MLB trade deadline: Buy or sell? Breaking down the case for seven bubble teams

In sports, we use the somewhat weird visual metaphor of the bubble -- a soap bubble, perhaps, or one blown from a wand to add stress and bewilderment to the life of a pet -- to signify the precarious and unstable. Typically, we do this during the run-up to NCAA Tournament time or when evaluating players vying to crack a roster coming out of camp. Whether the entity is within the bubble like Mario or Luigi on occasion or perched on top of it is ultimately unimportant. The point is that the bubble means uncertain and fraught times for the be-bubbled.