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Now that everyone has said goodbye to the World Series and the 2016 Major League Baseball season, it’s time to say hello to MLB‘s Hot Stove season.

‘Tis the season when dozens of players pack their bags and get moving after signing on the dotted line or learning they’ve been traded. We’re here to narrow down the top 100 players that could be moved before the 2017 season.

We’ll get started with a look at the top 15 corner infielders who are entering the winter either as free agents or as trade targets according to the latest rumors and/or plausible speculation. The players are ranked based on how they fared in the following scoring system:

• Talent Outlook: Out of 70. This is where we look at how guys have performed recently and consider the outlook of their skills going forward. Think of 35 out of 70 as a league-average player and 70 out of 70 as a Mike Trout-like talent.
• Durability Outlook: Out of 20. This is where we probe track records and injury histories for a projection for how guys’ bodies will hold up. Think of 10 out of 20 as signaling a toss-up as to whether guys will remain durable, with 20 out of 20 indicating no concerns whatsoever. To keep things fair, we’ll allow a ceiling of 15 points for players in line for short-term commitments.
• Value Outlook: Out of 10. This is where we try to project what kind of contract or trade package it’s going to take to acquire a guy and then determine if he’d be worth it. Think of five out of 10 as a fair deal, with zero being a megabust and 10 being a megasteal.

Just as a heads-up: Designated hitters are included in this particular list. And in the event of ties, the nod will be given to the player we’d rather sign or trade for.

Along the way, you’ll find links to relevant data at Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs, Brooks Baseball, Baseball Prospectus and Baseball Savant. 

Now that you know everything you need to know, it’s time to take it away.

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The Arizona Fall League gives some of baseball’s top prospects chances to further hone their skills against some of the best talent minor league baseball has to offer.

This year, 21 players from among the league’s top 100 prospects—according to rankings from MLB.com’s Prospect Watch—are suiting up for one of the league’s six teams.

We’ve highlighted the standout performers from among that group of top prospects, which is primarily made up of position players, as most elite pitching prospects generally hit inning caps during their seasons.

From New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres to Boston Red Sox right-hander Michael Kopech, here’s a look at the top MLB prospects who are making waves in the 2016 Arizona Fall League.

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The 2016 baseball season is down to two organizations, and it just so happens they’re the sport’s most tortured.

The Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs will take baseball’s two longest championship droughts into Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.

But after winning the American League Championship Series and National League Championship Series respectively, each seemed to craft a blueprint for how to get to October’s Fall Classic.

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Imagine Clayton Kershaw dealing at the height of the Steroid Era or Mike Trout lining up in center field for the New York Yankees during their post-war dynasty.

Thanks to the magic of the proprietary B/R baseball time machine, we have the good fortune of doing just that.

We’ll set the time and we’ll adjust the date, as we drop five of the game’s current megastars into past eras that were perfectly suited for their respective skill sets. For each of those five, we’ll compare them to one of the giants of that by-gone time.

We begin with a trip way back to the dawn on modern baseball when one of the best October aces—not just of today but in history—would have been right at home.

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The 2016 Major League Baseball postseason has featured studs, duds and everything in between.

But since nobody cares about that last part, this discussion shall focus strictly on the first two.

With the World Series set to start Tuesday, there are sizable lists of good and bad postseason performances to choose from. We’re going to narrow things down to a half-dozen each by focusing on stars who have either lived up to or fallen short of expectations. But here’s a spoiler warning that you didn’t hear from me: There might be a couple of players to a slide here and there.

In no particular order, we’ll begin with a stud and then alternate studs and duds until the end.

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From Javier Baez to Clayton Kershaw, there has been no shortage of emerging talents and established megastars who are stealing the show this October. 

Beginning with the Chicago Cubs’ electric infielder and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ indomitable ace, let’s take a look around the baseball world to zero in on the five big leaguers who have taken over the postseason and helped carry their respective clubs onward toward the Fall Classic.

The five players who crack this list have either rewritten the storyline from playoffs past or are in the midst of churning out an entirely new script. Two of those five share the same American League clubhouse of a team that has been defying logic throughout its postseason run. 

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It’s now a best-of-three series between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers for a spot in the World Series. The Cubs’ 10-2 win at Los Angeles on Wednesday evened the National League Championship Series at two games apiece. Basically, the first team to claim the next two victories moves on.

Now we’re guaranteed to get two more matchups between the Cubs and Dodgers: first Game 5 on Thursday at Dodger Stadium and then Saturday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. None is more important than the next one, though, because it puts the winner in position to advance the following game.

Surprisingly, past scenarios like the one we’re currently in haven’t favored the team with home-field advantage for the rest of the series. According to ESPN, in league championship series where the road team won Game 4 to make it 2-2, only three of nine teams who had two of the next three at home ended up making the World Series.

What are the keys for each team in order to win this pivotal fifth game? Follow along as we break down what both the Cubs and Dodgers need to do in order to take the next one.

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As rookie stars Corey Seager, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Naquin get set for the MLB postseason, there’s a question that begs answering: Which first-year standouts have authored the best October showings in baseball history?

Before we set out to answer that question and rank the rookies, let’s break down the selection criteria and just who exactly is eligible for this list.

The idea here is to focus on a given player’s entire body of work. For that reason, the rankings only include players from the Division Series era because those players had an extra round to stack up numbers and polish their respective resumes.

All of the players who made the grade had monster postseason performances, so the tiebreaker was the magnitude of the moment. The higher the stakes, the more credit a player got.

Subsequently, the vast majority of players on this list were members of World Series-winning teams. Additionally, several of them had rookie teammates who also landed a spot in the top 10.

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Over the past few weeks, the 2016 Bleacher Report MLB 300 has been ranking the top players at each individual position. Now it’s time for the grand finale: the complete list.

In case you’re just now joining us, the goal of the B/R MLB 300 is to rank the best players from the 2016 season by analyzing their assorted talents and scoring them accordingly. For more on how each individual position was approached, you can go straight to the source:

• September 19: Top 25 First Basemen
• September 21: Top 20 Catchers
• September 22: Top 25 Second Basemen
• September 26: Top 25 Shortstops
• September 28: Top 25 Third Basemen
• September 29: Top 80 Starting Pitchers
• September 30: Top 25 Center Fielders
• October 3: Top 40 Corner Outfielders
• October 4: Top Five Designated Hitters
• October 5: Top 30 Relief Pitchers

With all the scores accounted for, now it’s time to put all 300 players on one list for a definitive look at the top players in Major League Baseball for 2016.

As you go, there are a few things to keep in mind. Many players are tied with the same score, in which case higher ranks became judgment calls. Also, the stats within are current as of the publication date of the given player’s positional ranking.

Take it away.

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It’s only appropriate that the Bleacher Report MLB 300 nears its finish with a look at the guys who finish games. It’s time for the top relief pitchers of the 2016 Major League Baseball season.

Many relief pitchers are good at what they do in some way, shape or form, but we’re focusing on the 30 most dominant arms of them all. Since even they’re used sparingly, we’re disregarding the “Workload” section we used for starting pitchers and limiting relief pitchers to 80 possible points:

• Control: 25 points
• Whiffability: 30 points
• Hittability: 25 points

Before we move on, here’s a reminder that this year’s B/R MLB 300 is different from past versions in a key way. Rather than use the events of 2016 to project for 2017, the focus is strictly on 2016. Think of these rankings as year-end report cards.

For more on how the scoring and ranking work, read ahead.

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