Here are the six front offices with the most work to do at the upcoming winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee:

1. New York Mets contingent

GM Sandy Alderson, who has been diagnosed with cancer, will not be able to attend the winter meetings. The Mets were going to be No. 1 on this list before Alderson’s diagnosis because of the amount of work they have to do this offseason, and that doesn’t change. Therefore, Alderson's top three lieutenants -- assistant GM John Ricco, VP Paul DePodesta, and assistant to the GM J.P. Ricciardi -- will now have the most pressure of any executives in the game to make sure they can account for Alderson’s daily workload in Nashville.

The Mets finished just three wins away from a world championship and boast MLB’s best starting rotation from one through five. But two of their best hitters are free agents in Yoenis Cespedes and Daniel Murphy, their bullpen lacks depth and the middle of their infield lacks range and consistency. The Mets have to take advantage of their window to win a World Series with this starting rotation.

The Mets need to make the necessary moves to put the themselves in the best position possible to repeat as NL champions. Middle infield options include free agent Ben Zobrist (2B/OF), Howie Kendrick (2B) and Ian Desmond (SS). Offensive options could include re-signing Cespedes or exploring a trade for Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. Bullpen possibilities could include Darren O'Day and Joakim Soria.

2. Brian Cashman, New York Yankees

The Yankees watched the Red Sox acquire both David Price and Craig Kimbrel, and the Blue Jays re-sign Marco Estrada and ink J.A. Happ. All New York has done so far is replace free-agent outfielder Chris Young with Aaron Hicks, who was acquired in a trade with the Twins.

The Yankees have a lot of needs, including a starting pitcher, bullpen depth, an upgrade at second base and a middle-of-the-order, right-handed bat. If the Yankees decide to stand pat, they’ll be nothing more than a mid-division team in the AL East in 2016. With among the league’s highest ticket prices, Yankees fans are getting restless, and there are many empty seats on a nightly basis. Cashman has done an excellent job trying to make the team younger, with last season’s promotions of both Luis Severino and Greg Bird, and he should continue down that path. But his farm system is not loaded and to accomplish this; he’s going to have to trade for younger pieces or get involved with younger free agents like outfielder Jason Heyward.

3. Andrew Friedman, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers must rebuild their starting rotation now that Zack Greinke has departed to the Arizona Diamondbacks. President Andrew Friedman will have to be aggressive in trying to land two pitchers out of Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake, Wei-Yin Chen or Yovani Gallardo if the Dodgers expect to contend in 2016. In addition they also need to add more bullpen depth and quality, solve the Yasiel Puig situation and become more balanced both in the rotation and in the lineup, which is too left-handed. Los Angeles has a new manager in Dave Roberts, which means all of the pressure shifts to Friedman, who has lost Greinke and traded away Dee Gordon to try to bring the Dodgers their win first world championship since 1988. The Dodgers ownership's philosophy is World Series or bust, and L.A. won't even be favored to win the NL West unless it starts making a flurry of moves to improve the team.

4. Rick Hahn, Chicago White Sox

The White Sox head to the winter meetings with more needs than any team in the AL Central: third base, designated hitter, right-handed starter, bullpen depth and a stopgap at shortstop.

The Tigers have already made two significant moves, trading for closer Frankie Rodriguez and signing starter Jordan Zimmermann. What does that mean to the White Sox? Well right now, at least on paper, the White Sox appear to be destined for last place unless they make a slew of bold moves to rebuild a very dysfunctional lineup. It appears the best way for the White Sox to accomplish this will be mostly through trades, as spending more money in free agency probably won’t be enough to make this team a contender next season.

Any way you slice it, Hahn is under tremendous pressure.

5. Jeff Luhnow, Houston Astros

The Astros got a taste of the postseason last year, and now the expectations are to go even further in 2016. The Astros have enough talent to do that but now must put the finishing touches on the team. Their primary need is a closer, and they need to land an elite one with Aroldis Chapman of the Reds and Ken Giles of the Phillies their top two trade targets.

If they’re not able to make deals for them, the Astros might look at the Nationals’ Drew Storen or the Rays’ Brad Boxberger. Either way, Luhnow is expected to solve this glaring weakness. In addition, the Astros really need to cut down on their strikeouts and improve their on-base percentage and the best way to accomplish this would be to upgrade at either first or third base. Houston has one of the best young teams in the American League; now they need to make the final moves to give themselves a legitimate chance at a World Series.

6. A.J. Preller, San Diego Padres

Preller was the darling of last year’s hot stove, wheeling and dealing as we’ve never seen before. He traded for Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Kimbrel and Will Middlebrooks and signed free-agent starter James Shields. A year later, Upton is a free agent, Kimbrel has been traded to Boston, Middlebrooks has been non-tenderered and Preller is trying to find a taker for Shields. To make matters worse, they’ve gone through three managers, firing Bud Black in June and then replacing interim manager Dave Roberts (now the Dodgers' manager) after one game with Pat Murphy, who was then fired at the end of the season

What looked like a solid plan to make the Padres a contender backfired. San Diego was then silent at the trade deadline, holding on to Upton and all of their veteran players, hoping the team could rebound in the second half and compete. It didn’t happen. Reality has sunk in, and the Padres are quickly in rebuilding mode. Preller started this offseason well. He made a tremendous trade with the Red Sox for Kimbrel, acquiring long-term answers at shortstop (Javier Guerra) and center field (Manuel Margot). He also did well to get Drew Pomeranz from the A’s for first baseman Yonder Alonso, who was going to be non-tendered anyway. But the Padres have a lot of work to do, and though the wheeling and dealing at this winter meetings won’t be as sexy as last year's, hopefully it will be much more fruitful in turning the Padres into a contender in the long run. The pressure on Preller isn’t just on improving the future of the Padres but on his career as a GM.