Philadelphia Phillies — Power hitting
Despite playing in one of the more hitter-friendly parks in the big leagues, only two Phillies topped 20 home runs in 2017. Rhys Hoskins showed them a glimpse of the future, but he won’t be enough to pull the team out of their offensive doldrums. They may wait a year to make a real big splash, but the Phillies should definitely be looking for a young, controllable hitter — especially if they’re convinced that some of their long-awaited prospects aren’t quite working out as well as they’d have hoped.
Pittsburgh Pirates — Infield help
Josh Bell makes a nice cornerstone at first base, and Josh Harrison was an All-Star in 2017. The left side of the infield, however, lacks punch and long-term solutions. Jordy Mercer is a solid enough shortstop, but not a great hitter, while David Freese doesn’t offer the pop one would expect from a corner infielder. He’s still under contract for another season, so it’s not clear if they’ll go out and replace him, but it’s definitely the weakest spot in the lineup. They also have a huge question about Jung Ho Kang and his uncertain status following his third DUI arrest in South Korea.
St. Louis Cardinals — Relief pitching
The Cardinals could improve in a lot of areas — a corner outfielder, for instance, and possibly even another starter — but there is a reason they are prioritizing a closer. Trevor Rosenthal is out for 2018 and wasn’t excelling in the role anyway, so the team released him. Seung-hwan Oh had his own set of issues. They’re reportedly ready to make a run at a big reliever, knowing that, while this team is steady in a lot of areas, a lockdown closer is something they badly need.
San Diego Padres — Power
The Padres can always scrape together a pitching staff — Petco Park helps in that regard — but on the other side of that coin, hitting and power tends to be hard to come by in San Diego. It doesn’t look like they’ll be making a big run at anyone this winter, but if they do, a few extra home runs would help. They’ll need resurgences from Wil Myers, and have some pieces in place, but the Padres never end up having enough offense. There is tons of room for improvement here.
San Francisco Giants — Outfield
The Giants have invested enough money into pitching that they’re more or less going to have to hope that everyone either gets healthy or bounces back from an awful 2017. Left field is still a problem spot for them, though, and Hunter Pence in right field has an expiration date as well. A hard-hitting outfielder could jumpstart the offense as the Giants look intent on trying to contend again. There is some reason to believe they could target the biggest bat on the market.
Seattle Mariners — Starting pitching
Once upon a time, the Mariners could rely on Felix Hernandez to dominate for them every fifth day. Those days might be gone, and their best pitcher in 2017, James Paxton, has a long history of injuries. Their other attempts to fix up the rotation have often fallen short, so this may be the year they go hard for the starting pitching market. If they can find a reliable option, it may be enough to get them into contention in 2018, but they need to do better than the Yovani Gallardo types they’ve tried in the past.
Tampa Bay Rays — Offense
The Rays need bats anywhere and any way they can get them. The pitching staff was solid enough in 2017, and kept them in contention for a good portion of the year, but Tampa Bay hit .245 as a team without a ton of power aside from Logan Morrison, who’s probably out the door as a free agent anyway. Evan Longoria isn’t what he once was, either, meaning if the Rays hope to make noise in the AL next year, they have to find someone who can hit, get on base, and drive in some runs.
Texas Rangers — Pitching
The Rangers were left with little choice but to deal Yu Darvish in 2017, leaving an underachieving Cole Hamels and a lot of mid-rotation also-rans behind in their rotation. The Rangers sound intent on going for the playoffs again in 2018, which means they could be ready to pony up significant money to bring a leading starting pitcher into the fold. They’ll need it — outside of Hamels, they just don’t have a reliable set of arms, and they more or less need to replace Darvish’s presence in the rotation.
Toronto Blue Jays — Outfield help
Once one of the most vaunted offenses in all of baseball, Toronto cratered in 2017, scoring the fewest runs in the American League. Jose Bautista is not coming back, while Steve Pearce didn’t really offer much in left before getting hurt. There’s going to have to be some hoping for the Blue Jays — they can’t just replace Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki, they have to hope they make a comeback. But they can seek an outfielder to add some punch to what was a punchless offense in 2017.
Washington Nationals — Left field
Bryce Harper is set in right field, and Adam Eaton will hope to come back healthy in center. That leaves left field, where Jayson Werth is on the downslope of his career. They could bring him back cheaper, or they could look for alternatives. That position is really the only major weak spot in the entire Washington lineup, and their pitching staff is solid, too. This is a team that needs tweaks, and that’s a position where they will want to find the right fit for a title run in 2018.
