Major offseason need for every 2018 MLB non-playoff team

Arizona signed Alex Avila last offseason after the former Tigers catcher had one of his best seasons, finishing with an .834 OPS. He saw significant regression this year, hitting well below the Mendoza Line. The result was a major hole in the lineup with sub-.600 OPS at the position between Avila, Jeff Mathis, and John Ryan Murphy. Arizona can either pray Avila rebounds at age 32 or address the need with the likes of Yasmani Grandal or Wilson Ramos.

There are no mysteries for this historically bad squad. The Orioles will finish with easily the worst run differential and most losses in baseball, and the organization needs a rebuild from the ground up. That starts with starting pitching, as the team produced a league-worst starting ERA and traded Kevin Gausman. Alex Cobb is the only starting pitcher who finished with an ERA under 5.00.

The White Sox were nowhere near competitive this year, but it's about to get a lot more fun on the South Side. A young roster will get an influx of elite, young talent, including OF Eloy Jimenez, SP Dylan Cease, and SP Dane Dunning. Michael Kopech's Tommy John surgery was a major setback, but the rotation still likes great next year with promising arms like Reynaldo Lopez, Carlos Rodon, and Lucas Giolito molding with the young prospects. With big upside in the rotation and the field, the front office is tasked with complementing it with a reliable bullpen. Nate Jones can't seem to stay healthy, and there isn't much upside behind him, with the exception of Jace Fry.

2018 was a terrible year for the Reds, though they did make some progress after an awful April. They have a budding star in Eugenio Suarez, with top prospects Nick Senzel and Jonathan India behind him, but the pitching was among the worst in baseball and doesn't have much help coming. Luis Castillo was able to find himself after the break with a 2.44 ERA in 11 starts, but Matt Harvey is set to become a free agent and the rest of the staff was mediocre. The team could have some building blocks with Tyler Mahle and Cody Reed, but they desperately need more capable arms to compete in a loaded NL Central.

As expected, Detroit had a bad year in MLB's worst division, losing more than 90 games for the second straight season. The good news is that the upper minors is loaded with pitching, joining high-priced veteran Jordan Zimmermann and developing lefty Matthew Boyd. The team also saw the arrival of top outfield prospect Christin Stewart in September, who should help in 2019. However, they lacked production in the middle infield all year, particularly at second base, ranking last in OPS (.582). Shortstop Jose Iglesias is set to hit free agency, making two big needs the team needs to fill sooner than later.

The Royals were baseball's second worst team in 2018, even despite late offseason signings like Mike Moustakas and Lucas Duda. GM Dayton Moore was able to add some young talent during the season like Brett Phillips and Brian Goodwin, and the promotions of Adalberto Mondesi and Ryan O'Hearn show promise. The team also got a breakout year from Brad Keller as a starter, but the rest of the rotation and bullpen were in shambles for most of the year. While the organization made the World Series in 2014 and 2015, they've done a poor job developing pitching in their farm system and really have nothing of note on the horizon. If the team trades any of their MLB assets this offseason (particularly Whit Merrifield), some talented arms are likely to be targeted.

It's nothing new for the Angels, but they were ravaged by pitching injuries again this season. The team lost starters Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani, Matt Shoemaker, and Matt Tropeano for significant time, with the first two from the list also likely to miss all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery. The organization continues to waste Mike Trout's prime years and desperately needs reliable innings eaters this offseason.

The only surprise for the 2018 Marlins is that they won't finish the season with the worst record in MLB. After their offseason firesale, the team's season was over before it started. The team has seen solid development from Jose Urena, Pablo Lopez, and Brian Anderson this year, but they need much more to compete. J.T. Realmuto could be the next asset to be traded in their youth movement.

The Twins had a terribly disappointing 2018 season after winning a Wild Card spot last year, and they can blame much of their downfall on injuries. They hope to have better luck with Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano next year, and the return of Michael Pineda from Tommy John surgery brings optimism for a pitching staff that already showed promise. However, the team now needs to address first base with Joe Mauer and likely Logan Morrison headed to free agency. The easy thing to do would be to bring back Mauer on a cheap contract, but the team should be thinking more ambitiously after finishing well below .500.

The Mets are in a better position to compete than most teams in their position given the upside of the starting rotation. The rebound of Zack Wheeler gives the team an enviable big three, led by likely NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, and the lineup made progress late in the year with Amed Rosario's surge and Jeff McNeil's promotion. Top first base prospect Peter Alonso has huge power and could be the Opening Day first baseman. However, catcher has been a major problem with Travis d'Arnaud unable to stay healthy (again) and the pairing of Kevin Plawecki and Devin Mesoraco unable to compensate. Catcher and bullpen help will be key this offseason.

The Phillies had a good year but fell short late in the season. Aaron Nola was able to establish himself as a true ace and Jake Arrieta filled the role as the No. 2, but the team had inconsistency behind them. Zach Eflin, Nick Pivetta, and Vince Velasquez seemed to wear down during the second half, and the team didn't get much help from the upper minors. Top prospects Sixto Sanchez and Adonis Medina are at least a year away, while it remains to be seen if JoJo Romero, Ranger Suarez, and Enyel De Los Santos are capable of helping. Another solid starter could be the missing piece.

The Pirates acquired Chris Archer and Keone Kela at the trade deadline with an eye toward 2019. Unfortunately, Gregory Polanco's late-season shoulder surgery could keep him eye for a big chunk of next year, and puts the team in a tough spot. They seem comfortable moving on to a middle infield of Adam Frazier and Kevin Newman next season, and the pitcher stuff will be deep with breakout seasons from Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove. Unfortunately, there's not a great option within the organization to take over right field if Polanco misses time after the team traded Austin Meadows to Tampa Bay.

Make no mistake, the Padres have the best farm system in baseball and plenty of stars ready for arrival in 2019. Among the impactful players will be Luis Urias, Francisco Mejia, Fernando Tatis Jr., Josh Naylor, Logan Allen, and Cal Quantrill. That adds to a current roster that has several talented young outfielders and pitchers. However, the team won't quite be ready to compete in 2019 and are lacking reliable innings to complement Joey Lucchesi and company. Adding a big free agent starter or even a one-year, tradeable asset should help.

Even with injuries to Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, the Giants starting staff was in the top half of the league in ERA with strong contributions from Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodriguez, and Derek Holland. The outfield, on the other hand, was at the center of their mediocre offense, producing the second worst OPS at left field, ninth worst at center field, and 14th worst in right field. Austin Slater, Chris Shaw, and Mac Williamson have shown flashes, but the team must add more reliable players for 2019 if they went to get back into the playoff race.

The M's got another great year out of ace James Paxton, as well as decent showings from Mike Leake, Marco Gonzales, and Wade LeBlanc, but the overall depth of the rotation was seriously lacking. Felix Hernandez's decline continued, and Erasmo Ramirez was never able to get on track after returning from injury. Without much help in the minors, Seattle would do well to bring in another reliable starter or two.

The Cardinals were able to cure many of their in-season issues from within, seeing big contributions this year from youngsters Harrison Bader, Tyler O'Neill, Austin Gomber, and Jordan Hicks. The performances of Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty made the rotation one of the best in the game, and it will only get better if Carlos Martinez and Alex Reyes can stay healthy next year. Still, the bullpen was a problem to start the year when the team signed Greg Holland to close, and it had issues throughout for most of the year. Recent signings like Holland, Luke Gregerson, and Brett Cecil haven't gone well for St. Louis, but they have to try something to fix the pen again.

Despite missing the playoffs, the Rays had a remarkable year. They've changed the game over the years, from shifts to multi-position players, and did so again with the "opener" compensating for a limited starting rotation. The offense was still very limited, finished ahead of only three teams in home runs. They're excited about the arrivals of Jake Bauers and Willy Adames, but there's no escaping the fact that the team can't keep up with the bats in the Bronx and Boston. They've done well to buy low on C.J. Cron and Tommy Pham recently, but will need to continue building out their lineup to get back to the playoffs.

The Rangers rotation looked like a mess coming into the year, and nothing changed during the season. They did see a nice season out of free agent signing Mike Minor (4.18 ERA and 1.12 WHIP), but the rest of the staff was rough, to say the least. They head into the offseason without any reliable starters behind Minor, posting the second worst ERA of any rotation. With a new manager, this could be a rebuild situation.

Next year will be a youth movement for Toronto, with top prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Danny Jansen set to have a big impact. The rotation continued to go downhill this year, however, as rotation pillars Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez struggled to stay healthy. The team also traded J.A. Happ and seem unlikely to re-sign free agent Marco Estrada after two terrible seasons. Young Ryan Borucki and Sean Reid-Foley show interesting upside, but the team needs to add more reliable arms to get back into the playoff race.

It was a very frustrating year for the Nats, but they will finish the year with one of the top run differentials in the National League. With the return of Joe Ross, the Nats have a solid rotation going into 2019. The big question is whether they will bring back free agent Bryce Harper, but the emergence of Juan Soto and Victor Robles will allow them to live without him. The team's biggest black hole over the last two seasons has been productive at catcher, where Matt Wieters has been a huge free agent bust. They're finally out from under his two-year $21 million contract, and it wouldn't be a shock if they bring back Wilson Ramos.