MLB: Yankees, Red Sox and Each Playoff Team's Supremacy
As the end to the MLB regular season draws near, each playoff contender is preparing itself for a lengthy postseason.
Players, coaches and even fans know what's at stake when the team takes the field come October, making the next two months that much more meaningful.
With the trade deadline behind us, top players in new uniforms and pitchers finally finding their groove, we can gauge each team's potential moving forward.
Based on this season and past postseason performances, here are the best playoff contenders at hitting, pitching, coaching and much more.
Contact
2 of 10Boston Red Sox
Boston is currently the best hitting team in the majors, coming in with an impressive .280 team average.
Not only does it look like nothing can slow down the Red Sox offensively, but they've yet to reap the full benefits of a late-season Carl Crawford hot streak.
Led by Adrian Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, it's going to be hard for any team, including the New York Yankees, to match up against Boston on the offensive side of things.
Power
3 of 10New York Yankees
I'm not only basing this pick on the Yankees' league-leading 146 home runs, or the fact that they play in a toddler stadium, but it's simply because they have too many power hitters up and down their lineup.
Even without Alex Rodriguez, New York could still pose the biggest power threat in the MLB, offering 30-home run power from five different players.
In a series where the Yankees would play at least a few games at home, it's hard to discredit their power potential going forward.
I'm sorry, but when Curtis Granderson is on pace for 40 home runs and he is his team's fourth best power hitter, that offense is pretty darn good.
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Speed
4 of 10New York Yankees
With Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin and Robinson Cano, the New York Yankees offer a lot of speed from various offensive positions.
The Yanks currently rank second in the MLB with 112 stolen bases, 12 more than the next playoff contender (Texas).
When you consider that New York is a power hitting team first, it may surprise you that they offer so much speed for a home run charged lineup.
While teams like the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and now the Atlanta Braves could provide sufficient speed on a nightly basis, none of them match up in a seven-game series against New York.
Defense
5 of 10Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are arguably the best defensive team in the league.
While players like Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez don't possess defensive abilities like Mark Teixeira, Albert Pujols and Carl Crawford, the Phillies still have sufficient players in the field to make up for lost talent.
Jimmie Rollins, Shane Victorino and now Hunter Pence all have stable defensive abilities, but when you're talking about defense and Philadelphia in the same sentence, catcher Carlos Ruiz should be the first name to pop in your head.
Ruiz is not only a fan favorite, but the durable backstop continues to be one of the best defensive catchers in the league, helping his team rank third in catcher fielding percentage while committing only three errors.
As far as behind-the-plate callers are concerned, beyond maybe Yadier Molina and Russell Martin, there aren't many playoff-contending catchers who can match up with Ruiz.
Starting Pitching
6 of 10Philadelphia Phillies
Well this is a no-brainer.
With Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Vance Worley and Roy Oswalt on his way back, it would be stupid to argue that any other playoff team possesses better starting pitching than the Philadelphia Phillies.
When it comes down to a seven-game series, there's nobody that can touch that trio of Halladay, Lee and Hamels.
Frankly, that may be the best pitching trio to surge into the playoffs since John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine did it for Atlanta in the mid-90's.
Bullpen
7 of 10Atlanta Braves
It may be just as easy to crown the Atlanta Braves bullpen kings as it is to call the Philadelphia Phillies rotation masterminds.
Rookie Craig Kimbrel has easily been the best closer in baseball, which says a lot considering the 23-year-old came into the season with speculation revolving around splitting time in the Braves' ninth-inning role.
He strikes out nearly two batters per inning and rarely gives up big hits. It seems as though Kimbrel is a young Mariano Rivera in training.
What makes Atlanta's bullpen even more impressive is Jonny Venters, who has arguably been just as good as the team's setup guy as Kimbrel has been as the closer.
Venters has maintained a sub-2.00 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP all season long and has formed the best one-two punch in baseball.
If the Braves have a lead going into the eighth, it will be very hard for any playoff contender to get even one run back.
Coaching
8 of 10St. Louis Cardinals
I'm not going to spend too much time on this subject because when you have elite hitting and elite pitching, some things work themselves out.
Not to mention I personally think that baseball managers hold the most overrated job in sports.
With that said, if I had to pick one manager to get his team ready for the postseason, maintain one mindset and keep all his high-profile players focused, it'd be Tony La Russa.
La Russa has handled Albert Pujols' contract woes and the absence of Adam Wainwright with the utmost professionalism.
If the St. Louis Cardinals make the playoffs and get past the first round, La Russa would be the reason.
Biggest X-Factor
9 of 10Carlos Beltran
The San Francisco Giants knew what they were getting when they traded for Carlos Beltran.
Manager Bruce Bochy and the Giants dynamic pitching needed complimentary hitting and Beltran seems to be that guy.
The veteran outfielder offers a great attitude, solid power, clutch hitting and while he doesn't steal as many bases as he use to, Beltran has enough speed to rank fifth in the league in doubles.
His potential going forward into the last two months of the year and leading up to the 2011 postseason is why he's the biggest x-factor.
If Beltran hits like he did in the Big Apple this season, the Giants could repeat.
Best Player
10 of 10Justin Verlander
I may catch some heat for this, but so be it.
If you truly watch baseball and put all team bias aside, you'd agree that Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in the league.
Now I realize top guys like Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Jon Lester and C.C. Sabathia can all pitch just as well as Verlander on a given night, but I'm talking about sheer dominance.
Verlander has already thrown a no-hitter in 2011 and has come close to doing it again on numerous occasions.
I'm not going to list his stats or match them up against other starters in the league, but when you're talking about playoff baseball and trusting a starter to win two or three games in a seven-game series, give me Verlander and I'll wear the World Series ring proudly.
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