Midterm MLB offseason grades for all 30 teams: Bowden on signings, trades and what’s next
14: Shohei Ohtani puts on a Los Angeles Dodgers cap while being introduced at Dodger Stadium on December 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
It’s been a slow offseason overall and the free-agent market is still loaded with stars — from pitchers such as Jordan Montgomery, Blake Snell and Josh Hader to position players like Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman and Teoscar Hernández — so we could be in for an exciting month of January.
Let’s take stock of how much each team has improved its roster through signings and trades and what teams could still do between now and spring training, which starts in about six weeks.
The big-spending Los Angeles Dodgers are the obvious standouts this winter due to the magnitude of their moves, but the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees are among the other teams that I give high marks for their creative and difference-making upgrades.
Here are my midterm grades for all 30 teams based on their major-league transactions to date this offseason.
(I will hand out my final offseason grades when most of the moves have been made, likely before the first spring training game.) Let me know in the comments section what I got right or wrong in your view. Thanks for reading and happy new year!
The Braves have been busy. What will seven-time All-Star Chris Sale give them in 2023? (Paul Rutherford / Getty Images)
• Acquired LF Jarred Kelenic, LHP Marco Gonzales and 1B Evan White from Mariners for RHP Jackson Kowar and RHP Cole Phillips
• Traded RHP Mike Soroka, INF Braden Shewmake, LHP Jared Shuster, RHP Riley Gowens and INF Nicky Lopez to White Sox for LHP Aaron Bummer
Key takeaways: This has been the most creative and resourceful offseason of Alex Anthopoulos’ career.
The Braves’ two big goals this offseason were to improve their rotation and upgrade left field, and they accomplished both in unique fashion. Their best move was probably their latest, landing Sale from the Red Sox for Grissom, a deal that should work out well for both clubs.
Sale, whom the Braves extended and now control through 2026, looked much better in the second half of last season, when he logged a 3.92 ERA over nine starts.
Although he’s not an ace anymore, he’s still a top starter when healthy and will fit nicely in their rotation behind Spencer Strider and Max Fried and before Charlie Morton and Bryce Elder.
The Braves believe they solved their left-field issue with the trade for Kelenic, a move that made Grissom expendable.
They are hoping that Kelenic, who is only 24, finally has a breakout season this year. In addition, the Braves assumed a lot of bad contracts to add prospects via trades and dumped often-injured pitchers to improve both their bullpen and farm system.
This has been a frenetic, high-risk but high-reward offseason for Atlanta and Anthopoulos, one of the best front-office executives of this era.
Time will tell if their brilliant strategy pays off, but it’s hard to bet against them.
Acquired INF/OF Vidal Bruján and RHP Calvin Faucher from Rays for INF Erick Lara and RHP Andrew Lindsey
oversee baseball operations. He is highly regarded in the industry and rightfully so after working for years with one of the best in the game, the Tampa Bay Rays’ Erik Neander.
However, Bendix hasn’t made any impactful moves to upgrade Miami’s roster since taking over in November, instead tweaking around the edges by acquiring the speedy Bruján from his former club and improving catching depth with Bethancourt.
Hirings: Manager Carlos Mendoza; president of baseball operations David Stearns
Key takeaways: The Mets couldn’t land Yoshinobu Yamamoto despite making him the highest offer, which the Dodgers eventually matched. They took a gamble on the often-injured Severino and the declining Wendle and besides that, added depth.
I like their trade with the Brewers that brought back starting pitching and outfield depth for a relatively small price.
The acquisitions of both Taylor and Bader reflect the philosophy of Stearns, who will emphasize improved outfield defense and athleticism as he revamps the roster.
The best part of the Mets’ offseason has been the hiring of Stearns to run baseball operations and the subsequent hiring of Mendoza to manage the club.
Along with owner Steve Cohen, they have a strong leadership group. However, if they don’t sign a major free-agent pitcher or hitter, they won’t be legitimate contenders and will look like a third- or fourth-place team in the division.
Key takeaways: The Phillies have had a quiet offseason in terms of transactions but did drop a cool $172 million on Nola, their second-best starting pitcher, despite his down year.
Simply maintaining their roster is significant because this team is a World Series contender as is. Next, I’d like to see them bring in a right-handed-hitting utility player such as Whit Merrifield, who could fill in at second base and all three outfield positions.
They also need to try to extend their No. 1 starter, Zack Wheeler, who will be a free agent after next season.
Key takeaways: The Nationals continue to execute their long-term plan of building from within and have done very little this offseason outside of taking a chance on Senzel.
They plan to play the former Red exclusively at third base, which I think is the right approach, and hope he can finally realize his first-round potential. Next, the Nationals need to add lower-level type free agents whom they can trade at the deadline for more prospects.
Key takeaways: The Cubs shocked the baseball world by hiring one of the game’s best field managers in Counsell to a five-year, $40 million contract that made him the highest-paid skipper in the sport. However, they’ve followed that with zero moves to improve their roster. A managerial change will not be enough to get this team to the playoffs and its front office is under significant pressure to act.
The Cubs remain in the mix for Cody Bellinger, Rhys Hoskins and Jordan Montgomery but haven’t been aggressive enough to get close to signing any of them, according to major-league sources.
Jeimer Candelario had 39 doubles, third-best in the NL. He signed a three-year deal with the Reds. (David Kohl / USA Today)
Key takeaways: The Reds focused on second- and third-tier free agents and came away with four significant additions to their pitching staff, led by starters Montas and Martinez and relievers Pagán and Farmer.
Montas has the highest ceiling but is a huge health risk, Martinez is a strong swingman who boosts the staff overall, and Pagán and Farmer provide significant bullpen depth.
I didn’t understand the decision to sign Candelario and commit $45 million to him considering they already have six infielders: Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Jonathan India, Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte and Spencer Steer.
The only way it makes sense is if the Reds plan to flip either India or Encarnacion-Strand to a team like the Marlins for a young, controllable starting pitcher. If their young starters can improve this year, Cincinnati will be the team to beat in the NL
Key takeaways: The best move the Brewers have made was signing their uber prospect to a long-term deal. Chourio, 19, is a line-drive machine with elite exit velocity and barrel awareness.
His special combination of speed and power makes him a potential 30/30 player someday and he should arrive in the majors sometime in 2024. The most difficult move the Brewers made was cutting ties with injured starter Brandon Woodruff, who had shoulder surgery in October and could miss all of the 2024 season but was projected to make $11.6 million in arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors. The trades with the Tigers and Mets reduced payroll but Milwaukee was also able to bring back Miley, who provided 120 1/3 innings over 23 starts last season. The Brewers have listened to offers on both Corbin Burnes and Willy Adames but appear content to keep them for now, unless someone significantly improves their offer; they will likely revisit the issue at the trade deadline if they’re not in the pennant race.
Key takeaways: Signing the trio of veterans (McCutchen, Pérez, Tellez) made sense; they will help the Pirates’ young players develop, and the club could look to flip them at the trade deadline. The trade for Gonzales was probably worth the risk for the same reason. However, the Pirates haven’t done enough to improve their present or future outloo
Key takeaways: The Cardinals’ offseason goal was to improve their rotation with proven arms and they did, landing Gray, Lynn and Gibson. Gray, who finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting, was obviously their best pickup, and I liked that they did it without adding a fourth year to the deal. Lynn and Gibson are fourth and fifth starter type bulldogs who will take the ball and give you innings, but don’t expect either pitcher to post an ERA better than 4.50. Still, with those three veterans, St. Louis added starters who delivered a total of 559 2/3 innings in 2023. Meanwhile, the trade of the often-injured O’Neill made sense because the Cardinals addressed their outfielder surplus and were able to add a couple of depth arms. They need to continue to find ways to improve their pitching at all levels. Even after all their moves, I still view the Cardinals as a middle-of-the-division type team.
NL West
Arizona bolstered its rotation with Eduardo Rodriguez, who posted a 3.30 ERA over 26 starts last season. (Robert Edwards / USA Today
Key takeaways: The Diamondbacks needed to add a veteran starting pitcher and they did an excellent job in acquiring Rodriguez on a reasonable contract. They added much-needed power at third base via their trade with the Mariners for Suárez. They retained Gurriel, who had 24 homers and 82 RBIs last season and provides above-average defense. Next, they need to address the DH position and with so many left on the open market, they should be able to land one of J.D. Martinez, Justin Turner or Jorge Soler.
Key takeaways: I liked the trade for Quantrill but they’ve done little else outside of acquiring right-hander Anthony Molina from the Rays in the Rule 5 draft. They need to improve their pitching staff and the middle of their lineup and still have a lot of work to do this offseason.
• Traded RHP Ryan Pepiot and OF Jonny Deluca to Rays for RHP Tyler Glasnow and OF Manuel Margot
Key takeaways: The Dodgers have already clinched the best offseason of all 30 teams. They signed the best overall free agent (Ohtani) and the best overall free-agent starter (Yamamoto). They traded for (and extended) Glasnow, the most impactful starter dealt this winter. They improved around the edges, re-signing Heyward and acquiring Margot in the Glasnow trade to give Heyward a platoon partner in right field. I also liked the decision to bring back Kelly because of the depth he provides their bullpen but more importantly the edge he brings to the clubhouse. Don’t be surprised if the Dodgers add even more pitching before spring training.
• Traded OF Juan Soto and OF Trent Grisham to Yankees for RHP Michael King, RHP Drew Thorpe, RHP Jhony Brito, RHP Randy Vasquez and C Kyle Higashioka
Key takeaways: The Padres needed to lower payroll and did what they had to do financially in trading Soto, who is projected to make more than $30 million this year via arbitration, getting a strong return of four pitchers and a backup catcher in the process. They were creative in dumping Carpenter’s contract and did a good job of moving Barlow’s too. Signing relievers Matsui and Go were risks worth taking at their respective price points, but the Padres will not come close to replacing the impact of departing free agent Josh Hader. San Diego needs the young pitchers on its staff to have breakout seasons for it to have any chance of staying in the wild-card race until the end of the summer.
Key takeaways: The Giants finally landed a significant free agent in Lee, who will be a huge upgrade defensively in center field and give their lineup another quality contact-type hitter. Next up: trying to land two more stars in free agency, with a focus on starting pitching and a corner infielder. The Giants have been pursuing free-agent pitchers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery along with infielders Rhys Hoskins, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman, and I expect them to land at least one of them, maybe two
With Félix Bautista unlikely to pitch in 2024, the Orioles targeted and signed Craig Kimbrel in free agency. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)
Key takeaways: The Orioles need to add another impactful starting pitcher but haven’t shown the desire to land one in free agency. Their efforts on the trade front have been fruitless because opposing general managers are trying to take advantage of their strong farm system by asking for way too much in return. I liked the one-year deal for Kimbrel, although he’s no sure thing. The best move Baltimore could make right now would be to extend the contracts of Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and/or Jackson Holliday, but there doesn’t appear to be any traction there. The Orioles are already a World Series contender, but a trade for Corbin Burnes or Dylan Cease could put them over the top.
Key takeaways: New chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been wheeling and dealing — I’m just not sure whether the Red Sox have been treading water or improving. I liked their trade of Sale because I’m not convinced he’ll ever be an ace again and Grissom has a high ceiling as an everyday middle infielder. The trade of Verdugo and trade for O’Neill seemed more like a wash to me and acquiring the depth arms seemed shrewd but not difference-making. I liked that the Red Sox took a gamble on Giolito, but I think he would have fit better in a small- or mid-market environment.
• Acquired OF Juan Soto and OF Trent Grisham from Padres for RHP Michael King, RHP Drew Thorpe, RHP Jhony Brito, RHP Randy Vasquez and C Kyle Higashioka
Key takeaways: I loved the Juan Soto trade because the Yankees didn’t give up any of their top prospects, only pitching depth that they can replace via free agency, trades or tapping their farm system. However, I am concerned about their initial plan of playing Soto in right field, Judge in center field and Verdugo in left field. Judge’s best position is right field and Soto’s is left, but I get the reasoning with the spacious left field at Yankee Stadium. Getting Grisham in the deal was more important than some might think because late in road games, the Yankees can play Judge in right, Grisham in center and Soto or Verdugo in left for defense when they have the lead. Next, the Yankees need to improve their pitching staff to help lessen the blow of losing depth and quality (namely King) in the trade with the Padres. They have shown interest in bringing back Jordan Montgomery and have heavily pursued Blake Snell in free agency, but if they’re not able to land either one of them, they could pivot and emphasize the back end of the bullpen instead by trying to sign Josh Hader and/or Jordan Hicks.
• Acquired RHP Ryan Pepiot and OF Jonny Deluca from Dodgers for RHP Tyler Glasnow and OF Manuel Margot
• Traded INF/OF Vidal Bruján and RHP Calvin Faucher to Marlins for INF Erick Lara and RHP Andrew Lindsey
Key takeaways: Tampa Bay fared well in the Glasnow trade, acquiring Pepiot, who will go right into its rotation, and Deluca, who will add instant outfield depth. The small-market Rays have little choice but to make trades like this to stay competitive while maintaining fiscal responsibility. However, this trade also knocks them down a peg in the AL East as Glasnow is an ace and not replaceable.
Key takeaways: The Blue Jays have struck out this entire offseason despite being in the mix on some of the best and most expensive free agents in the marketplace. Re-signing Kiermaier made sense at the short-term price point and Kiner-Falefa gives them a solid, defensively versatile player to come off the bench. Toronto continues to pursue free agents Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman with Chapman the more likely acquisition of the two. The Blue Jays have only a two-year window remaining with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Chris Bassitt so they need to consider extending them and/or surrounding them with better players, while adding more years of control with incoming players, to improve their long-term outlook.
• Acquired RHP Michael Soroka, INF Braden Shewmake, LHP Jared Shuster, RHP Riley Gowns and INF Nicky Lopez from Braves for LHP Aaron Bummer
Key takeaways: I love all of the pitching gambles Getz has made since becoming GM, highlighted by the deal with the Braves that landed Soroka and Shuster, even though Soroka comes with health concerns. Getz improved Chicago’s defense up the middle with Maldonado and Lopez and took a shrewd flier on Fedde. He also emphasized makeup and character in a lot of his player moves, which should help improve team culture
Key takeaways: The Guardians have the young starting pitching to contend but their offense needs a boost from outside the organization. I thought they had to make a statement upgrade in the middle of their lineup this offseason, with a corner outfielder or designated hitter, but so far they haven’t been able to do it. They’ve taken calls on Shane Bieber and Emmanuel Clase but aren’t close to trading either one at this point.
Key takeaways: The Tigers lost Eduardo Rodriguez in free agency to the Diamondbacks but compensated by adding two veteran starters, Maeda and Flaherty, to their young rotation. Maeda pitched well at the end of last season. Flaherty did not, but perhaps another year removed from his shoulder issues will help him get closer to his early career form; the one-year “pillow” contract was a good gamble regardless. I like the Canha pickup because the way he works counts will be a positive influence on the team’s young hitters. Detroit’s best move this offseason was giving Hinch a longer-term contract; he remains one of the best in the sport. The Tigers still must improve their offense but are counting heavily on finding many of those answers in their farm system. They are not yet a postseason team, but after a 78-84 season, they might be able to finish .500, or closer to it, this year.
Lugo was able to land a three-year deal with the Royals after starting a career-high 26 games in 2023. (Ed Szczepanski / USA Today)
Key takeaways: GM J.J. Picollo came out swinging this offseason, and I for one appreciated the effort.
Landing veteran starters Lugo and Wacha should make the Royals more competitive and also will give them two strong trade chips if things go south. Wright is expected to miss the 2024 season after undergoing shoulder surgery, but I thought the trade with the Braves was a smart gamble by Kansas City. Renfroe is coming off a down season but should add much-needed power to the lineup.
Key takeaways: I did not penalize the reigning AL Central champs for their lack of moves because they really don’t have a lot of needs, thanks to a roster filled with young players and a strong farm system. The Twins could use more starting pitching depth and a center fielder to complement Byron Buxton but they have time to fill both needs between now and the start of spring training.
Key takeaways: The Astros achieved their goal of adding another set-up reliever and a backup catcher, trading for Coleman and signing Caratini to back up Yainer Diaz. However, they haven’t been able to extend the contracts of Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez or Alex Bregman, prompting opposing GMs to inquire if they’re available in trades.
The Astros control Tucker and Valdez for two more years and Bregman will be a free agent after the 2024 season.
Although it appears the Astros will listen to inquiries about those players, they’re more focused on trying to run it back one more time before having to make difficult decisions next offseason. Don’t expect the Astros to make any more significant additions this winter, unless they’re able to extend one of their stars.
• Traded C Max Stassi and INF David Fletcher to Braves for 1B Evan White and LHP Tyler ThomasHirings: Manager Ron Washington
Key takeaways: Ron Washington saved their overall grade because I thought he was a smart hire. His high energy and enthusiasm will be appreciated by Angels fans as they brace for yet another fourth-place finish.
Not trading Shohei Ohtani at the trade deadline will haunt this franchise for years to come. Why the Angels ever thought they were a legitimate contender last July or believed they could re-sign Ohtani is beyond me.
However, give GM Perry Minasian credit — he’s still actively looking to improve the team’s pitching via trades and signings and is bidding for some of the best free agents left on the market, including Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger and J.D. Martinez.
Key takeaways: The signings of Bido and Gott don’t move the needle. Nor does the addition of righty Mitch Spence, whom the A’s acquired from the Yankees organization in the Rule 5 draft. The A’s are coming off a 50-112 season and have done nothing else transaction-wise this offseason to improve their short- or long-term future.
The Mariners acquired DH Mitch Garver, but they need more bats. (Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)Seattle Mariners
Traded LF Jarred Kelenic, LHP Marco Gonzales and 1B Evan White to Braves for RHP Jackson Kowar and RHP Cole Phillips
Key takeaways: The Mariners deserve credit for moving the bad contracts of White and Gonzales and for “moving” 557 strikeouts in trading Suárez to Arizona and Kelenic to Atlanta and letting Hernández depart in free agency.
However, they’ll also miss the 59 home runs that trio of hitters provided in 2023. I liked the Garver pickup at that price, and he’ll slug against left-handed pitching in the DH spot.
However, it’s a shame the Mariners front office is being hamstrung financially by ownership; this team has the pitching staff and defense up the middle to get to the World Series, but the lineup needs significant help as it lacks on-base skills and slugging.
And if the Mariners can’t spend difference-making money in free agency, the only other way they can address those needs would be to trade a young starter such as Logan Gilbert or George Kirby, which would be a huge mistake.
Key takeaways: The Rangers added two under-valued free agents in Yates and Mahle.
Yates should help the back end of manager Bruce Bochy’s bullpen and Mahle provides starting pitching depth, although he won’t be back from Tommy John surgery until late in the 2024 season, when Texas hopes Jacob deGrom also returns from his surgery. The Rangers are trying to re-sign Jordan Montgomery but don’t like the current price range he’s seeking.
If they are going to repeat as World Series champions, they have work to do in their starting rotation and bullpen depth.
