Caption: New Houston Astros closer Josh Hader pitching

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

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.