Kuzul

With the 2012 regular season in its final days, a number of teams across the league are working on positioning themselves for a postseason run, while others are already making plans for the offseason.

A number of free agents-to-be have performed well enough to warrant significant contracts on the free market, but only time will tell as to whether or not their teams will let them go.

Here are some players that could very well end up wearing the same uniform when spring training rolls around just five months from now.

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Now that we’ve seen the second major trade deadline this summer pass, as the date for waiver trades has come and gone, it’s time for teams to focus on doing what they can with the pieces they have from here on out. 

That doesn’t mean there won’t be new faces, however, as September call-ups will no doubt be plentiful in the coming days as teams begin to expand their rosters.

The proposition of adding call-ups can be very taxing when it comes to contending teams, as there’s almost no room for error with trips to the postseason on the line.

Here are some teams which would no doubt benefit from solid play from those coming from down on the farm this September.

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Now that we’ve all had a chance to catch our breath since the MLB trade deadline has come and gone, we get to see just how these pieces are able to meld into a functioning piece of a new team’s chemistry.

From Zack Greinke to Hanley Ramirez, big-name players could be the difference between taking home field in the postseason or squaring off as a wild-card team.

Two months of baseball stand in our way of realizing exactly who ends up playing in October, but the early returns promise to give us some indications of things to come.

Which MLB 10 teams will be in the playoff picture? Read on for some predictions.

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In barely a day’s work, teams all across the league have hedged their bets on players that will no doubt resemble the future of their franchises, even if they don’t know which they’ll be just yet.

While college players have certainly been taken in great numbers, teams always find the will to take chances on the sometimes unpolished high school stars that possess the talent to have a seemingly non-existent ceiling.

These players won’t all end up signing, however, as spending time in college can mean a huge difference in terms of dollars and cents when considering a second shot at the draft down the road.

Here are some players who have the talent to make the move to professional baseball, but may not sign on the dotted line this time around.

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The official contract talks between Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals may be on hold at this point, but that certainly hasn’t slowed down the speculation regarding his future.

Even though the Cardinals and Pujols appear to be a significant amount apart at this point, most people still seem to believe that a deal will get done.

If however a deal is not reached, Pujols will become quite possibly one of the most talented free agents to hit the market in recent history.

With a player of his caliber, the talent level and cost are so dramatically high that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who could and would make a strong push for Pujols.

While any team in the league would benefit from his services, there are a number of teams which it would be significantly more feasible for.

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Competitive fire is something that a general manager loves to see in a player. The drive to succeed and the intensity that accompanies it can be an important part of a recipe for success.

There is, however, a fine line that some players walk, teetering between intense and insane.

Whether it’s a result of the fame, pressure, media, teammates or just themselves, players can find themselves losing the battle with their composure.

Many players fitting this bill are on their third, fourth or fifth team, a sure sign that they’re worth at least a certain amount of extra hand-holding and perhaps another change of scenery somewhere down the road.

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It’s hard to believe, but the regular season is less than a week away. Teams in both the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues are preparing to pack up and head home for a long season.

While the mainstays of each team’s roster spend the spring honing their skills and preparing for the season, many rookies look at camp as their opportunity to prove that they belong at the Major League level.

Cuts are inevitably made and players oftentimes spend weeks or months preparing for that potential call-up. Many rookies could get the call, but there is usually one or two in each organization that stands out above the rest.

Here are some players from all teams poised to make an impact throughout the 2011 season.

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It’s been said that chicks dig the long ball. In fact, everybody digs the long ball.

That’s not to say that baseball fans don’t appreciate a pitcher going the distance in a game while striking out 15 batters, but watching someone hack a home run into the summer night is just something that our attention is drawn to.

Unfortunately for fans in many cities, long balls are seen far less frequently than in others.

Some of the new stadiums we see being constructed have deeper gaps and higher walls with electronic scoreboards, making it hard for many players to power a fastball into the seats.

With the 2011 season just weeks away, here’s a list of the hardest places to go yard last season.

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While teams throughout the Major Leagues monitor their rosters this spring, there are a number of players who are taking the field with a certain level of uncertainty.

Relief pitchers are an integral part of any team’s successes. They enter games in tight spots and are counted on to shut out the competition when it counts.

If that’s not enough pressure, a number of pitchers in team’s bullpens are playing with the possibility of being pulled into a new role, that of a starting pitcher.

As Spring Training plays out, there are a number of relief pitchers out there that may be starting pitchers who are simply biding their time before making their eventual appearance in their team’s rotation.

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Spring Training is a great opportunity for teams to find out what type of talent they’ll have on their side as they prepare to embark on a 162-game journey.

Players are excited to get back into the swing of things, and the slates are wiped clean as every team is in preparation mode.

It’s hard to look too deeply into statistics during spring training, as this time is more often used to fine tune habits and learn how to work with new teammates.

That said, here are a few players whose slow starts this spring won’t likely be an indicator to their regular season successes.

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