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General managers who have to deliver a winner in 2018

Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto is one of the execs who needs to deliver in 2018, but what should he do to steer Seattle back to the postseason? Elaine Thompson/AP Photo

You can't win the World Series in December. As so many of the recent big-splash teams have shown, throwing money at a free agent or two, or making a trade for a known star, doesn't move the needle as much as is sometimes presumed. Building a championship team takes a year-long commitment to building a complete organization, and in baseball, all the non-Mike Trout players aren't good enough to turn an also-ran into a contender by themselves.

Despite the fact that big winter moves are no guarantee of postseason success, there are a few general managers and presidents of baseball operations (for those organization who have engaged in title inflation) who should be preparing to be as aggressive as possible this winter, because 2018 might be their best chance to win for a while. Let's take a look at a few of the teams that have rational incentives to push as many chips in on this coming year as they can.