Category Archives: MLB 2024 Offseason

Grading Every MLB Team’s 2024 Offseason (10-1): Part I

Matt Chapman Still Needs A Place To Play

Caption: New San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman swinging

By Sam Morris

Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own raps for the music industry club at BGSU.

March 15, 2024

10. Detroit Tigers (B+)

File:DetroitTigersCapInsignia.png - Wikipedia

Major Additions

SP Kenta Maeda
OF Mark Cahna
SP Jack Flaherty
RP Shelby Miller
RP Andrew Chafin

Starting off the top 10 is the Detroit Tigers, who did something that they haven’t done in a while, they had by far the best offseason of any AL Central team. The Royals and White Sox overhauled much of their rosters to build for the future, the Guardians made minimal changes to a mediocre roster, and the 2023 divisional champion Twins lost major pieces from their playoff team. Detroit added 4 quality veteran pitchers to an extremely young but talented staff. They took Maeda from Minnesota who will likely slide in behind Tarik Skubal as the number 2 guy in the rotation. They also signed Jack Flaherty from Baltimore. Flaherty will likely be the 3rd or 4th starting pitcher in the rotation; he has major upside as he was an all-star and consistent Cy Young candidate just a few years ago with St Louis before his rough 2023 campaign with the Orioles. If Flaherty can return to his previous form he will be a steal to a much improved Detroit rotation from 2023. Both Chafin and Miller will provide veteran leadership in a young bullpen that includes breakout stars from last season, set-up man Jason Foley, and closer Alex Lange. This will help them contend with the Twins’ and Guardians’ bullpens that have been some of the best in the league the last couple of years. Cahna is also a decent signing from Milwaukee who will likely play left field as a need fit opposite young outfield stars Riley Greene and Parker Meadows. Detroit will also likely bring up Colt Keith and Jace Jung, two top 100 MLB prospects, to bolster their weaker infield offense. The downside to the Tigers’ offseason is that they lost their ace Eduardo Rodriguez to Arizona, but it was unlikely he would resign after he declined his player option last season.

9. San Diego Padres (B+)

Major Additions

SP Dylan Cease
SP Michael King
C Kyle Higashioka
CP Woo-Suk Go
SP Randy Vasquez
RP Johny Brito

After paying massive contracts to a ton of players last season, San Diego has decided to use the Golden State Warriors’ strategy of moving on from a few stars in hopes of contending now while simultaneously building for the future. San Diego was involved in the biggest off-season trade as they sent OF Juan Soto and OF Trent Grisham to the Yankees in return for three quality young pitchers and catcher Kyle Higashioka. Although they lost two stars in the trade, Michael King and Randy Vasquez should make for a good 4 and 5 combo in the back end of their rotation, and Johnny Brito is one of the most promising young relief pitching prospects in the game. Higashioka is also a calculated signing as he becomes a bridge and mentor for 17-year-old catching phenom Ethan Salas who is quickly making his way through San Diego’s farm system. San Diego also lost Hader to the Astros and Lugo to the Royals but signed Korean pitcher Woo-Suk Go which will significantly help their bullpen. Ace pitcher Blake Snell is also gone to free agency but the Padres signed ex-White Sox ace Dylan Cease at the end of the offseason which will be a top-tier replacement in what will be a monster three-star rotation of Darvish, Musgrove, and Cease. If San Diego did not lose so many stars they would easily be in the top 3 off-seasons on this list.

8. Chicago Cubs (B+)

Major Additions

SP Shota Imanaga
RP Hector Neris

The Cubs’ main priority this offseason was to resign Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger. They did half of this goal by signing Bellinger last week. Bellinger pulled an inverse of Tim Anderson and had a career renaissance last year by having the 7th best average in MLB (.307), hitting 26 homers, and having 97 RBI’s. He hadn’t hit over .300 since his 47 home run 2019 MVP campaign. In fact, in the three seasons since his MVP season, he didn’t even hit over .240. This shocking resurgence with the Cubs should make Chicago fans excited for a potential repeat performance this year. On the other hand, ace pitcher Marcus Stroman has left for the Big Apple, but the Cubs pivoted in a big way by adding the 3rd best Japanese free-agent pitcher, Shota Imanaga who played for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. For the last 8 seasons he had over 1,000 strikeouts with a 3.18 ERA in that span. He should easily slot in as the opening day ace and will be a pivotal player in how this offseason is viewed by the end of the year.

7. Washington Nationals (A-)

Major Additions

OF Jesse Winker
1B/OF Joey Gallo
OF Eddie Rosario
3B Nick Senzel
CP Dylan Floro

The most underrated off-season has to be the Washington Nationals, who lost nobody and added a ton of talent. Washington won’t be able to contend this year, but don’t be surprised if in the next few seasons they become a sleeper team in the NL East. After winning the World Series in 2019, Washington shipped most of their expensive stars to other teams and they have been at the bottom of the National League for the past few seasons. However, they have done a great job drafting and will now likely bring up to the majors 2 top 15 prospects, outfielders Dylan Crews and James Wood. Along with these rookies, they added high-quality offensive talent this offseason with power hitters like Joey Gallo and Eddie Rosario as well as consistent contact hitter Jesse Winker. Nick Senzel will also slide in nicely at third base which has been their weakest position the past few seasons. Adding Dylan Floro from Miami also gives the Nationals another option for closer, which has been a very inconsistent role the past few years as well.

6. Seattle Mariners (A-)

Major Additions

2B Jorge Polanco
OF Mitch Haniger
C/DH Mitch Garver
1B/OF Luke Raley
3B Luis Urias

Seattle went all-in on offense and it could pay dividends for them in a division that had generally weak offseason transactions. Seattle was just 2 games behind the Astros and World Series Champion Rangers for first in the AL West but didn’t even make the playoffs, falling one game short of the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot. To get over this small hurdle they added talent throughout their lineup to combat their many free agent losses. Seattle lost two of their biggest power hitters in Eugenio Suarez and Teoscar Hernandez, so they resigned former Mariner Mitch Haniger from the Giants to be a power-hitting outfielder and signed rising star Luke Raley from Tampa to help the infield offense. Jorge Polanco is also a huge signing for Seattle because it will give them more consistent contact in a lineup that had the most strikeouts in the league last season and will also give them a good defensive middle infield opposite J.P Crawford. I could see Seattle in the top 3 or 4 of this list if they would have signed a pitcher as they lost Robbie Ray in the Mitch Haniger trade.

5. San Francisco Giants (A-)

Major Additions

3B Matt Chapman
CP Jordan Hicks
SP Robbie Ray
OF Jung-Hoo Lee
OF/DH Jorge Soler

After years of barely missing out on stars like Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, San Francisco finally hit on big-name free agents. 3B Matt Chapman was one of the biggest offensive signings of the offseason and paired with Miami pickup Jorge Soler in the middle of this order is going to be a scary sight for opposing pitchers and could leave a lot of balls in the bay. The Giants also signed Japanese star Jung-Hoo Lee who they are hoping will become their everyday Center Fielder for years to come. Lee is one of the youngest Japanese free agents this season at 25 and he has the 5-tool ability to become their franchise player. Robbie Ray and triple-digit hitting Jordan Hicks are also massive signings for San Francisco as they try to compete with the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks, who all have phenomenal rotations. Despite these big moves, the Giants also lost quite a lot compared to the Dodgers and Diamondbacks as they lost 5 of their 6 starting pitchers in the offseason to free agency and trades. Simply adding Robbie Ray won’t fix their pitching depth issue.

4. Arizona Diamondbacks (A)

Major Additions

SP Eduardo Rodriguez
3B Eugenio Suarez
OF Joc Pederson

Fresh off an insanely surprising National League Championship, the Diamondbacks went into the offseason with a few goals. First of all, they wanted to re-sign many of their players from their World Series roster, which they did. Second, they wanted to improve upon their offense in free agency, which they did by adding Suarez and Pederson. And lastly, they wanted to add another starting pitcher to compete with the top-tier NL West pitching staffs, which they did by getting ex-Detroit ace Eduardo Rodriguez. Completing all three of these lofty goals earns Arizona the first straight A on this list. So why aren’t the Diamondbacks in the top 3? Because the teams in the top 3 had one move each that defined the 2024 offseason.

3. Baltimore Orioles (A)

Major Additions

SP Corbin Burnes
CP Craig Kimbrel

Baltimore made an enormous splash this offseason on February 1st when they traded for former Cy Young Award-winning ace Corbin Burnes. After years of building up their farm system but having subpar MLB seasons, all the player development paid off last year when a young homegrown core lineup of Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Ryan Mountcastle led Baltimore to an AL East title and an overall 1 seed. Baltimore has even more top prospects coming through the system in the near future like Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad, and Colton Cowser, but these are position players. Burnes should be a solidified number 1 for Baltimore to help balance their team out and adding Craig Kimbrel as a closer will give Baltimore a complete team with very few holes for the upcoming season.

2. New York Yankees (A)

Major Additions

OF Juan Soto
SP Marcus Stroman
OF Trent Grisham
OF Alex Verdugo

It’s no surprise that New York used their outrageously high payroll and marketability to attract free agents and trade pieces this offseason, but it’s who they got and for what cost that ranks them this high on the list. First, they landed the top offensive player on the trade market in Juan Soto while only giving up a few young pitchers that haven’t performed remarkably well for the Yankees. In the same trade, they got Trent Grisham and then later got Alex Verdugo from the arch-rival Red Sox. All of these signings will pair well with Aaron Judge and should create the top outfield/DH quartet in baseball. Because New York gave up 3 pitchers in the Soto/Grisham trade as well as Luis Severino, they needed a bona fide number 2 pitcher to go behind Gerrit Cole who will be out one to two months with a right elbow injury. They found their guy in Marcus Stroman who had a career year in Chicago last season. All in all, the Yankees had the best off-season in the American League, in my opinion, and should compete with Baltimore for an AL East crown this season, but it still was not enough to nab the top spot on this list.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (A+)

Advanced

Major Additions

SP/DH Shohei Ohtani
SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
SP Tyler Glasnow
OF/DH Teoscar Hernandez
SP James Paxton
OF Manuel Margot

This wasn’t really a question. The top offseason belongs to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it’s not even remotely close. The Dodgers won the Ohtani sweepstakes and didn’t have to give up anything to get him through free agency. While this alone might have put them at #1 on this list, they also signed Japanese all-star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a long-term deal. Yamamoto would be an ace on half the teams in MLB, and coupling him with Ohtani is just unfair. If this wasn’t enough, the Dodgers then got more pitching by acquiring James Paxton from Boston. After that, they executed a massive trade to get another top-tier pitcher from Tampa Bay: Tyler Glasnow, while also adding Manuel Margot from Tampa to gain outfield depth. Even with Ohtani not being able to pitch this season as he recovers from an elbow injury, the starting pitching staff will include a plethora of options including Yamamoto, Glasnow, Paxton, Bobby Miller, Walker Buehler, and Clayton Kershaw. Additionally, after losing J.D Martinez and Kiki Hernandez to free agency, they shored up the outfield by adding power-hitting Teoscar Hernandez from Seattle. This offseason is a classic example of the rich getting richer, much richer in the Dodgers case. However, baseball is a 162-game season and anything can happen in the playoffs. Dodgers fans have become way too familiar with this in the recent seasons since their 2020 World Series Championship. We’ll see if these blockbuster moves finally push the Dodgers over the championship hump.

Which team do you think had the best off-season, and which moves will help teams contend for the 2024 World Series title?

Grading Every MLB Team’s 2024 Offseason (20-11): Part II

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Josh Hader signing: All-Star closer in tow, the Astros gear up for their own Last Dance - DraftKings Network

Caption: New Houston Astros closer Josh Hader pitching

By Sam Morris

March 15, 2024

20. Milwaukee Brewers (C)

Major Additions

1B Rhys Hoskins
RP DL Hall
C Gary Sanchez
SP Jakob Junis
INF Joey Ortiz

On one hand, the Brewers acquired a few good players on the free agent market this offseason to help their offensive struggles. On the other hand, they lost their top three rotation pieces and 4 of their best offensive weapons, which I think results in an overall net loss. Ace pitcher Corbin Burnes is now an Oriole, Brandon Woodruff is a free agent, and Adrian Houser signed with the Mets. These are obviously huge losses but Milwaukee couldn’t avoid them leaving and they ended up getting a decent haul back with Jakob Junis from San Francisco and reliever DL Hall from Baltimore. Offensively, they lost Carlos Santana and Rowdy Tellez but picked up Rhys Hoskins from Philadelphia which will be a significant defensive and more consistent offensive upgrade at first base. Mark Cahna is now a Detroit Tiger and Jesse Winker is now with the Washington Nationals so the Brewers’ outfield is also depleted. To combat this, the top prospect in their organization, Jackson Chourio, will likely slide into the outfield at some point during the season. Overall, the Brewers will likely take a huge step back this year after winning the division last season but can easily get back on top in a year or two with the additions and prospects that they’ve acquired.

19. Texas Rangers (C)

Major Additions

RP Kirby Yates
RP David Robertson

Fresh off their first-ever World Series title, Texas loses some significant players from their roster including catcher Mitch Garver, starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, and relievers Will Smith and Aroldis Chapman. The Rangers did a great job at replacing their relief pitching losses by getting Kirby Yates from the Braves and David Robertson from the Marlins. They have top pitching prospects Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker, and Brock Porter in their farm system but they are far away from being ready for MLB, and adding another starting pitcher to their veteran pitching staff this offseason would have been helpful with Montgomery gone.

18. Oakland A’s (C)

Major Additions

SP Ross Stripling
SP Alex Wood
INF Abraham Toro
OF Miguel Andujar

The A’s were definitely the worst team last year but they made minor improvements with their pickups in the offseason. They are still very much in a rebuild and can’t afford big free agents so the Toro and Andujar signings were about the best they could do for offense. Both players are relatively consistent hitters who could also give a little pop to the top of the A’s lineup. While Wood and Stripling aren’t household names, they will be much more reliable 3rd and 4th starters than Trevor May and James Kaprielian were. The A’s also didn’t lose many players and slide towards the middle of the rankings with a solid C because the players they got won’t help them get significantly better right away.

17. Cincinnati Reds (C+)

Major Additions

3B Jeimer Candelario
SP/RP Nick Martinez
RP Emilio Pagan
RP Frankie Montas

Similar to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati is notorious for spending very little money on free agents in the offseason. This season was a little different as they paid for 4 major additions to the team. The young Reds pitching staff and talented prospects in the Reds infield will be bolstered by veteran corner infielder Jeimer Candelario and the relief pitching staff will get huge boosts from Martinez, Pagan, and Montas. In my opinion, the biggest fault for this Reds’ offseason was that they overpaid for the quality of the players they were getting instead of making one huge free-agent splash that could have helped them more in the future seasons.

16. Kansas City Royals (C+)

Major Additions

CP Will Smith
RP Seth Lugo
2B Adam Frazier
SP Michael Wacha
OF Hunter Renfroe
MI Garrett Hampson
SP Chris Stratton

The Royals have had one of the sneakiest good off-seasons. They lost franchise legend Zack Greinke to free agency but he is the only starter who has been removed. Meanwhile, on the additions side they have significantly improved their poor pitching staff with veteran starters Michael Wacha and Chris Stratton and top tier relievers Seth Lugo and Will Smith. Adam Frazier will also pair well defensively with Bobby Witt Jr. in the middle infield and Garrett Hampson is another defensive presence that could add infield depth. Lastly, Hunter Renfroe will help provide some pop in the middle of the lineup. Going forward, the Royals will have to figure out a way to blend these off-season veteran additions with the young prospects that they’ve acquired over the past few seasons.

15. St. Louis Cardinals (B-)

Major Additions

SP Sonny Gray
SP Lance Lynn
SP Kyle Gibson
SS Brandon Crawford
RP Andrew Kittredge

St Louis had one of the worst pitching staffs in the league last season and they made it a top priority in the offseason to improve it. Adding Gray from Minnesota, Gibson from Baltimore, and Lynn from Los Angeles (Dodgers) gives them a much improved starting rotation along with Miles Mikolas and Drew Rom. They have also gained a quality relief pitcher from the Rays in Andrew Kittredge and a veteran presence for the young offense to turn to in 3-time World Series champion shortstop Brandon Crawford. The Cardinals only lost Adam Wainwright to retirement and Tyler O’Neill to Boston this offseason. Wainwright was 40-years-old and would likely not have been as productive anymore; and as good as O’Neill can be, he was slumping last year and had a horrible relationship with the St Louis front office. While the pitching staff is way better now, another problem is that they are all over 34 years old, making another pitching rebuild inevitable in the near future for St. Louis.

14. Atlanta Braves (B-)

Major Additions

SP Chris Sale
OF Jarred Kelenic
RP Reynaldo Lopez

The Braves have one of the best rosters in MLB so there’s not much else they needed to get this off-season, but they are betting on players who had unique situations last year. First, they got Boston’s starting pitcher Chris Sale who was one of the best pitchers in the league throughout the mid-2010s but has been battling numerous arm injuries over the past 3 seasons with Chicago and Boston. He is reported to be fully healthy for the first time since 2020 and will be needed as a 5th starter with Michael Soroka now on the White Sox. Second, they are taking a flyer on former top Mariners’ prospect, outfielder Jarred Kelenic, who will replace Eddie Rosario in the outfield depth chart. Atlanta hopes he begins to fulfill his original hype as a prospect. The flame-throwing Reynaldo Lopez will also be sufficient in replacing Kirby Yates at the back end of the bullpen. The Braves had a solid offseason but can’t move into the top 10 on this list without a major star signing like some of the other National League playoff teams did.

13. Boston Red Sox (B-)

Major Additions

SP Lucas Giolito
OF Tyler O’Neill
2B Vaughn Grissom
CP Liam Hendricks

The Red Sox made some major moves this offseason to help better their position in the gauntlet of the AL East. First, they signed former White Sox/Angels starting pitcher Lucas Giolito who would likely have been their number 1 or 2 pitcher until having Tommy John this past week. They lost Sale and James Paxton but Giolito would be much better at this stage of his career than both of them. Boston also gained the second-best relief pitcher on the free agent market in Liam Hendricks which means they will likely cut Kenley Jansen which could potentially open them up to signing Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell as another free agent bonus to their pitching staff. Boston also lost DH Justin Turner and outfielders, Alex Verdugo and Adam Duvall. To combat this loss they signed Tyler O’Neill from the aforementioned Cardinals. O’Neill has struggled hitting for average the last couple of seasons but this could be a product of the poor relationship with the St Louis management and the clear lack of effort that O’Neill gave as a result, similar to the James Harden situation. If Boston can get him to play like he did in 2021 when he hit .286 with 35 home runs and 80 RBI’s, then they will have yet another power bat in a lineup with an already powerful top half. The weakest spot for Boston last season was 2nd base where Emmanuel Valdez played a mediocre defense and a sub-par offense. With Trevor Story moving to shortstop after the Xander Bogaerts’ trade to San Diego, former Brave Vaughn Grissom will likely slide into the second base spot. Grissom is only 23 and has a lot of upside to be an everyday player for the Red Sox in the future. Overall, Boston had an above-average offseason but didn’t hit on a huge free agent like the top two AL East teams did.

12. Houston Astros (B)

Major Additions

CP Josh Hader

Houston didn’t make many moves this offseason, but the one they did was giant as they signed the most dominant closer in MLB, Josh Hader, to a 5-year deal. Hader actually started his career with the Houston minor league system but never reached the majors with them before being traded to the Brewers for a package deal that included former all-star outfielder Carlos Gomez. The Brewers clearly won the trade as Gomez declined while Hader quickly became one of the most intimidating pitchers in all of baseball to face over the next 7 seasons in Milwaukee. Even after losing Hector Neris to Chicago, Houston should now have one of the best relief staffs by adding Hader to a bullpen with another all-star, Ryan Pressly. Houston is still outside of the top 10 in terms of their offseason however because they lost Michael Brantley to retirement and will now have a major hole that they did not address in the outfield.

11. New York Mets (B)

Major Additions

SP Sean Manaea
SP Luis Severino
INF Joey Wendle
OF Harrison Bader
SP Adrian Houser

The Mets had the weaker of the two off-seasons in New York, but it may be a good thing that they for once did not spend a ton of money on free agents. That strategy did not work out at all last season as they massively underachieved, finishing in 4th in the NL East. Trading much of their pitching staff at the trade deadline last year, the Mets did not lose anyone of significance in this year’s off-season. To round out the starting rotation they got Manaea from San Francisco, Severino from the Yankees, and Houser from Milwaukee. These are all solid signings who only raise real concerns regarding their frequent injuries. The Mets also mildly improved their offense by adding infield and outfield depth in Joey Wendle and Harrison Bader.

Grading Every MLB Team’s 2024 Offseason (30-21): Part III

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If Marlins trade Tim Anderson, he gets $500,000 bonus

Caption: New Miami Marlins Shortstop Tim Anderson fielding a ground ball

By Sam Morris

March 15, 2024

It has been an extremely eventful offseason in Major League Baseball (MLB). A multitude of superstar free agents have been on the move, previously mediocre teams have made trades that have suddenly turned them into contenders, and an abnormally high number of prospects will reach the big leagues as rookies after Spring Training. To break down the 2024 MLB offseason, I have graded each team’s moves and ranked the team’s off-seasons based on how much I think their decisions will positively or negatively impact them.

Spring training games started a few weeks ago on February 22nd and will go on for a week and a half until March 26th. Some of the biggest free agents remaining include starting pitchers Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove who could help many of the teams that are currently lower on this list in their off-season moves. Once opening day hits on March 28th, we will begin to see just how each team’s off-season moves will truly help them.

30. Los Angeles Angels (F)

Major Additions

OF Aaron Hicks
1B Evan White
RP Jose Cisnero

This was one of the easiest teams to rank on this list as the Angels had a franchise-altering off-season after losing two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to the cross-town Dodgers. While remaining in the Ohtani sweepstakes for a brief moment in the offseason, it soon became clear that the Angels weren’t going to be able to compete with the Dodgers. Losing Ohtani means that the Angels have lost arguably the most globally recognizable player in baseball. Potentially even worse, it also means that they have wasted an enormous opportunity by not making the playoffs a single time while having two of the greatest baseball players of all time on their roster (Ohtani and Trout).

29. Miami Marlins (D-)

Major Additions

SS Tim Anderson
UTIL Vidal Brujan

After being a surprising team and sneaking into the playoffs last year, the Marlins’ off-season was surprisingly lackluster to say the least. While the rest of the National League East made a plethora of trades and free agent signings, Miami only added Shortstop Tim Anderson from the White Sox, and Vidal Brujan, a utilityman and base stealing threat from Tampa Bay, who will likely be used off the bench. Anderson is the more interesting of the two additions as he will slide in as the everyday starter immediately and will be looking to bounce back from his horrendous 2023 campaign in which he batted a mediocre .245, had just 1 home run, and had a minuscule 25 rbi’s from the leadoff spot in Chicago’s batting order. What’s unique about Anderson is that he batted over .300 in 4 consecutive seasons for Chicago from 2019-2022 before last year, so if Miami can get that type of production from him then their offseason could prove this ranking wrong. However, Anderson’s unpredictable performance coupled with the fact that Miami also lost pivotal pieces from last year’s playoff team, including Jorge Soler, Joey Wendle, and Yuli Gurriel, makes me question why they didn’t try to get another piece or two to help bolster their roster and build more upon last year’s surprising success.

28. Colorado Rockies (D-)

Major Additions

SP Cal Quantrill
C Jacob Stallings

If it weren’t for the Oakland Athletics playing so poorly that fans thought a historic loss record could potentially be broken, then the Rockies would have surely been the worst team in baseball last year. In the 2000’s, Colorado had stars like Ubaldo Jimenez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Todd Helton. Then, in the 2010’s, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story took them back to the playoffs. But the present-day Rockies are severely lacking any real star power, with 32-year-old Kris Bryant being their most recognizable player. Although they are in a rebuild, their farm system isn’t helping the problem either, as they have been consistently ranked in the bottom 5 in the league for the past few seasons. With that being said, while Colorado didn’t lose anybody big from their roster like a few other teams this low on the list, they also barely did anything to improve it either. Their only moves came in first signing Cal Quantrill from Cleveland, who could potentially become their ace. They also signed 2021 Gold Glove Winner Jacob Stallings from Miami, who had a good year last year with the Marlins. However, adding a catcher was confusing in my opinion as out of anybody in Colorado’s lineup, 2023 all-star game MVP, catcher Elias Diaz was by far the most productive. Unfortunately for Colorado, the other 4 NL West teams’ off-seasons rank in the top 10 on this list.

27. Minnesota Twins (D)

Minnesota Twins unveil new logos, uniforms - Twinkie Town

Major Additions

SP Anthony DeSclafini
DH Carlos Santana

Last season’s American League Central champions lost a lot of players this offseason and didn’t add much in return. Two of their top pitchers, Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda are now gone, one of them (Maeda) within their own division. To compensate, the Twins nabbed DeSclafini from the Giants. Desclafini’s career has fallen off significantly since leaving Cincinnati and he isn’t nearly a quality replacement for both Maeda and Gray at the top end of their rotation. To make matters worse, Jorge Polanco is on Seattle now leaving a gaping hole across from Correa at second base. The Polanco loss is extremely important because Correa, Royce Lewis, and Byron Buxton are now Minnesota’s most productive bats, and all three of them are severely injury prone. The only notable offensive player the Twins signed this offseason was about as far away from a young second baseman as humanly possible: 37-year-old DH Carlos Santana.

26. Tampa Bay Rays (D)

Major Additions

SP Ryan Pepiot
RP Tyler Alexander
INF Jose Caballero

The Rays’ ability to win with the lowest payroll in the league will be put to the test this season as they are yet another case of losing a lot and gaining little in return. Tampa Bay got hit hard by big-city market teams, losing their ace, Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot to the L.A. Dodgers, and closer Andrew Kittredge to St Louis. Like the Twins, the Rays also lost someone important to last year’s playoff run to Seattle, power hitting first baseman Luke Raley. Tampa’s offense and pitching will be taking a hit with these losses. The Pepiot signing as part of the Glasnow trade should help build a deeper pitching staff but not necessarily a top-15 staff in the league. Caballero is also an interesting prospect from Seattle’s system and he will most likely be used in a platoon at shortstop with veteran Amed Rosario now that Wander Franco is gone. Caballero will have to improve hitting wise though if he expects to make up for the massive Margot and Raley losses to the Tampa lineup.

25. Toronto Blue Jays (D)

Major Additions

1B Joey Votto
OF Kevin Kiermaier
UTIL Isiah Kiner-Falefa
DH Daniel Vogelbach
3B/DH Justin Turner

In my opinion, while not the worst offseason on this list, Toronto made the most perplexing moves. Besides adding Kevin Kiermaier, the Blue Jays went all-in on offense and power this offseason. They got Canadian-born Joey Votto as a free agent from the Reds, Vogelbach from the Mets, and Justin Turner from the Red Sox. Although they will definitely hit some home runs, all of these free agents are very similar players playing similar positions. The Blue Jays also lost some of their best players, including star 3B Matt Chapman, pitchers Hyun Jin Ryu and Jordan Hicks, and 2B Whit Merrifield. Toronto didn’t address any of the holes left by the offensive players they lost and instead picked players at the same positions as Vladimir Guerrero. They also didn’t improve their starting or relief pitching staffs.

24. Cleveland Guardians (D+)

Cleveland unveils new team name, logos: Cleveland Guardians - Covering the Corner

Major Additions

RP Scott Barlow
C Austin Hedges

Cleveland addressed a major need in the back half of their bullpen by adding former Royals closer Scott Barlow to presumably be their set up man, which will give them one of the best 8th-9th inning combos in baseball with Barlow-Clase. Hedges is also a nice piece as a veteran catcher for this Guardians lineup. Despite these nice moves, Cleveland didn’t make any significant trades or free agent signings that will make their offense or starting pitching better, which were by far their two biggest needs last season. If Cleveland would have gotten at least one big name free agent then they could easily be considered a favorite to win the Central with the Twins having such a poor offseason and the division being the definitively worst in MLB. However, their offense will most likely stay stagnant with the current lineup which will not help them against the Tigers’ young up-and-coming pitching staff.

23. Pittsburgh Pirates (D+)

Major Additions

CP Aroldis Chapman
C Yasmani Grandal
1B/DH Rowdy Tellez
SP Martin Perez
SP Marco Gonzales

The Pirates have one of the best farm systems in MLB but hate to spend money. So what did they do? They signed 5 veterans to relatively short and cheap deals to help the upcoming youth. These deals strengthen their immediate future, but similar to Cleveland, I wish they would have done more this offseason to help them realistically compete in a wide-open NL Central race. I legitimately think anyone could win that division and the Pirates didn’t do nearly enough to help them compete in the long term. Gonzales and Perez will be top-end rotation guys which will make for a mediocre rotation at best. Tellez and Grandal will hit home runs but won’t do much in terms of hitting consistently for average.

22. Chicago White Sox (C-)

Major Additions

SP Chris Flexen
SP Eric Fedde
C Max Stassi
SP Michael Soroka
INF Nicky Lopez
SS Paul DeJong
OF Kevin Pillar

The White Sox went into almost a complete roster overhaul this offseason. They lost inconsistent shortstop Tim Anderson to Miami and replaced him with ex-Cardinal Paul DeJong. They also lost two of their best relievers, Liam Hendriks and Bryan Shaw but didn’t gain any better relievers back. They added Soroka from the Braves, Flexen from the Rockies and Fedde from the Nationals to their starting pitching staff, but lost better starters in Aaron Bummer, Mike Clevinger, and perennial all-star ace Dylan Cease. Overall, the White Sox management clearly sees a new vision and a complete rebuild in the future, but it’ll just take a while for them to get their team back into contention in the AL Central.

21. Philadelphia Phillies (C-)

Major Additions

2B Whit Merrifield

Philadelphia has had major playoff success in 2022 and 2023 and after probably the most boring offseason on this list, they have essentially kept the same team this year. They first locked down their ace pitcher Aaron Nola by resigning him for a 7-year deal. Then, they got professional contact hitter Whit Merrifield to help at a variety of positions. The main reason the Phillies rank so low is because they failed to sign Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto who they were heavily linked to in free agent discussions. They also lost both first baseman Rhys Hoskins and closer Craig Kimbrel. Because of this, Bryce Harper will most likely have to play first base again since they didn’t sign a new player at that position. This will severely weaken their outfield depth and defense with Schwarber and Castellanos on the corners. The Kimbrel loss is also big as the rest of their bullpen is relatively weak and was not addressed this offseason.

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Category Archives: MLB 2024 Offseason

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