Sizing up each club's vision for 2019, beyond

February 9th, 2019

It's time to see the fruits of your offseason labor come to fruition. Some clubs are going all-in, while others are laying the groundwork to be competitive as they rebuild for the future.

In the days to come, general managers and front offices will converge upon camps in Florida and Arizona to see if their big-picture plan for accomplishing their goal is on the horizon. We take a look at each club to see its vision for 2019 and beyond.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

Blue Jays

The Jays spent the past two years clinging to the past. Now, they're embracing the future. Toronto starts 2019 with a bit of a clean slate. The days of adding patchwork solutions to an aging roster are over, and instead, the organization is laying a foundation for the future. There might be some short-term pain, but the expectation is that it will lead to long-term gains. More >

Orioles

The new leaders of the O's front office may not have garnered many headlines before coming to Baltimore, but all played integral roles in turning struggling franchises into World Series champions in recent years: general manager Mike Elias and assistant general manager for analytics Sig Mejdal with the Astros in 2017; manager Brandon Hyde in Chicago in '16. More >

Rays

GM Erik Neander and senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom went into the offseason looking for pieces to complement a young core to help the team make the playoffs in 2019. More >

Red Sox

To put the Red Sox in a strong position to become MLB's first repeat champions since the Yankees won their third straight in 2000, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski felt his best course of action this offseason was to resist change. More >

Yankees
For Yankees GM Brian Cashman, the work began almost immediately after the team's AL Division Series exit at the hands of the eventual World Series champion Red Sox, with the baseball operations department challenged to analyze areas of deficiency and improve those results for 2019. More >
AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL

Indians
The Indians have had more turnover heading into the 2019 season than in the past few years. Despite all of the discussions and speculation regarding the Tribe's offseason, the team has been clear that its goal has not changed: win the World Series. More >

Royals
GM Dayton Moore has said repeatedly this offseason that for Kansas City to be successful, it must be elite in certain facets of the game, rather than just being average in most. Elite speed and elite defense will be the ticket to success again, he said. More >

Tigers
While manager Ron Gardenhire and players believe they can defy expectations and make a big improvement off back-to-back 98-loss seasons, the front office is tasked with planning for better years ahead. This year's camp will provide a glimpse of the players that have a chance to form the core of that next great Detroit Tigers roster. More >

Twins
Throughout the offseason, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manger Thad Levine have maintained that the team is building for contention, and to that end, they've made several meaningful additions, particularly position players. More >

White Sox
As the 2019 season marks Year Three of the White Sox rebuild, the club's direction hasn't changed. Yes, the White Sox expect 2019 to be a more competitive campaign, and they have improved their roster in the short term. More >
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST

Angels
GM Billy Eppler made short-term improvements to this year's roster in hopes of making the team competitive in 2019, while also giving them flexibility for the future as their rapidly improving farm system continues to grow. More >

Astros
Astros president of baseball operations and GM Jeff Luhnow stuck with his plan and rebuilt the farm system and slowly strengthened the big league club into the behemoth it is today. With a talented and deep lineup, two top-five AL Cy Young Award finishers from last year anchoring their rotation, and a veteran bullpen, the Astros are poised to make a serious run at their second World Series title in the past three seasons. More >

A's
A Wild Card Game loss in the Bronx hardly mitigated the magic that filled the A's stellar regular season, and they now yearn for more as the advent of Spring Training looms. So, can Oakland do it again? Early projections say otherwise, but the A's, who managed 97 wins last year, have typically made a practice of defying expectations. More >
Mariners
GM Jerry Dipoto spent the past three months at the drawing board, reworking the Mariners' roster and vision for the future. Now it's time to see the plans begin to play out on the diamond. More >

Rangers
Texas understands that immediate success will be difficult this year after two straight losing seasons. The Rangers' 67-95 record in 2018 underscored the need to take a long, hard look at where they are headed as they get ready to open Globe Life Field in 2020. But Texas believes it can stay true to the core philosophy of restocking its inventory of young talent -- especially pitching -- while putting together a competitive team this season under new manager Chris Woodward. More >
NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

Braves
When Braves chairman Terry McGuirk said this offseason was a prime time for the organization to make significant roster additions, he acknowledged the value of the fact that general manager Alex Anthopoulos' aggressive nature is matched by his ability to patiently navigate toward the execution of a long-term plan. More >

Marlins
The vision of president of baseball operations Michael Hill, manager Don Mattingly and the rest of the front office and coaching staff is squarely centered on staying the course. The commitment remains to building from the Minor League system on up, and Spring Training will help provide some answers. More >
 
Mets

Multiple times this winter, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has stated his case, calling the Mets "the favorites in the division," then following that with a challenge: "Come get us." Coming off consecutive fourth-place finishes, the Mets had no interest in pursuing a roster rebuild. Instead, they hired Van Wagenen, revamped their front office and made several splashy player acquisitions. More >

Phillies
The Phillies have talked a lot about "moving the needle" in 2019. They held first place in the division through early August before a historic collapse. The organization believes the April-July version of the 2018 Phils are the real Phillies, not the ones that limped to a 15-30 finish. More >

Nationals
For years, the Nationals' front office has tried to ward off any notions that their competitive window is starting to close. Even after a disappointing 82-80 finish last season in which they missed the postseason for the first time since 2015 and then an offseason during which they faced the threat of losing their best hitter, the Nats were still focused on building a contender. More >
NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

Brewers
Unlike their most recent playoff teams in 2008 and '11, this Brewers club didn't lose a major free agent. For many, that means the vision for the 2019 Brewers is to win at least one more game. More >

Cardinals
A gradual shift in power within the National League Central -- forced the Cardinals to make an aggressive counter this winter. The subsequent moves, most notably the additions of and , lead to one definitive conclusion: The organization is all-in on 2019. More >

Cubs
The Cubs' decision-makers spent the offseason spreading a message of urgency for the group in place. Behind the scenes, the front office, along with manager Joe Maddon and his coaching staff, discussed ways to improve communication across the board and went to work on dissecting what went wrong in 2018 and how to fix it. More >

Pirates
This season, the Pirates will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their 1979 World Series title. It will be a chance to fondly remember the "We Are Family" days, but also a reminder of just how long it's been since the franchise last brought home a championship. As Bucs president Frank Coonelly told a crowd of fans last month at PiratesFest, 40 years is "too damn long." More >
Reds
President of baseball operations Dick Williams and general manager Nick Krall want to change the culture of the team. No more rebuilding and being complacent. The 2019 season will be about competing in the National League Central. More >
NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST
D-backs
Call it a retooling or a reloading, but just don't call it a full-scale rebuild. The D-backs will work to compete in 2019 while continuing to build up the farm system, which has some pitching at the top end with better position players at the lower levels. More >

Dodgers
A six-year streak of National League West titles hasn't satisfied fans who have endured a 30-year drought for a championship, nor the players whose opportunity windows close quickly. If management's offseason strategy is successful, the Dodgers will have a better-balanced offense keyed around the addition of 's right-handed bat. More >

Giants
While new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi's initial activity tempered expectations that the Giants would pursue high-profile free agents this offseason, it's clear that he remains opportunistic and will consider bolder moves at the right price. More >

Padres
Even if the Padres make a major splash by landing Manny Machado or Bryce Harper in the next few weeks, their roster is still extremely short on experience. But they are quick to dispel the notion that 2019 might be another "development year." More >

Rockies
Spring Training will open next week in Scottsdale, Ariz., with the Rockies expecting to contend again in 2019 (and beyond), because they believe in players such as outfielder David Dahl. More >