‘Tis the (off)season in Major League Baseball, with all 30 teams scheming to best position themselves for the upcoming season and beyond.
Santa was kind to the Boston Red Sox last winter, delivering a middle-of-the-order bat in J.D. Martinez that put the team over the top and eventually resulted in a World Series championship.
That got us thinking what baseball’s wish lists look like this holiday season. Some of these desires may be tangible, while others could be far more abstract.
With the league’s annual winter meetings getting underway Monday in Las Vegas, all these baseball teams want for Christmas is …
AL East
Red Sox: … for Rafael Devers to take a big step forward in his development.
Yankees: … creative solutions in order to plug holes at first base and shortstop.
Rays: … someone who can replace CJ Cron’s power output.
Blue Jays: … a time machine to go several weeks into the 2019 season to call up Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Orioles: … someone willing to take on even one penny of Chris Davis’ $92 million albatross.
AL Central
Indians: … somewhere between one and three decent outfielders.
Twins: … Byron Buxton from the second half of the 2017 season.
Tigers: … a trade partner willing to give up high-level prospects for Nick Castellanos.
White Sox: … a sign that Yoan Moncada and/or Lucas Giolito will become serviceable major leaguers.
Royals: … the courage to trade Whit Merrifield and his four years of team control in order to expedite this rebuild.
AL West
Astros: … to bring back free agent starter Charlie Morton on a two-year deal.
Athletics: … a couple of bargain-basement starting pitchers to eat innings.
Mariners: … a well-written greeting card apologizing to Felix Hernandez for wasting his career.
Angels: … for Bryce Harper to sign and set the bar so they can start talking extension with Mike Trout.
Rangers: … a proven corner infielder to fill the hole left by future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre.
NL East
Braves: … to add a starting catcher, namely J.T. Realmuto, who is currently under the Marlins control.
Marlins: …to find an everyday power-hitting first baseman to replace Justin Bour, who was traded last July.
Mets: … to prove hiring an agent-turned-general manager was a wise move.
Nationals: … to break the curse and win a playoff series.
Phillies: … a gift-wrapped $400 million deal involving Bryce Harper.
NL Central
Brewers: … for reliever Josh Hader to be able to pitch in 90 games.
Cardinals: … what more could they want after getting Paul Goldschmidt? Greed is good, though.
Cubs: … for Yu Darvish to win more than one game after signing a six-year, $126 million deal last offseason.
Pirates: … for infielder Jung Ho Kang, who has missed nearly two seasons, to return to form and provide power.
Reds: … a season, under new manager David Bell, where the club does not finish in last place for the fifth season in a row.
NL West
Diamondbacks: … fans are already expecting coal in their stocking after the franchise traded Goldschmidt, is Zack Greinke next?
Dodgers: … wishing for nothing but that elusive World Series title, especially since manager Dave Roberts got an extension.
Giants: … for Madison Bumgarner to return to his old self.
Padres: … hoping their No. 1 farm system begins to bloom at the major league level.
Rockies: … now staffed with a solid rotation, club in search of another impact bat to go with All-Star Nolan Arenado.
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