The biggest question for every MLB team

The Diamondbacks were a surprise playoff team last season, combining great hitting, led by Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez, with a breakout starting rotation led by Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray. During the team's time in Arizona, Chase Field has played as one of baseball's best hitters' parks due in large part to the elevation, but that's likely about to change with the installation of a humidor to store baseballs. As we saw at Coors Field, the impact will certainly be fewer home runs and less offense. We'll see if that actually helps the team.

The last year has been tumultuous for the Braves with the nefarious activities of the front office forcing former GM John Coppolella to be banned from MLB for life. It resulted in some of the team's top players in the low minors being granted free agency. Before he left, Coppolella did develop plenty of great young prospects who are now in the majors or just on the brink like Ozzie Albies, Luiz Gohara, Sean Newcomb and Ronald Acuna. The team has a long way to go after losing 90 games last season, but there is significant upside to join star first baseman Freddie Freeman.

The O's did very little to address their last-place roster from 2017. The hope is that hitters like Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo rebound after poor seasons and the pitching performs significantly better than it did last season. Baltimore's rotation was historically bad in 2017, posting a league-worst 5.70 ERA. Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy are promising, but from there the team is praying for contributions from Andrew Cashner, Chris Tillman and a host of other unproven arms.

The Yankees made most of the noise this offseason by adding Giancarlo Stanton to a roster that took Houston to the brink in the ALCS, while Boston added J.D. Martinez in February. New York is getting most of the attention, but it's worth remembering that the Red Sox won the AL East last season, doing so with David Price hurt for much of the year and 2016 Cy Young winner Rick Porcello struggling. This year they could be without Dustin Pedroia and Eduardo Rodriguez in April after offseason knee surgeries, but there's no reason to think the Red Sox will be unable to challenge for the division again.

The Cubs replaced Jake Arrieta and John Lackey with Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood, and the second highest scoring lineup in the NL last season is mostly the same. The biggest difference in this year's team is its lack of closing experience after allowing Wade Davis to walk in free agency. The team signed Brandon Morrow, who has only 18 saves in his 11-year career and has usually been injured. He will likely get the first opportunity to close games, with Carl Edwards Jr., Justin Wilson and Steve Cishek as reinforcements should the experiment fail. The lack of closing experience does bring some anxiety for a team with World Series aspirations.

White Sox GM Rick Hahn has done a terrific job acquiring high-upside young talent for the team's assets over the last year. Yoan Moncada arrived last season, and the future of the pitching staff looks bright with arms like Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Carson Fulmer, Michael Kopech and Alec Hansen. The team that lost 95 games last season clearly isn't ready to compete this year, but the Sox could still be exciting.

Cincinnati's best player and leader, Joey Votto, has stated that he wants the team to turn the corner this season. In order to do that, the young pitching staff will have to deliver. After allowing an NL-worst 869 runs last season, the promising young pitchers look ready to deliver. Luis Castillo was terrific during the second half of the season, and we saw nice flashes from Robert Stephenson, Tyler Mahle and Amir Garrett late in the year. There's even more promise where that came from, like Cody Reed, Rookie Davis and Keury Mella. The team has a chance to improve quickly if the youngsters can pitch well this season, added to a healthy season from Anthony DeSclafani.

Cleveland came up just short in the World Series vs. the Cubs in 2016 and had a disappointing ALDS loss last year. The squad lost Carlos Santana but looks highly capable of making another run this season, led by defending Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Carlos Carrasco. The X-factor on this year's squad could be top catching prospect Francisco Mejia, who will replace one of the team's biggest weaknesses whenever he is ready.

The Rockies were one of the biggest pleasant surprises last season, led by new manager Bud Black and a deep pitching staff. Colorado's rotation had a 4.59 ERA, only 16th in MLB, but more than good enough pitching home games at Coors Field. The young talent returns, led by Jon Gray, but the Rockies need to at least keep up last year's pace to make the playoffs again in the tough NL West.

Detroit is in a complete rebuild after trading J.D. Martinez, Justin Upton and Justin Verlander last season. Remaining in town is franchise player Miguel Cabrera, who hit 16 home runs with a career-worst .728 OPS due in large part to back issues. The team has very little chance of competing this season but could at least have some excitement if Miggy is able to regain his old form. Cabrera is due a staggering $184 million over the next six seasons, so the organization really needs him to get back to his old self.

What do you get the team that has everything? In the case of the defending World Series champs, it's former Pirates ace Gerrit Cole. He was acquired without giving up much of note from the major league roster, adding to an incredible rotation that includes Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Charlie Morton. There's no doubt the rotation is significantly better than the one Houston entered 2017 with, and the lineup remains elite with Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and George Springer. The only point of nervousness could be closer, given Ken Giles' struggles in the playoffs.

The Royals were well aware after last season that they'd be heading toward a rebuild, set to lose Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas and Jason Vargas. Now Salvador Perez and Danny Duffy are two of the only key contributors from the 2015 World Series roster remaining. The team will go much younger this season, hopeful that players like Jorge Soler, Hunter Dozier, Cheslor Cuthbert, Raul Mondesi Jr., Jorge Bonifacio and Jake Junis can be long-term building blocks.

The Angels look significantly better on paper this season after signing Zack Cozart, Ian Kinsler and Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is particularly intriguing and will spur a new six-man rotation that also includes promising pitchers Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney. The pitching staff now shows huge upside, but injuries have plagued the Angels over the last two seasons. If they can stay healthy this season, challenging the Astros in the AL West can't be dismissed as a possibility.

The Dodgers just fell short to Houston in one of the greatest World Series ever. Nervous about the luxury tax, they didn't add much this offseason, but they really didn't need to. The rotation is in a great place with Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda, while the lineup still has as much depth as any in baseball. Of course, the team also has elite closer Kenley Jansen, so the Dodgers should be fine at the end of games. Anything short of a World Series title this season will be a disappointment.

The Marlins shed payroll and talent all offseason following the purchase of the team by Derek Jeter's group. Fans are rightfully upset after the team traded its entire star outfield of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich, trying to revamp a farm system that was left barren. What's left is a team without much talent, young, old or otherwise. It's going to be a very long season in Miami, with 100 losses or more than fair expectation.

The Brewers made a splash this offseason by signing Lorenzo Cain and trading for Christian Yelich, creating an elite outfield and more depth. Last year's rotation had a 4.10 ERA, fifth best in the NL, but that was with breakout seasons from Chase Anderson and Jimmy Nelson. Nelson is set to miss the start of the season following shoulder surgery, and the other pitching additions of Jhoulys Chacin and Yovani Gallardo aren't very imposing. The team probably needs at least one more quality starter if it hopes to challenge the Cubs.

A late surge earned the Twins a Wild Card spot last season, and the front office has been busy this offseason with acquisitions like Fernando Rodney, Addison Reed, Jake Odorizzi and Logan Morrison. There are still major questions about their starting rotation behind Jose Berrios. Ervin Santana will miss the start of the season due to a finger injury, and the back of the rotation looks potentially shaky with candidates like Adalberto Mejia, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Tyler Duffey.

The major injuries to the Mets got to the point of ridiculousness last season, losing Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Jeurys Familia, Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto for significant time. With the exception of Conforto, the core of the roster enters the year healthy and has a nice complement of youth with Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario, as well as experience with Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce. This roster can go far if it can stay off the disabled list.

The Yankees came just one game shy of beating the Astros in the ALCS, and the roster looks even more loaded this year after acquiring reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton for peanuts. The Yanks also retained most of the key pieces they added in the second half of last season, including Sonny Gray, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle. Last year's roster already had star power with Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, and top prospect Gleyber Torres is on the cusp of making an impact. New York has the best odds to win the World Series in Vegas for very good reason, and new manager Aaron Boone will be criticized if the team falls short.

Oakland is in another rebuild but has some nice pieces to build around. The lineup looks deep, if nothing else, after acquiring Stephen Piscotty from the Cardinals to go along with the powerful Khris Davis, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Jed Lowrie and Marcus Semien. It's the rotation that has major question marks after trading Sonny Gray last season. The rotation had a 4.74 ERA last season but does have some potential in the arms of Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, Jharel Cotton and company. The A's also have former first-round pick and potential ace A.J. Puk around the corner.

Philadelphia lost 96 games last season but saw an influx of talented youth late in the year. The Phils hired Gabe Kapler, the Dodgers' former director of player development, to mold the youngsters as the new manager in 2018. He will have several potential stars to work with like Aaron Nola, Rhys Hoskins, Jorge Alfaro, J.P. Crawford and Scott Kingery, and the organization trusts that he's the right man to develop the young players.

Pirates fans had a frustrating offseason after the team traded the two faces of the franchise in McCutchen and Cole. Despite those moves, there's an argument to be made that this year's roster is better than the team that won only 75 games last season. Starling Marte missed nearly half the season due to a PEDs suspension, the roster was left without a great option at third base due to Jung Ho Kang's situation and Jameson Taillon's season was disrupted due to testicular cancer. The team added Corey Dickerson, Colin Moran and Joe Musgrove as potentially big contributors, while Tyler Glasnow still has elite upside in the rotation.

Despite losing 91 games last season, the Padres apparently feel they're not far away from competing after signing Hosmer to an eight-year, $144 million contract. Top prospects like Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Urias, Cal Quantrill and Eric Lauer give fans reason for hope, but it's unlikely any of those players will be ready in the first half of the season. For now, the Pads just hope players like Wil Myers, Manuel Margot and Dinelson Lamet can lead them forward.

The Giants were undoubtedly the most disappointing team in baseball last season, losing 98 games after winning a Wild Card spot in 2016. Madison Bumgarner missed significant time due to a dirt bike accident, but there weren't many other valid excuses for how poorly the roster performed. The Giants added former stars Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria and hope for rebounds from Buster Posey and the starting rotation big three of Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija.

GM Jerry Dipoto did more wheeling and dealing in the offseason, most significantly adding Dee Gordon to play center field. The rotation remains intact, as Dipoto prepared for 2018 in late 2017 by acquiring Mike Leake, Erasmo Ramirez, Marco Gonzales and David Phelps. Last year the team ran out of starting pitching, and James Paxton was the only reliable starter when he was actually healthy. To compete in an AL West that looks even better this season, the pieces that Dipoto added will need to perform and Felix Hernandez will need to rebound from a mediocre season. 

Cardinals fans have been frustrated this offseason with only one significant addition, outfielder Marcell Ozuna, while the rival Cubs and Brewers have made big changes. St. Louis is left with the same infield as last season and major questions at closer. Matt Carpenter, Yadier Molina, Carlos Martinez and company will undoubtedly be big contributors again, but it remains to be seen if the Cards have enough pieces to make a playoff run.

The offseason has been another rebuild for the low-budget Rays, who lost Logan Morrison, Steven Souza Jr., Evan Longoria, Corey Dickerson and Lucas Duda. Incredibly, the roster doesn't have one 20 home run hitter from last season. There's certainly enough starting pitching to stay competitive, led by Chris Archer, but the Rays might not score enough to win many games.

As usual, the Rangers go into the season with an impressive lineup led by Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara. The pitching, on the other hand, could be an issue. The rotation is led by Cole Hamels, who had arguably the worst season of his career in 2017, and a long list of rotation question marks like Mike Minor, Matt Moore, Doug Fister, Matt Bush and Bartolo Colon. They are also without a definitive closer in the bullpen. The losses of Yu Darvish and Andrew Cashner from last year's roster could be too much to overcome.

Toronto's starting rotation surprised to produce an AL-best 3.64 ERA in 2016, but the Jays regressed to 4.57 last season with several injuries, including Aaron Sanchez. Ace Marcus Stroman is already having shoulder issues in spring training, so they're off to a rough start this year. The lineup has quality players like Josh Donaldson and Justin Smoak, but the team won't compete unless the rotation bounces back.

Washington has reached the playoffs in four of the last five years, yet still hasn't gotten out of the NLDS. Three of those series went to five games, but that's no consolation with a roster that's won 95-plus games three times over that period. Most of last year's team returns, including an impressive core of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman. With Harper in his walk year and a new manager in Dave Martinez, the time to deliver on the promise is now.