MLB

It's no secret: The Seattle Mariners regained relevance last season due in large part to their starting rotation.

As general manager Jack Zduriencik puts the finishing touches on 2015's roster, however, that may not hold so true as the M's make their first playoff push since the early 2000s.

The best way to summarize Major League Baseball's offseason is it resembled a heavy metal concert. There was a quiet beginning, followed by the massive head rush that happened at the winter meetings and currently waiting for one loud coda before spring training begins. 

Many MLB executives had hoped to use free agency to strengthen their respective units before the 2015 season. 

However, some of those higher-ups are discovering that the selections on the open market have become quite sparse. 

Thankfully, finding a trade partner is a much more reasonable task in MLB than it is in other professional sports. With assets that span over various levels, organizations are well-suited to make a deal with either selling or buying in mind. 

Few teams have been as busy this offseason as the Miami Marlins.

The decision to extend Giancarlo Stanton with a historic 13-year, $325 million contract thrust the Marlins into win-now mode, and it wasn’t long before the club began to aggressively retool its big league roster around the 25-year-old slugger.

However, building a strong supporting cast around Stanton meant blowing up the farm system, and so the Marlins were forced to part with top prospects.

Most around the baseball world think the Chicago Cubs had a very successful offseason. After all, they added coveted ace Jon Lester to the fold and bolstered their bench, bullpen and catcher spot. Suddenly, the playoffs don't seem like a pipe dream for the Cubs in 2015. 

For individual players and units on the team, this offseason affected each differently. Some largely benefit from the moves made this offseason, while others do not. Here are the three biggest winners and losers for the Cubs based on their offseason moves.

Just four years after World War II ended and two years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, Minnie Minoso made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians.

The biggest questions surrounding the Boston Red Sox in 2015 concern the starting rotation.

Is pitching coach Juan Nieves' staff good enough as presently constructed to contend for a World Series?

Can top prospect and left-handed pitcher Henry Owens be an impact midseason call-up?

Will general manager Ben Cherington acquire an ace to anchor the five-man unit? 

Given the curiosity, let's project the rotation for the coming season with a rundown of each starter. 

The Philadelphia Phillies haven’t launched a full-on rebuilding process, at least not yet, but the organization appears to be headed in that direction based on recent trades.

Major League Baseball's offseason has been hectic so far, in case you haven't noticed. And with six weeks to go before pitchers and catchers report, there's still more action to come.

Much of the focus to this point has been on all of the movement among big leaguers, what with free-agent signings and teams trading their top chips to new squads. But there has been almost as much activity on the minor league front, too.

Obsessing over Yoan Moncada yet?

No? Well, you should be. The 19-year-old Cuban is a potential franchise cornerstone, and the bidding for his services projects to be very crowded.