The hard facts of autumn have come to bear on all but a small handful of teams. Eight of the 10 playoff squads have been established, with three -- the Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Indians -- fighting for the final two spots. For everyone else, it's wait 'til next year.
That includes four marquee franchises that put forth contenders that fell short enough to rate among the year's true disappointments; that's certainly the case when it comes to the defending world champions, the Boston Red Sox.
What follows here is a quick rundown through these close-but-no-cigar teams and what their top priorities should be if they want happier outcomes in 2020. All statistics are through Tuesday.
