Offseason overhaul: 5 NL teams with glaring holes

The National League was as competitive as ever last season, boasting five teams with won 90 or more wins. The usual suspects, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals, sat on top of their respective divisions, but several up-and-coming teams made huge strides in 2015, like the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs.

All 15 clubs will be competing for some of the best talent on the free-agent market this fall, but there are five teams in particular that have glaring holes they'll need to fill in order to be competitive.

San Francisco Giants - SP

It's an even year, so that means the Giants are due for another World Series title in 2016. However, after winning championships in 2010, 2012, and 2014, the Giants will have to rebuild their starting rotation if they hope to continue the trend. Tim Hudson is retiring, and the club is losing three hurlers - Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Lincecum, and Mike Leake - to free agency. Additionally, it's probably unrealistic to expect 200 innings from both Jake Peavy and Matt Cain, leaving workhorse Madison Bumgarner as the only innings eater in the rotation. San Francisco has its ace, but it'd be wise to add two starters in order to keep pace with Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers in the NL West.

PROJECTED 2016 ROTATION

New York Mets - OF, SS

Pitching clearly isn't an issue for the Mets moving forward, but their magical run to the World Series also proved you need to score runs in order to claim a championship. General manager Sandy Alderson saw firsthand the impact a slugger can have when he added Yoenis Cespedes for the stretch run, and his first priority will be to replace the outfielder's bat in the lineup. New York is also losing Daniel Murphy, Juan Uribe, and Kelly Johnson to free agency, further adding to its offensive shortfalls. In addition, shortstop remains an area of concern, and a position Alderson needs to address.

Cincinnati Reds - SP

The Reds set a record for consecutive starts by rookie pitchers in 2015, and although there's promising talent on the pitching staff, growing pains were aplenty for the 64-98 club. Homer Bailey, who will presumably be the new ace of the staff with Johnny Cueto shipped out of town, isn't expected back until mid-May following Tommy John surgery, leaving a hole at the top of the rotation. While the pitching staff is in a rebuilding phase, offensively, Cincinnati remains competitive with Joey Votto, Todd Frazier, Billy Hamilton, and Jay Bruce in the lineup. The Reds don't need to break the bank for a starter, but their veterans will quickly sour if the problem isn't addressed to some degree.

Chicago Cubs, CF, SP

Joe Maddon's crew exceeded expectations with their deep playoff run, but some weaknesses were revealed during their NLCS collapse against the Mets. Firstly, Chicago needs to improve its depth in the starting rotation. Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta are a formidable one-two punch, but Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks didn't stack up against the competition when it mattered most. Adding a No. 3 starter would balance out the rotation, or the Cubs could break the bank, and reunite David Price with Maddon to form a three-headed monster. Chicago also has a secondary need in center field with the expected departure of Dexter Fowler.

Arizona Diamondbacks, SP

The Diamondbacks (79-83) quietly put together an impressive campaign last year, and could contend for a playoff spot with a few tweaks on the pitching side. Southpaw Patrick Corbin should be back at full strength following Tommy John surgery to lead the rotation, but Jeremy Hellickson is currently profiling as the No. 2 starter. Top prospect Archie Bradley showed flashes of brilliance upon his promotion to the bigs, but he was never the same after taking a liner to the face in late April. GM Dave Stewart certainly understands the value of adding a frontline starter, and his team would greatly benefit from a boost in 2016.