Ramirez’s walk-off three-run homer.

There’s stinging symbolic pain mixed in there—losing to the Red Sox and watching a legendary Yankee get eclipsed by a Beantown hero in the midst of his swan song.

The more immediate problem for the Yankees, however, is that the loss dropped them to 77-69. They now sit five games behind Boston for the American League East lead and three games off the pace for the second wild card.

That wild-card gap isn’t insurmountable with 16 games left to play. New York, though, would have to leapfrog not only the wild-card-leading Baltimore Orioles (80-66) and Blue Jays (79-66), but also the Detroit Tigers (78-68) and Seattle Mariners (78-68). 

Stranger things have happened. But if the Yankees miss the postseason, Thursday’s meltdown may be the watershed moment. ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin described it with the “C”-word (no, not that one):

The Yankees have three more games at Fenway, followed by three in Florida against the Tampa Bay Rays and four north of the border against the Jays. After the conclusion of this 11-game trip, they return to the Bronx for three-game sets against the Red Sox and Orioles to close things out.

The good news is, that’s a lot of games against their division rivals. “The teams that we’re trying to catch, we’re playing,” third baseman Chase Headley said, per Newsday‘s Anthony Rieber.

The bad news is, those teams have potent offenses capable of laying waste to a pitching staff.

Outside of Tanaka, the Yankees rotation is one crooked question mark. And the bullpen, after the deadline trades of Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller, is no longer an unmitigated strength. Newly anointed closer Dellin Betances is having a strong season, but he coughed up the homer to Ramirez and looked gassed. 

“Everyone’s tired this time of year,” skipper Joe Girardi said of Betances, per Newsday‘s Erik Boland. “We’re fighting for our lives.”

This isn’t a eulogy for the 2016 Yankees. That would be premature. And we’re not suggesting New York’s future is less bright than it was a few weeks ago.

The Yankees have MLB‘s best farm system, per Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter. They have enviable young talent on the big league roster, including bust-out rookie catcher Gary Sanchez, who collected two more hits Thursday.

And they have arduous contracts coming off the books, meaning they’ll have Benjamins to burn in the ludicrously loaded 2018 free-agent class. 

But this surprising, house-money playoff run appears to be fizzling like a fumbled soda can on a cement floor. FanGraphs gives the Yankees a 7.1 percent chance of playing past Game 162. That could be generous.

It’s not over. But even if it were, you’d have to tip your cap. For a club that wasn’t even supposed to be here, these Yanks have done all right.

All statistics and standings current as of Thursday and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted. 

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The St. Louis Cardinals received a boost to their bullpen with Thursday’s return of Trevor Rosenthal.

Rosenthal hadn’t pitched for the Cardinals since July 24 because of shoulder and forearm injuries.

This comes at an ideal time for St. Louis, which had won just six of its last 14 games entering Thursday’s action while falling behind the New York Mets in the National League wild-card race.

The former closer has had a rough season, compiling a 5.13 ERA with a 2-4 record and four blown saves. However, he noted his pitching accuracy wasn’t what it should have been while he was dealing with the injuries.

“Even with the injury, I felt my arm strength was there,” Rosenthal explained, per Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It was just being able to make pitches and command counts. That’s more important than the arm strength, and having that feel back is going to be what helps me get outs.”

The 26-year-old has proved himself in the past, compiling a 2.10 ERA with 48 saves last season while earning his first All-Star Game appearance and accumulating some NL MVP votes in the process.

St. Louis will hope Rosenthal is not only healthy, but also as effective as he was in 2015 as the team tries to secure a playoff berth down the stretch.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

MLB suspended San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller on Thursday for 30 days, per Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported earlier in the day members of San Diego’s front office could face punishment for failing to properly disclose players’ medical information when negotiating trades with other teams.

In a statement on MLB.com, the league cited the July trade that sent pitcher Drew Pomeranz to the Boston Red Sox:

Major League Baseball has completed an investigation into the July 14th transaction in which [Pomeranz] was traded from the San Diego Padres to the Boston Red Sox. MLB’s Department of Investigations conducted the thorough review, which included interviews with relevant individuals from both Clubs. The findings were submitted to Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr.

As a result of this matter, Major League Baseball announced today that A.J. Preller, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Padres, has received a 30-day suspension without pay.

MLB considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.

The Padres released the following statements after the announcement:

According to Olney, the Red Sox, along with the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox, complained about potential deception by the Padres.

Olney explained that MLB teams are supposed to log any medical information about a player into the Athlete Health Management System (formerly known as Sutton Medical System). The database is then used by other teams interested in trading for a certain player. The Padres, however, used a separate database in addition to the Sutton Medical System to gain a competitive edge:

The athletic trainers were told to post the details of any disabled-list-related medical situations on MLB’s central system, but they also were instructed to keep the specifics about preventive treatments only on the Padres’ internal notes. One source defined the distinction in this way: If a player was treated for a sore hamstring or shoulder without being placed on the disabled list, that sort of information was to be kept in-house, for use within the organization only.

According to the two sources with direct knowledge of the meetings, the athletic trainers were told that by splitting the medical files into two categories, the Padres would benefit in trade discussions.

After going 8-7 with a 2.47 ERA in 17 starts with San Diego this year, Pomeranz was 2-5 with a 4.60 ERA in 11 starts in Boston entering Thursday. His FIP has also climbed over a full run (4.81) from his half-season with the Padres (3.14), per Baseball-Reference.com.

“Sources within the Boston organization say it wasn’t until after the deal was made that they became aware of some of the preventive measures that had been provided for Pomeranz,” Olney wrote.

Colin Rea is a more clear-cut case of the Padres’ strategy backfiring. San Diego agreed to a deal with the Miami Marlins on July 29, which sent Rea and Andrew Cashner to South Florida. Days later, the Marlins traded Rea back to the Padres in exchange for pitching prospect Luis Castillo.

Rea exited his only start with the Marlins on July 30 with right elbow soreness and hasn’t pitched since.

It’s not a stretch to say Preller’s job could be in jeopardy.

Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra highlighted one potential problem the GM will face going forward:

Preller’s 30-day suspension comes on top of what has been an underwhelming two years with the team.

His initial strategy to turn the Padres into a World Series contender overnight failed, as almost all of his marquee moves were busts. San Diego gave up the farm to add Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel, Derek Norris, Matt Kemp, B.J. Upton and Wil Myers.

In return, the team won 74 games in 2015 and had a 62-84 record this year entering Thursday. While Preller bolstered the minor league system by flipping Kimbrel and trading Pomeranz, few teams have a bleaker long-term outlook than San Diego.

If ownership was looking for any more pretext to consider firing Preller, the revelations about the Padres’ trade tactics could be the tipping point that results in his departure.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The San Diego Padres are in hot water with Major League Baseball because of their lack of medical disclosure regarding players on their roster.

On Thursday, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported Padres officials instructed their athletic trainers to keep two distinct files of medical information for players on the team, with one being used only by the Padres and the other to be used by other big league teams.

As a result of the investigation, Padres general manager A.J. Preller was suspended 30 days without pay, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported there is no further punishment coming for the Padres.

The Padres released the following statements on Thursday:

Olney, citing two sources, reported that “trainers were told in meetings during spring training that the distinction was meant to better position the team for trades.”

Olney noted MLB teams feed their medical information into a central database that protects the privacy of each individual and is accessible to teams when necessary. Each time a player receives treatment in the training room, no matter what it might be, that information is supposed to be filed.

In San Diego, however, Olney noted that “athletic trainers were told to post the details of any disabled-list-related medical situations on MLB’s central system, but they also were instructed to keep the specifics about preventive treatments only on the Padres’ internal notes.”

On Aug. 6, Olney reported MLB was looking into the Padres’ exchange of medical information for their trades with the Miami Marlins and Boston Red Sox. The Padres dealt Drew Pomeranz to Boston on July 14 and Colin Rea to Miami on July 29. 

Per Olney, “Sources within the Boston organization say it wasn’t until after the deal was made that they became aware of some of the preventive measures that had been provided for Pomeranz.”

Rosenthal reported Pomeranz and other players were taking oral medications that were not disclosed by the Padres. 

Meanwhile, Rea made his Marlins debut July 30, throwing 44 pitches in 3.1 innings before being removed with an elbow injury. Miami sent him back to the Padres on Aug. 1—getting minor league pitcher Luis Castillo back in return—and four days later, it was announced Rea would undergo Tommy John surgery and likely miss all of next season. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 2016 MiLB regular season is over, and each league’s respective postseason is already underway.

With that in mind, now seems like the perfect time for one final look at where all 30 MLB farm systems rank, as well as an updated look at each team’s top 10 prospects.

The following factors helped determine the rankings of players and teams:

• Potential (Player): Potential trumps production a lot of the time, especially in the lower levels of the minors and with recent draft picks. Skill set and overall tools are often a better indication of what kind of player a guy will be in the future.

• Talent (Player): As for guys in the higher levels of the minors who are close to breaking through at the big league level, production and current talent level are the determining factors, as these players are viewed as a more complete product.

• Overall Depth (Team): Having one or two elite prospects is great, but having a deep farm system from top to bottom is the way to build a sustainable contender. The overall depth and level of talent was the biggest factor in ranking each team.

• High-End Talent (Team): That being said, there is a difference between a prospect who has a chance of making an impact at the big league level and a prospect who could be a star. Elite prospects served as a tiebreaker of sorts when two teams were close in the rankings.

We’ve incorporated a tier system to help differentiate between the different levels of talent. Here’s a quick explanation: 

• Tier 1: Prospects who have an elite skill set and legitimate All-Star potential. This is the cream of the crop.

• Tier 2: Prospects who have a good chance of becoming at least a contributor at the MLB level. This is where most prospects on the following list will fall.

• Tier 3: Prospects who profile as fringe MLB contributors or young prospects who are still too raw to project any higher. Having one of these players ranked among your top 10 prospects is a good indication of a thin system.

We capped that off with a quick rundown of each farm system and each team’s MiLB Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year.

These nominations are based solely on who put together the best statistical season at the minor league level, not taking into account things such as prospect upside, age relative to level and other league factors.

Just something to keep in mind as you’re perusing.

Let’s get started.

Note: Kansas City Royals second baseman Raul A. Mondesi (119 AB) and Texas Rangers third baseman Joey Gallo (125 AB) are both technically still prospects, but since both are in line to exceed the rookie-eligibility limit of 130 at-bats before the season is over, they were excluded from these rankings.

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Among the reasons Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, who notably doesn’t play in the field, can be considered an MVP candidate is because the award doesn’t reward defensive prowess.

The award annually acknowledges players in each league who have had outstanding offensive seasons. Such a player can be mediocre defensively and still win the award—or, in the case of Ortiz, not play defense at all. Even with new statistical measures for defense, no player can be a defensive stalwart and an average hitter and receive consideration for MVP.

The following candidates have had outstanding offensive seasons. Who has the best shot at MVP in 2016?

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