With a mostly unheralded roster and with their most productive power hitter, Mike Lowell, possibly sidelined for the season with a broken left hand sustained nine days ago, the Marlins have somehow stayed in the race.
Last year, he exacerbated fans' distaste for him when he refused a minor league assignment, as was his right, that would have opened a roster spot for a more productive pitcher and given him a chance to improve in a less pressurized environment.
Partly as a result, the Yankees have a roster with few young, cheap and productive players.
"Those four defensive ends we have on the roster are good, they're very productive.
With Gronkowski, Hernandez, Welker and Brandon Lloyd gone, the most productive remaining 2012 pass-catcher on the Patriots' roster is Julian Edelman, who hauled in 21 receptions for 235 yards.
A roster loaded with homegrown draft picks and cheap, productive pickups has the Rockies, whose $75 million payroll ranks 17th of baseball's 30 teams, battling in a playoff arena that includes four $100 million-plus clubs.
Eli Manning remains as mercurial as ever, and certainly looks to have many productive years ahead of him, but the rest of the roster is unsettled.
Sáenz parlayed his minor league contract into a roster spot, establishing himself as one of the better and more productive pinch-hitters during his four seasons with Los Angeles.
If a vote is cast in the name of paying tribute to a player with a long, productive career, then Tim Duncan – who should otherwise fall just outside the All-Star roster's limits – is the more logical choice.
