Houston Astros — Bullpen depth
The World Series champions resorted to using starters to piece together ballgames during the postseason as their relief pitching totally and completely collapsed. Even reliable arms such as Ken Giles fell apart when called upon during October. Giles will likely go back to closing; a bad October won’t be enough to nullify a very good season — but now, more than ever, the Astros need arms to get him the ball. Some relievers will likely bounce back, but the Astros were looking for bullpen help even before the October struggles manifested themselves.
Kansas City Royals — Power bats
The Royals are entering an offseason they’ve long dreaded, and they’re likely to end up needing a lot of things — especially if Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, and Mike Moustakas all end up walking. Those are three key bats that the Royals will need to at least cover for. They already have pitching problems, but they still held out in the playoff race into September. If the offense craters, they won’t be able to pull off that trick again.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim — Pitching
Acquiring and keeping Justin Upton should at least help an offense that struggled for much of 2017, leaving the Angels to find a way to buff up their pitching staff. There are some decent arms in the bullpen, but Bud Norris is not a legitimate closer, and they lack a legitimate ace right now. The Angels don’t appear to have given up on contending, but at least one quality starting pitcher will be a necessity if they’re serious about getting back in the playoff hunt. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if Billy Eppler is prioritizing their needs the same way.
Los Angeles Dodgers — Starting pitcher
Do the Dodgers really need anything? In theory, no, but this is an organization that has always emphasized starting pitching depth, and they’ll likely be looking for more after the year is over. Yu Darvish is a free agent and likely won’t be back, which should leave the Dodgers free to pursue a big-name starter to pursue if they want to. Whoever it is would likely slot in between Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood, and would try to fill the role Zack Greinke once held, and Darvish failed to do in the World Series — a secondary ace.
Miami Marlins — Starting pitching
On the whole, Miami actually hit perfectly fine in 2017, though there are some growing indications that they’re about to blow it all up in the name of slashing payroll. If they really do want to get better and seek spots to do that, starting pitching is definitely a place to start. Not a single starter on the roster excelled in 2017. They lack an ace, and they struggled to win games with their pitching staff doing a poor job keeping them in it. They could become a bit better if they address that.
Milwaukee Brewers — Another hitter
Despite their surprising success, the Brewers lacked a really elite hitter. They had their share of home run binges — Eric Thames, anyone? — but they were near the bottom of the National League in every offensive category. Only two regulars had OBPs over .350. A hitter who can get on base, even if not necessarily a power hitter, could really help the Brewers. They need someone who can put extra pressure on opponents and provide an extra baserunner for guys like Thames and Travis Shaw, who can deliver the power.
The Twins are well-positioned to take a step forward this offseason if they want to, and the area they should be looking is obvious. Jose Berrios looks like an excellent young starter, and Ervin Santana had a fine season, but the Twins had little starting pitching behind that. The bullpen, meanwhile, became less effective when they traded Brandon Kintzler to the Washington Nationals, so they’ll need some bullpen help as well. The Twins need heavy pitching investment. We’ll see if it happens. If it does, Minnesota could take another step forward.
Yoenis Cespedes had a down season, and Michael Conforto’s injury didn’t help, but the Mets’ offense was not great in 2017. Some players had some power, but by and large, there was very little in the way of consistency or run-scoring outbursts for this team. Only first baseman Lucas Duda — who was traded during the season — had an OPS over .800 over the Mets’ infield. Rookie Dominic Smith, a former first-round pick, only batted .198 in Duda’s place. Finding a power-hitting first baseman would help the Mets, especially if their pitching can get healthy.
Todd Frazier is headed for free agency, though he has said he would love to return to the Yanks. Chase Headley will be under contract, but he’s the third baseman the Yankees wanted to replace in the first place. In short, the Yankees’ third base situation is muddled, and they’re not going to be committed to Headley four months after making a big trade to supplant him from the position. The Yankees are pretty well set for the future, but they’ll need to figure out who they want manning this position going forward.
The A’s will probably stay committed to their young core of starting pitchers and see what their infielders can do, but their outfield is far from settled. They like Khris Davis, but may move him to DH. Matt Joyce is not a long-term solution in right field Be it via prospects, a new set of veterans, or perhaps more, the A’s should look to fix up their outfield for years to come. They’re not on the brink of contention, but there’s no reason not to try to put the pieces in place.
