With free agency underway, the offseason is about to pick up steam. What are the big questions facing all 30 teams? We've already covered the AL East, NL East and AL Central and now we're moving on to the America League West.
Who will end up at first base?
2016 record: 95-67
Prince Fielder's career is over, ruined by two neck surgeries in his last three years. Mitch Moreland, who earned a Gold Glove last week, hit 22 homers and drove in 60 runs last season. But the Texas Rangers will probably let him explore free agency, which means the team that finished with the best record in the American League has no idea who will play first base next season.
While the Rangers are a big-market team that started last season with a top-10 pay roll, they operate on a budget and general manager Jon Daniels has said it's not going to increase much over last year's budget. So it's unlikely they're going to sign a player such as Edwin Encarnarcion, who hit .263 with 42 homers and 127 RBIs with an OPS of .886 last season.
They're much more likely to fill the job from within.
In a perfect situation, Joey Gallo would earn the job with a strong spring training. Gallo, a power-hitting third baseman, has been among the Rangers' best prospects for several seasons, but he has struggled in limited opportunities with the Rangers. He's a good enough fielder to easily make the transition to first base, but in 133 big-league at-bats he has struck out 73 times, while hitting just .173. If he can hit .230, the Rangers would probably be willing to give him 500 at-bats and hit him seventh or eighth in the batting order.
If not, they could go with a platoon of Jurickson Profar against right-handers and Ryan Rua against left-handers. Neither one of those players will give the Rangers the power they'd ideally want from first base. But they don't cost much and, maybe, they could combine for some decent offensive numbers with 600 at-bats between them.
A wild-card option could be signing free agent Josh Hamilton, who was released during the season. He's a good enough athlete to play first base, though he has never done it. Playing first might help him stay healthy. His knees are probably too balky to play in the outfield anymore. Hamilton can no longer produce MVP numbers, but he might be good enough in a platoon situation to be a one-year stop-gap while the Rangers wait for Ronald Guzman to arrive from the Triple-A. -- Jean-Jacques Taylor
How does the team with the longest playoff absence end that drought?
2016 record: 86-76
It has now been 15 seasons without a trip to the postseason after the Mariners fell three wins short of a wild card in 2016. There's no hedging here: The Mariners had the oldest average position player age in the AL in 2016 and given that Nelson Cruz is entering his age-36 season and Robinson Cano his age-34 season, Seattle's window is narrow, especially since it's unlikely those two combine for 82 home runs again.
That pair helped the Mariners finish third in the AL in runs, the first time they ranked higher than 11th since 2007. Still, there are positions that could use an upgrade or improvement. Shortstop Ketel Marte was a disappointment in his first full season with a .287 OBP and mediocre defense as the Mariners ranked 28th in shortstop wOBA. Does GM Jerry Dipoto still believe in Marte? The Mariners also ranked 24th in OBP at first base. Adam Lind is a free agent, opening the door for Dan Vogelbach, acquired from the Cubs for Mike Montgomery. Vogelbach hit .292/.417/.505 at Triple-A, but is a poor defender and can't run. Finally, the outfield defense ranked 27th in the majors with minus-27 Defensive Runs Saved. Nori Aoki was released (the Astros claimed him), so they'll need a corner outfield replacement.
On the pitching side, Edwin Diaz solved the closer problem that infected the team earlier in the season, but the decline of Felix Hernandez means the team now lacks an ace. Once again, they'll be counting on James Paxton and Taijuan Walker, but those two could also become trade bait. -- David Schoenfield
How to fix the outfield?
2016 record: 84-78
Yes, they'll need a bounce-back campaign from Dallas Keuchel and a healthy Lance McCullers, but the Astros did rank fourth in the AL in runs allowed, so run prevention is in reasonably good shape with everyone back. The outfield, however, ranked 28th in the majors in wOBA as Colby Rasmus, Carlos Gomez, Jake Marisnick and Preston Tucker all cratered at the plate.
The Astros already claimed Nori Aoki off waivers from Seattle and he'll get the shot in left field, at least as a platoon guy, but he's 35 and the Mariners decided he wasn't worth his $6 million salary. Yulieski Gurriel is now blocked at third base by Alex Bregman, so he's a candidate for left field as well. Marisnick ended up as the primary center fielder after Gomez was released, and though he's a plus defender he hit just .209/.257/.331. If you go with him and Aoki in the outfield, you're not getting much power at two positions.
What the Astros really need is a left-handed bat with some power (especially since Luis Valbuena is a free agent). The only good fit in free agency is Dexter Fowler, who isn't a big power bat but is a switch-hitter who can play center field.
Oh, the only catchers on the 40-man roster are Max Stassi and Evan Gattis with Jason Castro a free agent. But I guess that's a second big question. -- David Schoenfield
How will they spend $40-plus million in new cash?
2016 record: 74-88
The bad news: The Angels lost 88 games, their most since 1999. The good news: Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson and their combined $40 million in salary are off the payroll. Wilson didn't pitch in 2016 while Weaver went 12-12 with a 5.06 ERA. The rotation, decimated by other injuries besides Wilson, ranked 11th in the AL in ERA.
So they need pitching help. But they were just 10th in runs, so they need hitting help as well. They've already traded for Cameron Maybin to play left field and picked up Yunel Escobar's $7 million team option, so that leaves catcher and second base as positions to upgrade, but here's guessing the Angels pour their resources into pitching.
Rich Hill is an obvious candidate, but he's the obvious candidate for every team looking for rotation help. So they may be playing in the "take a chance, hope for the best" market that includes Andrew Cashner, Derek Holland and Jason Hammel. The bullpen was middle of the pack and could use a lockdown closer, so while spending huge money on Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen doesn't make the most sense, maybe they go for a shorter-term guy like Mark Melancon or Brad Ziegler. -- David Schoenfield
Will the A's achieve any clarity in their stadium situation?
2016 record: 69-93
Yes, this question. Again. Still. But that's because it's the question that matters most to the future of the franchise, and it's ultimately more interesting than wondering whether or not the A's will keep the players association and MLB's other owners off their backs for their dwindling payroll. There's growing resentment within the industry over the A's collecting more than $34 million per year in revenue-sharing despite playing in the big-market Bay Area. Will that revenue stream survive into baseball's new collective bargaining agreement when the old one expires on Dec. 1? And even if the A's continue to collect that kind of cash from the other owners, can they even coax useful free agents to come play in the industry-worst facility that O.co Coliseum has degenerated into? Or will they just settle for overpaying the next Billy Butler to try to keep the union and the other owners happy?
See, that's depressing. And the only answer to those questions that might please everyone (but the Giants) is for the A's to achieve a stadium solution. This winter could provide what should be the triggering event to finally get something done -- the Raiders sewing up their future departure to Las Vegas, a decision on which should come in January. That news could finally set in motion plans to pick between the proposed sites within Oakland and line up the financing to build a baseball-only stadium while there's time to work with A's-friendly mayor Libby Schaaf during the next two years she's sure to be in office. The timing is going to be tight for the Wolff and Fisher families that control the franchise's future, because losing revenue-sharing money might trigger an ownership shakeup or an outright sale.
If you feel cheated by this angle, the most interesting on-field questions for the A's involve whether or not they can get Sonny Gray back to what he used to be after an awful 2015 -- although cynics would note that'd just revive his trade value and get him shipped out. And what they do with Marcus Semien? With a wave of infield prospects fronted by Franklin Barreto on the way up, will they move Semien off short? But even those questions won't be answered in spring training, hampering opportunities for the A's to swing deals in December. -- Christina Kahrl