Kuzul

What a difference a year has made for David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox.

In 2015, the club landed in the cellar in the American League East—15 games behind the division-winning Toronto Blue Jays. This year, as the third month of the season rolls along, the Red Sox own the second-best winning percentage in the circuit.

The AL East heavyweights are the most improved team of 2016, but they’re far from the only rejuvenated squad this year.

In order to rank the most improved teams of 2016, we zeroed in on three key factors:

• How well their new trade/free-agent additions have performed
• How successfully key returning players have bounced back from underwhelming performances in 2015
• How much room for improvement each team had

That last bullet point is a big one because some clubs—like the Red Sox—had much more room to grow than others.

The idea here is to focus on teams that are “back.” As a result, only teams that missed out on the postseason in 2015 were eligible for inclusion.

The Red Sox are the only club from the AL East that made the cut, but three teams in the National League East landed spots in the rankings that follow.

Begin Slideshow

Roughly one-third of the 2016 MLB season has been played, and at this point everyone is still chasing the Chicago Cubs.

The No. 1 team in our weekly power rankings for 10 straight weeks dating back to Opening Day, the Cubs have been nothing short of dominant aside from a brief hiccup in the middle of May where they went 4-8 over a 12-game stretch.

Meanwhile, teams continue to jostle for position in the rankings behind them, and for the fourth straight week we have a new No. 2 team.

There are 16 teams in all with a winning record, but the hottest team in baseball might be the Houston Astros, who are still two games under .500 but have gone 11-2 over the past two weeks to climb from the depths back to relevance.

One thing remains true: These rankings are a fluid process, with teams moving up or down based on where they ranked the previous week. If a club keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it’s as simple as that.

Here’s a look at where all 30 MLB teams stand.

Begin Slideshow

We’re now officially two months into baseball’s regular season, past the time when we can point at a player’s lack of production and call it “early-season struggles,” “rust” or whatever other excuse you can think of.

For some, Week 9 represents their first time on our All-Dud team, while others are making an unfortunate repeat appearance, whether it be as a starter or a dishonorable mention. This week’s roster is full of star power, as members of this group have a combined 30 All-Star Game appearances between them.

Begin Slideshow

This week we said goodbye to some big MLB names, albeit some for a longer stretch than others. But no one was more publicized than Cleveland Indians outfielder Marlon Byrd.

Wednesday, the league suspended Byrd 162 games after his second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

His was not the first positive test for PEDs this season. So yet again, it sparked debate over whether MLB’s policies and punishments are successfully legislating PED use out of the game.

But you’re probably also wondering: What other goodbyes had an impact on teams around MLB?

Begin Slideshow

It’d be easy to rattle off names like Jose Fernandez, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout as the biggest trade chips in baseball. It’d be just as easy to include top prospects like Washington’s Lucas Giolito, Pittsburgh’s Tyler Glasnow and Philadelphia’s J.P. Crawford on the pages that follow.

But to do so would be pointless, for there’s a better chance of Derek Jeter coming out of retirement than there is of any of those players getting moved anytime soon.

No, we’re interested in players that could be traded, those whose current teams might dangle them as trade chips over a ravenous pool of contenders looking to one-up each other and gain an advantage over their competition, both for the stretch run and, hopefully, the playoffs.

Of course, not all trade chips are created equal. While we’ve identified more than 20 potential trade candidates, we’ll dig into the 10 biggest, looking at their performance, contract and what, if anything, the rumor mill has been telling us recently in regard to their short-term futures.

*You’ll see FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric (Weighted Runs Created Plus) referred to for position players on the pages that follow, which attempts to provide a more accurate representation of a player’s productivity than batting average or OPS.

Begin Slideshow

You don’t have to be a professional athlete to be considered overpaid. Sadly, there are plenty of people across a wide spectrum of fields who aren’t good at their jobs and don’t deserve the gaudy salaries they collect.

It’s easier to pick out those people when they are professional athletes—like baseball players—with multimillion-dollar contracts and single paychecks that dwarf what many people take home in a year.

To be included on our all-overpaid team, a player must have played this season. That takes obvious choices like Boston’s Pablo Sandoval and Texas’ Josh Hamilton out of the running. But fear not, for there are a number of other qualified candidates.

So how are we going to determine the most overpaid player at each position?

We’ll look at a player’s 2016 salary and compare it to his FanGraphs value, which puts a dollar figure on what a player’s current level of production would be worth on the open market. More details on that can be found here. The biggest difference, or overpayment, wins.

Who wishes they didn’t make the cut? Let’s take a look. 

Begin Slideshow

As we honor the men and women who have given their lives for the United States this Memorial Day, the 2016 MLB season continues chugging along.

The Chicago Cubs appeared to be in danger of losing their stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in our MLB power rankings with a 4-7 stretch of games heading into last week, but they got back on track with a big series win against the rival St. Louis Cardinals.

The rest of the top 10 remains in flux, though.

The San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers all received a nice bump after strong weeks, while the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies are heading in the other direction.

There was also significant movement in the bottom half of the rankings, with the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers making noise.

One thing remains true: These rankings are a fluid process, with teams moving up or down based on where they ranked the previous week. If a club keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it’s as simple as that.

Here’s a look at where all 30 MLB teams stand.

Begin Slideshow

Aside from a few failed fireworks here and there, Memorial Day weekend tends to be devoid of duds.

It’s a time for family and friends to gather for the first official barbecues of the season, some frosty adult beverages and, of course, baseball. It is the unofficial start of the summer, and nothing says summer quite like a ballgame.

Not all of the players who take the field share our enthusiasm, however, as some are mired in month-long funks. Taking traditional and advanced statistics into consideration, here’s a look at those who can’t wait until the official start of summer arrives, perhaps resulting in a bat that finally begins to heat up.

Begin Slideshow

At their core, sports provide us with a stage for competition. We typically associate that with the contest between two teams.

But it extends to teammates, too, vying for at-bats. And also to a competitor’s drive to chase a record. That was the case with Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., who was pursuing Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak.

Bradley fell short. The streak ended at 29 games, which again proved that DiMaggio’s record is one of baseball’s toughest to break.

Of course, Bradley’s streak wasn’t the only compelling theater over the past seven days…

Begin Slideshow

Predictions are a lot like trades. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t.

But that doesn’t stop teams from swinging deals or pundits and statisticians from predicting the future, so you can be sure it’s not going to stop us, either. And what better prediction to make than which players will be traded between Memorial Day weekend and baseball’s Aug. 1 trade deadline.

That’s will be traded, not might be traded.

To be sure, this list would look significantly different two weeks from now. You won’t find injured players like Oakland’s Sonny Gray or Josh Reddick on the pages that follow, two players that, were they healthy, would have had a great chance to make the cut.

How did we narrow the field down to 10? While a player’s performance plays a large role, personal opinion played a part as well. Case in point: Los Angeles Angels reliever Joe Smith isn’t having a great season, but we still view him as one of the 10 best players that will finish the season in a different uniform.

At least for the time being.

A team’s performance also plays a part in narrowing—or widening—the pool of players we have to choose from. Should a team we see as a contender fall apart, we’d have another slew of players to consider for inclusion, just as a noncontender going on a run would take some players out of the pool.

Aside from Smith (and the familiar bearded face you see above), which players shouldn’t be making long-term plans? Let’s take a look.

Begin Slideshow