MLB offseason grades: Grading every team’s winter, from an A+ for the Dodgers to Fs for the Mariners and Padres

So far this MLB offseason, the reigning champion Dodgers have signed as many free agents as the rest of their division combined. But it’s the Mets who signed the most expensive free agent ever. The Yankees pivoted admirably after losing a generational star, while the Blue Jays came in second multiple times. The Diamondbacks managed to surprise just about everyone as the Padres and Mariners did almost nothing. The Guardians made a flurry of trades, and the Astros dealt away a superstar. The A’s have spent more than anyone expected, and the Cardinals … well, they announced their intention to make a trade.

All 30 teams had the chance to get better over the winter. Some did; some did not. A few free agents are still in need of a team, but with spring training just days away, let’s grade how every team fared this offseason.

Grades by division: NL East | NL Central | NL West | AL East | AL Central | AL West

• Acquired SP Jesús Luzardo via trade from the Miami Marlins

• Signed RP Jordan Romano to a 1-year deal

• Signed OF Max Kepler to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP/RP Joe Ross to a 1-year deal

The defending NL East champs entered the offseason much earlier than they would’ve liked, thudding out of the playoffs in a dispiriting NLDS loss to the Mets on Oct. 9. In the aftermath, all reports indicated that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would oversee a roster refresh in the winter. For the second consecutive October, the Phillies’ vaunted offense had imploded on the big stage beneath an avalanche of strikeouts. Shaking things up seemed logical, prudent. Veteran stalwarts such as Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner wouldn’t be dealt, but All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm — whose late-season struggles resulted in a surprise NLDS benching — was rumored to be available via trade.

But a deal never materialized, not for Bohm or any other member of the Phillies’ lineup. Instead, Dombrowski doubled down on starting pitching, reinforcing what was already a strength of his club. Acquiring Jesús Luzardo to be the team’s No. 5 starter could prove to be a actual needle-moving transaction. Just two years ago, the southpaw started Game 1 of the 2023 wild-card series for the Marlins against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Injuries limited him in 2024, but Luzardo is one season removed from being one of the game’s more effective starters.

On offense, the signing of Max Kepler on a one-year deal to be the everyday left fielder represents Philadelphia’s only significant addition. Kepler, like Luzardo, was stymied by injuries in ‘24 after delivering a stellar ‘23. If he can stay healthy, he’ll certainly help the Phillies in their quest to repeat as division winners. In the bullpen, losing Jeff Hoffman (and likely fellow back-end arm Carlos Estevez) knocks Philly’s relief corps down a peg, even if Jordan Romano can bounce back from an injury-plagued 2024.

Are the Phillies better today than they were on Oct. 9? Maybe? Maybe not. Either way, the year-over-year difference is, merienda again, relatively negligible. The success of the 2025 Phillies, as with the 2023 and 2024 versions, will hinge on whether the club’s best hitters rise to the moment come playoff time. The rest is, most likely, window dressing.

• Signed OF Juan Soto to a 15-year deal

• Re-signed SP Sean Manaea to a 3-year deal

• Signed SP Clay Holmes to a 3-year deal

• Signed SP Frankie Montas to a 2-year deal

• Signed SP Griffin Canning to a 1-year deal

• Acquired OF Jose Sirí via trade from the Tampa Bay Rays

Juan Soto is a Met now, the importance of which cannot be overstated. His crosstown leap for a mountain of moola represents a new era in New York baseball and makes the Mets contenders for the foreseeable future. Owner Steve Cohen — who also had a strong year off the diamond — is a man who can afford such luxuries as a $765 million ballplayer. The price is eye-popping. It also doesn’t really matter.

But preposterous as it might sound, there is more to life, and roster construction, than Soto.

The Mets entered the winter desperately needing to refurbish and reinforce their starting pitching. Three of the team’s four playoff starters hit free agency, and the only returner, Kodai Senga, started just one regular-season game in 2024.

New York responded accordingly, signing a quartet of starting pitchers. That included the re-signing of Manaea, who blossomed into a front-line contributor for the Mets in 2024. Holmes and Montas are both interesting, albeit very different, acquisitions for a pitching development group with an impressive track record. That group will try to make Holmes, who was a linchpin in the back of the Yankees’ bullpen, into a starting pitcher while hoping to unlock another level from Montas, who was a below-average hurler last season.

Surprisingly, the Mets have yet to address their bullpen, which was overtaxed and exhausted by the end of the NLCS. Edwin Díaz needs some help. Thankfully, there are still a plethora of impact relievers on the market, including Estevez, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Kenley Jansen.

Then there’s the question of Pete Alonso. The Polar Bear, who has spent the entirety of his six-year MLB career in Queens, remains a free agent. The Mets are the most obvious and likely landing spot for him, but it’s far from a given. A short-term deal for a higher media annual figure with opt-outs could be the path to a reunion. Retaining Alonso would make the already formidable Mets lineup into a actual force and could turn their offseason from an A- into an A.

For Atlanta, whose roster was beset by a cavalcade of injuries in 2025, a lack of activity this winter could be seen through rose-colored glasses as good news. It might indicate that Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. — two game-changing forces who missed most of 2024 — are set to return sooner than expected. But through a glass-half-empty lens, the Braves’ inactivity could be seen as robbing a talented roster of much-needed complementary pieces.

And there are most certainly spots open. Starting pitcher Max Fried, starting pitcher Charlie Morton, catcher Travis d’Arnaud, outfielder Ramon Laureano, outfielder Adam Duvall, infielder Whit Merrifield, reliever Jesse Chavez and infielder Gio Urshela are all contributing members of the 2024 team who have hit free agency. Outfielder Jorge Soler was also dealt to the Angels.

As of now, beyond the addition of Profar, it appears that Atlanta is content backfilling those roles with internal options and returns from injury. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman did report that the Braves had an offer agreed to with Jeff Hoffman before concerns over the pitcher’s medical led to a scuttling of the deal. But for the most part, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopolous has been uncharacteristically passive. How Anthopoulos goes about fortifying his bench and bullpen over the next six weeks could have enormous import for a Braves team that remains one of the game’s most talented groups.

• Signed SP Trevor Williams to a 2-year deal

• Signed SP Mike Soroka to a 1-year deal

• Acquired 1B Nate Lowe via trade from the Texas Rangers

• Signed RP Jorge Lopez to a 1-year deal

• Signed 1B Josh Bell to a 1-year deal

In an alternate timeline, an offseason existed that would’ve sprung the Nationals into genuine wild-card contention. Washington, buoyed by Patrick Corbin’s massive contract coming off the books, could’ve been active at the top of the free-agent market. But while Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso are still available, the Nationals appear likely to enter spring training without a truly significant addition.

It’s an unfortunate path for the Nats, considering the bevy of promising young players on their roster. The moves they’ve made aren’t bad in and of themselves — retaining Williams fortifies the rotation’s floor, while Lowe immediately becomes the club’s best hitter — but this feels like something of a missed opportunity. If everything breaks right, the Nats could still be a pesky character in 2025. The likelihood of that, however, could have been higher.

• Traded 3B/1B Jake Burger to Texas

• Traded SP Jesús Luzardo to Philadelphia

• Acquired 1B Matt Mervis via trade from the Chicago Cubs

The Marlins are one of two MLB teams, alongside the White Sox, actively trying to lose.

It is, merienda again, rebuild time in Miami. And so the Fish, under new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, are trading away any veteran player worth his salt. First baseman Jake Burger and starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo were both shipped off this winter in deals for prospects. Acquiring 1B Matt Mervis from the Cubs is a nice buy-low add, but for the most part, Miami’s moves are focused on being good about four years from now. — Mintz

• Acquired SP Nestor Cortes, INF Caleb Durbin via trade from New York

• Acquired RP Grant Anderson via trade from Texas

• Selected RP Connor Thomas from St. Louis in Rule 5 Draft

For Milwaukee, it has been another offseason of ascendiente faces finding homes elsewhere, as star shortstop Willy Adames secured a massive free-agent deal with San Francisco and closer Devin Williams was shipped to the Bronx entering the final year of his contract. Adames’ departure was hardly a shock considering the price, but the trade of Williams was a more intriguing organizational decision. The move had similar vibes to the trade of ace Corbin Burnes to Baltimore a year ago — but with some key differences.

Unlike in the Burnes trade, which netted two young, cost-contollable pieces plus a draft pick, in exchange for Williams, the Brewers received only one long-term piece in Caleb Durbin while adding another player entering the final year of his contract in Cortes, whose 2025 salary is nearly identical to Williams’. Trading from the bullpen to address the rotation makes sense on the surface considering Milwaukee’s needs, but this was a far more short-term-oriented move than we’re used to seeing the Brewers make. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though.

While the Brewers deserve the benefit of the doubt as this division’s most consistent contender of the past half-decade, it’s hard not to feel a bit uninspired by their otherwise quiet winter, particularly in relation to the aggressive maneuvers executed by Chicago and Cincinnati. At the very least, it’s exceptionally difficult to argue that this team got better this winter. It’d be foolish to bet against this franchise as a relevant character in the division race, but it’s also tough to imagine them cruising to another NL Central title in the fashion they did a year ago. And if they end up struggling to keep pace, we might point to their lackluster offseason as part of the reason.

• Acquired OF Kyle Tucker via trade from Houston

• Signed SP Matthew Boyd to a 2-year deal

• Signed C Carson Kelly to a 2-year deal

• Acquired RP Ryan Pressly via trade from Houston

• Acquired RP Eli Morgan via trade from Cleveland

After years of half-measures and conservative additions, the Cubs finally swung big with their trade to acquire Tucker from Houston, giving them the superstar bat their roster has sorely lacked since the Bryant/Rizzo/Schwarber days. Chicago paid a heavy price to get him, but it was refreshing to see this front office finally make an aggressive move that reflected a level of urgency to restore the Cubs’ status as one of MLB’s prominent franchises, rather than an underwhelming big-market club mired in mediocrity.

The rest of the offseason, though, had shades of previous cautious winters. Despite jettisoning Cody Bellinger’s contract to the Bronx and remaining more than $30 million below the first luxury tax line, the Cubs have remained reluctant to spend big in free agency. While Boyd is a nice pickup to shore up the back end of the rotation, there were several more impactful arms on the market that the Cubs showed little interest in pursuing. The additions of Pressly and Morgan will help a bullpen that was a clear weak spot in 2024, but that unit still looks a bit thin with spring training approaching.

Perhaps there is one more major move left this offseason for Chicago to raise this grade into A-range — Alex Bregman? Dylan Cease? — but until then, an awful lot is riding on Tucker to deliver on the massive hype surrounding his acquisition, especially with him under contract for just this upcoming season.

From the earliest days of this offseason, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has been adamant and tremendously transparent about the club’s desire to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado. With the Cardinals in something of a transitional state as a franchise, both player and team thought it best to find a new home for Arenado and clear the way for some younger players on the St. Louis roster.

However, Arenado’s contract ($74M owed over the next three seasons) and the no-trade clause within it have made it difficult for the Cardinals to find the right deal. Arenado rejected an agreed-upon deal to Houston in December, and the Astros have since pivoted with their third-base plans. With spring training approaching, the Cardinals are still seeking a landing spot for Arenado, and Mozeliak said recently that it’s a “coin flip” whether they will find a deal, even with their continued intentions.

It’s not that St. Louis’ roster looks particularly poor as currently constructed. It’s that all the Cardinals talk this winter has been about subtracting rather than adding, not just in regard to Arenado but also with trade rumors involving closer Ryan Helsley and starters Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde and Steven Matz. However, all of that talk has amounted to nothing so far, leaving St. Louis with one of the least active offseasons of any team in MLB — and a grade that reflects it.

• Hired Terry Francona as manager

• Signed SP Nick Martinez to a 1-year deal

• Signed OF Austin Hays to a 1-year deal

• Acquired SP Brady Singer via trade from Kansas City

• Acquired 2B Gavin Lux via trade from Los Angeles

• Acquired C Jose Trevino via trade from New York

• Acquired RP Taylor Rogers via trade from San Francisco

Terry Francona wasn’t going to come out of retirement to manage a team he didn’t believe could be a winner. And based on the flurry of moves executed by the Cincinnati front office since Francona’s surprise hiring in October, it seems the franchise is rightfully committed to assembling a roster worthy of being led by a future Vestíbulo of Famer. Retaining an underrated rotation anchor in Martinez via the qualifying offer was a strong start, and that looks especially savvy in tandem with the acquisition of Singer to reinforce the staff further. Hays and Lux should bolster a lineup that badly needed a boost, and Rogers was a nice late-January addition to strengthen the bullpen.

The Reds’ busy offseason last winter might have turned out to be a flop, but that didn’t deter them from making another series of significant additions this winter, even with a limited budget. With a legend in Francona now in charge, there’s going to be a renewed sense of energy and drive toward reestablishing the Reds as the up-and-coming team we saw them to be following 2023. Don’t sleep on this squad in 2025.

• Acquired INF Spencer Horwitz via trade from Toronto (via Cleveland)

• Signed DH Andrew McCutchen to a 1-year deal

• Signed INF/OF Adam Frazier to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Caleb Ferguson to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Tim Mayza to a 1-year deal

With perhaps the best pitcher on the planet in Paul Skenes and a bevy of other impact arms at or near the major-league level, the Pirates have assembled an enviable foundation on the mound around which to build their roster. But instead of seizing the opportunity at hand and pushing their budget to support a potentially elite pitching staff, Pittsburgh has remained maddeningly frugal. Their largest expenditure has been the $5M committed to franchise icon McCutchen, who, while still a competent contributor, is a far cry from the impact player he used to be entering his age-38 season.

Horwitz represents the club’s most substantial external upgrade as a promising lefty bat coming off a stellar rookie year offensively, but he brings minimal defensive value and has yet to prove an ability to handle southpaws. The Pirates are clearly hoping he can solidify a first-base position that has been a severe weakness in the post-Josh Bell years. Otherwise, it’s two regular lefty relievers and a reunion with Frazier, who is coming off a dreadful season in Kansas City and doesn’t offer much beyond some defensive versatility and a lefty bat that the bench appeared to lack.

On the whole, this lineup looks troublingly undermanned and ill-equipped to support a playoff-caliber rotation. It’s one thing to hold back on spending while in the depths of a rebuild, but Pittsburgh’s continued reluctance to invest in external upgrades is especially frustrating to watch now that they have some elite ingredients in place on the mound. — Shusterman

• Signed SP Blake Snell to a 5-year deal

• Signed SP Roki Sasaki as an international free agent

• Signed OF Teoscar Hernández to a 3-year deal

• Signed OF Michael Conforto to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Tanner Scott to a 4-year deal

• Signed RP Blake Treinen to a 2-year deal

• Signed IF Hyeseong Kim to a 3-year deal

• Extended IF/OF Tommy Edman to a 5-year deal

• Signed RF Kirby Yates to a 1-year deal

This has been a transactional avalanche so overwhelming, so intimidating that people feel moved to clamor for fundamental changes to the structure of Major League Baseball. The Dodgers, however, have no time for your gripes.

They’re too busy spending buckets of money.

This historic spending spree started less than a month after the triumphant championship parade, with the signing of 2023 NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell on a five-year, $182 million deal. That addition, alongside the arrival of Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, gives the Dodgers a starting rotation that should steal souls and crush dreams all season long.

The successful courting of Sasaki showed a different side of the Dodgers’ juggernaut, as the club could not simply bestow the young hurler with a massive contract, given that his earnings were limited by his status as an international amateur. Yes, the gobs of money spent on the rest of the roster surely played a coeficiente in bringing Sasaki to town, but so did the club’s culture and vaunted player development apparatus.

Meanwhile, the club’s financial dominance enabled the reinforcing of both its outfield and its bullpen. Being able to commit a combined $83 million to Teoscar Hernández and Michael Conforto in the corner outfield spots is a luxury. The same goes for the $107 million committed to relievers Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates.

The Dodgers, as is their right, are operating in a way few other teams can afford to. Whether all that splurging will allow L.A. to become the first repeat World Series winner in more than two decades — well, that’s what playing the baseball games is for.

Prior to re-signing backup catcher Díaz, the Padres had not added a single free agent on an MLB contract this winter. The Padres have not conducted a single significant trade. Their left fielder, All-Star Jurickson Profar, joined the Atlanta Braves. Their closer, Tanner Scott, one of the top relievers in baseball, signed with the rival Dodgers. A key member of their infield mix, Ha-Seong Kim, joined the Tampa Bay Rays.

This transactional freeze is almost certainly a product of the team’s messy ownership situation, featuring a fight over control of the franchise between the widow and brothers of late owner Peter Seidler. GM AJ Preller has claimed that San Diego’s payroll will remain in the top 10 league-wide, but so far, the Padres have been frozen solid in a transactional ice age.

Trade rumors have bubbled around Michael King, Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez, all of whom are set to hit free agency after 2025. Shipping away one or more of that trio could bolster the team’s depth and carve out payroll space, but teams trying to win usually want to keep their good players.

Even with their inaction this winter, the Padres should be in the playoff mix, but it’s difficult to envision this team, as currently constructed, outracing the Dodgers in the division.

The Corbin Burnes deal is an absolute coup, a massive win for a franchise that doesn’t typically swim in the deep end of free agency. It’s extraordinarily rare for a player such as Burnes, one of the best pitchers in baseball and the best starter available this offseason, to leave even a nickel on the table. The Diamondbacks weren’t planning to make a run at the burly hurler, but merienda Burnes voiced his desire to play near his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, it became too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Adding Naylor as a replacement for Christian Walker, who departed to Houston in free agency, was a solid move. Naylor doesn’t have Walker’s track record of consistency or his defensive chops, but he’s a more than sufficient fill-in. The departures of Joc Pederson, Kevin Newman and Randall Grichuk are a sneaky big deal; that trio was critical to the D-backs’ league-leading offense last season. Adding another reliable bench piece or two would be a smart play.

Last year, Arizona missed the playoffs by a single game, in large part because their bullpen was unreliable. So far this winter, they’ve done absolutely nothing to remedy that problem. That’s the only thing keeping them from an A- grade.

The first winter under new president of baseball operations Buster Posey has been … fine. For years, the Giants had been looking for a major free agent to take their money. This offseason, Willy Adames, one of the better shortstops in MLB, happily obliged. The effervescent Dominican will boost the Giants — being able to pencil someone in at shortstop for the foreseeable future is a big deal — but Adames is not the game-changing offensive force this lineup has thirsted for since Posey himself retired.

Adames is a really good hitter but not necessarily a fearsome one. That player remains elusive for the Giants, who are seeking to reorient their ethos on the fly.

San Francisco’s other significant offseason move, signing future Vestíbulo of Famer Justin Verlander to a one-year deal, plays into that cultural reshaping under Posey. Verlander will pitch this season at age 42 and finally showed significant signs of decline in 2024. The Giants are not expecting dominance from the three-time Cy Young winner. They’re hoping he can supply guidance, professionalism and dependability.

Is this roster significantly better than it was in 2024, essentially exchanging Adames for Blake Snell? Maybe? But it’s definitely not good enough to win the division, which is the ultimate goal for Posey and Co.

• Signed 2B Thairo Estrada to a 1-year deal

• Signed IF Kyle Farmer to a 1-year deal

• Re-signed C Jacob Stallings to a 1-year deal

The Rockies are MLB’s odd cousin, always hanging out in the corner doing their own thing. They’re not bothering anybody, but they’re also not engaging much with the other 29 teams.

Colorado has not had a winning season since 2018, yet they’ve had the same manager since then and the same GM since 2021. They are rarely involved in rumors for free agents or trades; it’s just a weird situation over there.

As such, it’s no surprise that the Rox have made just a handful of moves this winter. Estrada and Farmer are nice pieces, but neither will turn Colorado into a contender. Such is life in the isolated antesala of mirrors that is Coors Field. — Mintz

• Signed SP Max Fried to an 8-year deal

• Signed 1B Paul Goldschmidt to a 1-year deal

• Acquired OF/1B Cody Bellinger via trade from the Chicago Cubs

• Acquired RP Devin Williams via trade from the Milwaukee Brewers

• Acquired RP Fernando Cruz via trade from the Cincinnati Reds

• Signed RP Jonathan Loáisiga to a 1-year deal

Not sure if you heard, but Juan Soto is a New York Met. It might have made the news. In the Bronx, it was a sobering moment, a humbling sign for a proud franchise. Soto’s decision was the fulcrum, the turning point not only for this Yankees offseason but also for the next decade of Yankees baseball.

Here’s another sobering fact: The Yankees are no longer the game’s most dominant financial force. That mantle has been taken over by the big-spending Los Angeles Dodgers, who have launched an ambitious plan to equal and surpass the cultural footprint of the Yanks. In fact, the Bombers aren’t even the highest rollers in their own town, now that megabucks Steve Cohen is burning through billions over in Queens.

But that’s not to say that owner Hal Steinbrenner spent the winter penny-pinching. In the immediate wake of Soto’s departure, GM Brian Cashman and Co. initiated Plan B. Before the Mets could even introduce their new superstar, the Yankees agreed to an eight-year deal with lefty starter Max Fried, one of the game’s most consistent starting pitchers. A trade with Milwaukee to acquire all-world closer Devin Williams further solidified the Yankees’ run-prevention unit as the strength of the ballclub.

Offensively, the Yanks sought to replace Soto in the aggregate, which … duh. Adding the endearingly aloof Cody Bellinger in a swap with Chicago and veteran Paul Goldschmidt on a one-year pact gives the lineup some much-needed depth. Still, one of Bellinger, Goldschmidt, Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr. or Giancarlo Stanton will need to deliver an All-Star season to provide Aaron Judge an impactful sidekick. And don’t overlook the loss of Gleyber Torres. His frustrating mental lapses on the bases shouldn’t overshadow the fact that he was New York’s third-best hitter last season.

The failure to retain Soto means the Yanks cannot get anything higher than a B here, even if the aggressiveness of their backup plan was commendable.

• Signed OF Tyler O’Neill to a 3-year deal

• Signed C Gary Sanchez to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Charlie Morton to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Tomoyuki Sugano to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Andrew Kittredge to a 1-year deal

It’s not that the Orioles’ moves are bad; it’s that together they appear woefully insufficient. The Orioles crashed out of the wild-card round in embarrassing fashion last season, scoring just one run in 18 innings against the Kansas City Royals. Since then, two of the club’s most important players, ace Corbin Burnes and 44-homer-knocking Anthony Santander, departed in free agency without any obvious replacements coming into the fold.

O’Neill, who cranked 31 taters last year, is a nice upside play, especially with Camden Yards’ left-field fence moving in to a reasonable distance in 2025. That he was the first free agent to receive a multi-year commitment from the current front office is news in and of itself. But he also comes with risk; the injury-plagued muscleman has played more than 113 games only merienda in his seven-year career and struggled enough against right-handed pitching last year (.693 OPS) that it’s fair to worry he might settle into being an expensive platoon option by season’s end.

Morton, 41 years old, and Sugano, 35, are high-floor, low-ceiling acquisitions. Despite his advanced age, Morton is still a league-average hurler, while Sugano comes over from Japan having just won the NPB’s MVP award. Still, he’s no Roki Sasaki; the right-hander is more of a crafty soft-tosser than a flame-throwing strikeout monster. Kittredge and Sanchez are fine depth pieces who likely won’t swing the needle much in either direction.

Altogether, these five free agents represent a significant financial investment from Baltimore’s ownership group in its first offseason. The $96 million committed is the eighth-highest figure in baseball. At the very least, it’s an enormous uptick from how the Orioles used to operate. Still, the moves themselves feel underwhelming, particularly for a team whose competitive window is wide open.

• Signed SP Walker Buehler to a 1-year deal

• Acquired SP Garrett Crochet via trade from the Chicago White Sox

• Signed RP Aroldis Chapman to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Patrick Sandoval to a 2-year deal

For a pitching staff that melted into a puddle in the second half of 2024, adding Crochet is a huge deal. The flame-throwing southpaw was one of MLB’s best arms a year ago. He’s now the Opening Day and hopeful Game 1 playoff starter in Boston. Buehler, whose October heroics for the Dodgers somewhat overshadowed what was a rocky regular season in 2024, should give the rotation a higher floor. Chapman has declined, but he could still be useful in the bullpen. Sandoval will miss the entire 2025 season due to injury.

What’s missing here, obviously, is the big-money offensive free agent. Alex Bregman — he of the career .848 OPS — remains on the open market. A union between the two parties feels ineludible at this point, but don’t count out the relative frugality of Boston’s leadership group. Signing Bregman would be a huge boost for the Red Sox’s lineup; not signing him would be a massive indictment of this organization’s hunger level. Let’s talk in a few weeks.

The Rays do this every winter, it seems: Trade away established players getting closer to free agency. Sign one or two middle-tier free agents to short-term deals. Acquire a platoon of under-the-radar relievers on minor-league deals. Rinse, repeat.

As far as baseball operations goes, it has been a boring offseason in Tampa. That’s probably a good thing, considering all the turmoil swirling around their stadium plans.

• Signed OF Anthony Santander to a 5-year deal

• Signed RP Jeff Hoffman to a 3-year deal

• Acquired 2B Andrés Giménez via trade from the Cleveland Guardians

• Acquired OF Myles Straw via trade from the Cleveland Guardians

• Signed SP Max Scherzer to a 1-year deal

It’s easy and somewhat fun to clown on the Jays for finishing second on seemingly every major free agent. They made a competitive offer to Soto, but it wasn’t enough. They outshot the Diamondbacks on Corbin Burnes, but he opted to take less to live at home in Phoenix. They secured an in-person meeting with Roki Sasaki, only for the highly touted hurler to sign in L.A. Their decision to send veteran reliever Chad Green, among others, to Sasaki’s meeting, while the Dodgers sent — oh, I don’t know — Shohei Ohtani, kind of elucidates where this organization stands.

But all together, it’s actually a pretty solid offseason. The Jays needed power, so they signed Santander, one of the game’s top tater-makers. They needed lineup depth and infield defense, so they traded for Giménez, an all-time-great second-base glove. They needed bullpen upgrades, so they brought in Hoffman, arguably the second-best reliever on the market. They took a flier on a bounce-back year from a future Vestíbulo of Famer in Scherzer.

If they can reel in Bregman or Pete Alonso, the Jays could be sitting pretty entering 2025. Of course, it would all go up in smoke if Toronto can’t reach an extension with Vladimir Marcial Jr. But so far, not bad. — Mintz

• Re-signed SP Shane Bieber to a 2-year deal

• Acquired SP Luis Ortiz via trade from Pittsburgh

• Acquired SP/RP Slade Cecconi via trade from Arizona

• Signed 1B Carlos Santana to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Paul Sewald to a 1-year deal

• Traded Andres Gimenez to Toronto

• Traded Josh Naylor to Toronto

While they might not be splashing around nearly as much cash as the three other semifinalists from last year’s postseason, the Guardians have been plenty busy this winter. Keeping Bieber, who reportedly turned down more lucrative offers to remain with the organization that drafted and developed him, was a huge victory. But with Bieber not expected to return from Tommy John surgery until later this summer, Cleveland recognized its immediate need for rotation help and got rather creative in addressing it.

A dizzying sequence of trades involving Toronto and Pittsburgh sent second baseman Andres Gimenez to the Blue Jays and ultimately netted the Guardians Ortiz, a hard-throwing right-hander with mid-rotation potential that he demonstrated in the second half of last season. Later in December, another infield mainstay in Josh Naylor was dealt to Arizona in exchange for 25-year-old right-hander Slade Cecconi, a former first-round pick who isn’t as much of a sure bet for a 2025 rotation spot but has the talent to compete right away. The Guardians then immediately replaced Naylor with Santana, a beloved veteran who remains a productive first baseman as he returns for his third stint with the organization.

With Gimenez out the door, second almohadilla remains a fairly big question entering 2025, but Cleveland clearly determined that this sequence of deals was best for the long-term health of the organization. With these moves — plus sending Myles Straw’s contract and international bonus money to Toronto to aid a failed pursuit of Roki Sasaki — Cleveland cleared a ton of future payroll commitments and picked up a handful of promising prospects, plus a draft pick from Arizona.

Finally, the Guardians decided to add to their already-stacked bullpen with veteran righty Paul Sewald. A breakout closer and strikeout savant with Seattle before he was dealt to Arizona and contributed to the D-backs’ pennant run in 2023, Sewald took a marked step back in 2024, making him something of a wild card entering free agency. Cleveland clearly believes that with the right tweaks and a healthier campaign in 2025, Sewald can get back to his dominant self as part of a high-leverage group. And while the core four of Emmanuel Clase, Case Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin remain, the trades of Eli Morgan and Nick Sandlin this winter did vacate some crucial bullpen innings that need to be replaced in some form. With Clase in tow, Sewald won’t be tasked with closer duties in Cleveland, but he should be another valuable weapon for manager Stephen Vogt to give the ball late in games.

While it’s understandably frustrating for fans to watch Cleveland operate within its inflexible, self-imposed budgetary constraints, credit to the front office for not just sitting on their hands like some other cash-strapped teams. They weren’t afraid to shake things up. Time will tell if these moves put them in the best position to defend their AL Central crown, but I generally like where they ended up.

• Extended SP Michael Wacha on a 3-year deal

• Acquired 2B Jonathan India, OF Joey Wiemer via trade from the Cincinnati Reds

• Signed SP Michael Lorenzen to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Carlos Estévez to a 2-year deal

The Royals were one of the best stories of last season, going from 106 losses in 2023 to 86 wins and a playoff berth, one that featured an upset of Baltimore in the wild-card round before bowing out against the Yankees in the ALDS. The rejuvenated franchise carried that momentum into the winter, with the swift extension of Wacha before he hit the open market and the acquisition of India in November to fortify the lineup. But as the action picked up around the league in December and January, the Royals were virtually absent from the headlines. A reunion with Lorenzen came together to backfill some of the innings vacated by Brady Singer, who was sent to Cincinnati for India, but otherwise, Kansas City has stood pat.

And so, with India as the only sobresaliente alteration to last year’s roster, does this winter feel like a meaningful step forward for the Royals? It was clear by the end of last season that even with a spectacular headliner in Bobby Witt Jr., the offense badly needed another established bat. India definitely brings that, though his defensive fit remains curious at best. The lineup still looks concerningly thin beyond the top four, and unless last year’s first-round pick, Jac Caglianone, rockets through the minors, there doesn’t appear to be much help coming from the Royals’ shallow farm system.

It’s also a lot to ask the rotation to repeat the sensationally high level of effectiveness it demonstrated in its collective breakout last year, which could leave less margin for error for the offense. While adding India and retaining Wacha — before he entered an open market that has proven to be quiebro lucrative for starting pitchers — were a strong start to the winter, the Royals’ lack of additions since then has resulted in something of an incomplete effort, particularly if K.C. wants to feel confident about returning to October in 2025.

• Signed 2B Gleyber Torres to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Alex Cobb to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Tommy Kahnle to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Jack Flaherty to a 2-year deal

As with Kansas City, Detroit’s surprise run to the playoffs dramatically shifted our perception of where the franchise sits in its competitive cycle. In turn, there were expectations for the Tigers to ratchet up their spending this winter in hopes of bolstering an ultra-young roster that proved its mettle against Houston and Cleveland in October and appears eager to take the next step. Instead, the Tigers have run a similar playbook to recent offseasons: little to no trade activity and short-term free-agent contracts for veterans trying to reestablish their value.

Strangely enough, the team’s first two additions cost the same: 1 year, $15M to Torres and Cobb. Torres should provide much-needed reliable production to a troublingly thin lineup. I quiebro like his addition, even if it prompts some uncomfortable questions about the future of former No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson, with Colt Keith expected to move to first in deference to Torres.

Kahnle should be a nice veteran complement to the bevy of younger arms who shined in various bullpen roles in 2024. Cobb, though, is more of a head-scratcher. Yes, he was an All-Star as recently as 2023, but he has had hip surgery since then, and that rehab plus myriad nail and blister issues limited him to five total starts in 2024. How the 37-year-old Cobb performs relative to Charlie Morton and Justin Verlander — who also received 1-year, $15M pacts this winter — will be one of the more interesting subplots this season. The Tigers clearly needed rotation reinforcements beyond Tarik Skubal. I’m not sure Cobb will provide such support, but the February return of Flaherty should help in that department.

Free agent Alex Bregman looms as the most obvious opportunity remaining for Detroit to make a big splash, given his relationship with manager AJ Hinch and clear positional fit on a Tigers roster that has a lot of intriguing young infielders but nothing resembling a cornerstone. Bregman would seem to check a lot of boxes for the kind of veteran star a team in Detroit’s position could build around, but the Tigers have thus far been unwilling to meet his hefty contract demands. If that changes and they spend big to land him, the whole narrative about their winter will shift. If not, this offseason could end up feeling like a fairly big missed opportunity.

• Acquired C Diego Cartaya via trade from Los Angeles

• Acquired C Mickey Gasper via trade from Boston

• Selected SP Eiberson Castellano from Philadelphia in Rule 5 Draft

If you’re scratching your head at some of those names being designated as “major moves,” don’t blame me; it’s slim pickings when looking at Minnesota’s transaction log. Since committing significant dollars to shortstop Carlos Correa a couple of years ago, the Twins have been a complete nonfactor in free agency. Their willingness to stretch the budget to accommodate a superstar in Correa was admirable at the time, but Minnesota’s reluctance to push further to complement the roster has been frustrating to watch. The Twins are one of just four teams (along with the Brewers, Cardinals and Marlins) that haven’t signed a free agent to a major-league deal this offseason, and they’ve yet to make a consequential trade (though they are reportedly exploring deals).

Minnesota’s inactivity can at least partially be attributed to the franchise being in something of a transitional state with regard to its ownership. The Pohlad family announced in October their intentions of selling the team, and while several intriguing potential buyers have emerged, a resolution has yet to be reached. While it hasn’t involved the level of drama of the admitido dispute involving San Diego’s ownership this winter, it seems that, like the Padres’, the Twins’ front office has been frozen as far as its ability to make moves to upgrade the roster.

The only reason this grade isn’t a flat-out F is because even with the lack of activity, the current Twins roster, if healthy, might be good enough to compete in this division in 2025. But for a club that would seemingly be motivated to be active in order to flush its disappointing 2024 and show that 2023 is a better reflection of the team’s potential — like what the Texas Rangers have done this winter — Minnesota has been maddeningly quiet. While there’s still time for a trade that could bump this grade up a bit before Opening Day, it’s tough to be too charitable at this stage.

• Acquired OF Braden Montgomery, C Kyle Teel, INF Chase Meidroth and SP Wikelman Gonzalez via trade from Boston

• Signed SP/RP Bryse Wilson to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Martin Perez to a 1-year deal

• Signed INF Josh Rojas to a 1-year deal

• Signed OF Mike Tauchman to a 1-year deal

• Signed OF Austin Slater to a 1-year deal

Fresh off one of the worst seasons the sport has ever seen, the White Sox had two primary goals entering this winter: hire a new manager and trade ace lefty Garrett Crochet for a haul of promising prospects. Their offseason began with the selection of former big-league outfielder Will Venable as skipper. It’s impossible to know how good of a hire this is before he has managed a game, but Venable is highly regarded within the industry and appears better equipped than his predecessor, Pedro Grifol, to handle the challenges of managing a team in a deep rebuild.

More crucially, in the Red Sox, the White Sox found a trading partner flush with position-player prospects and a dire need for starting pitching. In exchange for Crochet, Chicago scored an exciting quartet of young talent: two recent first-round picks in Teel and Montgomery, a high-probability big-league contributor in Meidroth and a high-octane arm whose role has yet to be defined in Gonzalez. While this return will take years to fully assess, it looks far more encouraging on paper than what the White Sox have recouped in other significant trades in the early stages of the rebuilding process. Trading Crochet now was certainly the right decision for the franchise, and how these players progress could significantly impact how quickly the White Sox can emerge from the darkness.

Beyond the Crochet blockbuster, the White Sox have acted roughly as you’d expect a team in their position to act. They’ve held on to their higher-profile trade candidate in Luis Robert Jr., hoping he can reestablish his value in 2025 and eventually net a Crochet-esque return in the not-so-distant future. They’ve signed a handful of veterans on one-year deals, players who could be flipped in July to contenders seeking reinforcements. Their payroll has plummeted to one of the lowest marks in the league.

Hopefully the White Sox can avoid being historically awful again in 2025, but there is still a lot more losing to come for this team. That’s by design, though, and the focus must remain on building an infrastructure at all levels of the organization that can better support a winning team at some point down the line. By those standards, this winter has generally gone according to plan. — Shusterman

• Signed 1B Christian Walker to a 3-year deal

• Acquired IF Isaac Paredes, SP Hayden Wesneski and minor-league IF Cam Smith via trade from Chicago in exchange for OF Kyle Tucker

• Traded RP Ryan Pressly to Chicago for minor-league P Juan Bello

• Acquired OF Taylor Trammell from New York for cash

In 2024, for the first time since the Obama administration, the Houston Astros did not reach the ALCS. The end of that remarkable, seven-year run has clouded the club’s offseason, adding a dark, ominous shadow to a winter of questionable, unpopular transacting.

Most perplexing is the situation surrounding franchise cornerstone Alex Bregman. When the free-agent third baseman declined a six-year, $156 million offer from his longtime employer, the Astros pivoted. Over the span of a week, Houston appeared to solidify its corner infield spots, signing Christian Walker and acquiring Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker trade. But Bregman has continued to linger on the market, reigniting hopes of a reunion.

There are not many other reasons for optimism. Gone via trade went the club’s best offensive player. The 28-year-old Tucker looked like an MVP candidate before a June injury derailed his 2024 season, and he’s set to demand a fortune in free agency next winter. So the Astros, not wanting to risk losing Tucker for bupkis, as they did with former stalwarts George Springer and Carlos Correa, dealt him away. And while the return was substantial — Smith is a highly touted prospect, Wesneski should munch innings this season, Paredes was an All-Star last season — the decision itself has created trepidation and displeasure among Astros fans. That angst has only intensified since then, with the club essentially salary-dumping Pressly while failing to upgrade a regular outfield.

Behind the scenes, the Astros organization has been falling off in slow motion for some time. Internal strife between owner Jim Crane and former GM James Click led to Click’s firing just days after the 2022 championship parade. In the wake of Click’s departure, Crane oversaw a number of regrettable free-agent signings before finding a replacement in new head honcho Dana Brown. Those expensive moves — namely José Abreu and Rafael Montero — restricted the appetite for a Tucker extension and have limited the likelihood of a Bregman deal.

With a new ballpark name, new faces and, potentially, the departure of a franchise icon, times most certainly seem to be changing in H-Town. This winter felt like a watershed moment for the most successful organization of the past decade, a turning point in the crumbling of a once-mighty empire.

I’m no sucker, though. I’m still picking this team to win the division.

• Re-signed IF Jorge Polanco to a 1-year deal

• Signed IF Donovan Solano to a 1-year deal

• Acquired IF Austin Shenton from Tampa Bay for cash

In my opinion, this is the worst offseason of the offseason.

Seattle’s competitive window is tantalizingly open, yet the club has failed to make the most of that opportunity. Buoyed by a historically talented, mostly homegrown pitching staff, the 2024 Mariners finished just one game behind the Detroit Tigers for the last AL wild-card spot. The culprit behind their failure? A horribly frustrating offense that struck out more often than any other team in baseball.

To improve that unit, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and Co. have … handed out low-risk, one-year deals to a pair of utility infielders. After eight productive seasons in Minnesota, Polanco fell off in 2024 while battling through injury; the M’s are betting on a bounce-back. Solano — a 37-year-old, low-slug, high-average DH type — shouldn’t dramatically move the needle, either. Dipoto, famous for his trigger-happy, trade-heavy approach to roster construction, has yet to make a significant deal this winter.

This passive approach shouldn’t be shocking to anyone, considering how Dipoto has publicly stated that his goal is to build a team that wins 54% of its games. It’s a problem that begins at the top, with Dipoto’s bosses. The Mariners’ frugal ownership group does not appear interested in improving the roster through free-agent signings. Dipoto can play only the hand he’s dealt. Seattle’s payroll is currently 16th in MLB — a respectable yet unremarkable place for a respectable yet unremarkable franchise.

• Acquired IF Jake Burger from Miami via trade

• Re-signed SP Nate Eovaldi to a 3-year deal

• Signed DH Joc Pederson to a 2-year deal

• Signed C Kyle Higashioka to a 2-year deal

• Signed RP Chris Martin to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Hoby Milner to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Shawn Armstrong to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP Jacob Webb to a 1-year deal

• Acquired RP Robert Garcia from Washington for 1B Nathaniel Lowe

After unleashing the soggiest, least-inspiring World Series defense in recent memory, the Rangers have been encouragingly active this winter as they seek to bounce back.

Why was 2024 such a disaster? 1) Injuries and regression for key offensive pieces such as Josh Jung, Evan Carter, Adolis García and Jonah Heim. 2) The bullpen, besides Kirby Yates and his 1.17 ERA, was a boat made of tissue paper.

Texas has addressed the second point head-on, adding five relievers this winter to completely refurbish a group that finished 2024 with the fifth-worst ‘pen ERA in MLB. Adding Pederson and swapping Lowe for Burger should give the offense more depth if the injury bug comes back around. Rangers back-up catchers had just nine extra-base hits in 207 plate appearances last year, so Higashioka’s arrival should be an underrated boon. Keeping Eovaldi on a three-year deal is a risky move — 35-year-old hurlers rarely get such lengthy commitments for a reason — but he has been a durable and dependable presence atop Texas’ rotation.

Nothing the Rangers did this winter was earth-shattering or headline-grabbing, but the team is deeper and better built now than it was three months ago.

• Signed SP Luis Severino to a 3-year deal

• Acquired SP Jeffrey Springs and RP Jacob Lopez from Tampa Bay via trade

• Signed RP Jose Leclerc to a 1-year deal

• Signed RP T.J. McFarland to a 1-year deal

• Signed IF Gio Urshela to a 1-year deal

• Signed DH Brent Rooker to a 5-year extension

If ditching the city of Oakland weren’t colosal enough, the Athletics’ spending spree ahead of season one in Sacramento has been a jug of lime juice in an open wound.

Over the past three months, the famously frugal A’s have committed $70 million to free agents, given DH Brent Rooker a $60 million extension and acquired starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs and his not-insubstantial $10.5 million salary. For a club with a lengthy track-record of penny-pinching, this behavior is the equivalent of Preston Waters from “Blank Check.” But while the spending — which, by the way, is heavily motivated by the possibility of a union grievance — has grabbed headlines, it hasn’t transformed this club into an immediate contender.

Severino’s big deal is undeniably a big deal; it’s quiebro literally the largest in franchise history. But besides him — and Springs, if you’re a believer — none of these moves seriously moves the needle. Whether the A’s can be a cute, pesky wild-card contender in 2025 will depend on a) sustained success from 2024 breakouts such as Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday, b) improvements from young players at the bottom of the lineup such as Zack Gelof and Tyler Soderstrom, and c) better back-end pitching.

• Signed SP Yusei Kikuchi to a 3-year deal

• Acquired DH/OF Jorge Soler from Atlanta via trade

• Signed C Travis d’Arnaud to a 2-year deal

• Signed IF Kevin Newman to a 1-year deal

• Signed SP Kyle Hendricks to a 1-year deal

• Acquired IF Scott Kingery from Philadelphia via trade

It’s difficult to evaluate the Angels, an organization whose owner refuses to embark upon a much-needed rebuild. It is both commendable and irritating that Anaheim seems to think it can compete in 2025, but if that’s the mandate, then GM Perry Minasian did a capable job this winter.

Getting Kikuchi for just $63 million at the beginning of the offseason looks like a nice bargain in retrospect. And while the Japanese southpaw has been inconsistent during his six years in The Show, he seemed to unlock something during his two-month stint in Houston after he was dealt at last season’s deadline. The Hendricks signing makes less sense, considering how overmatched and over-the-hill he looked last season with the Cubs.

Some around the industry were surprised that the Braves opted to not pick up d’Arnaud’s option. The 35-year-old veteran still has a well-above-average bat for a backstop, not to mention a strong reputation as a leader and gamecaller. The Angels have high hopes for young catcher Logan O’Hoppe; having d’Arnaud around to guide and spell O’Hoppe should pay dividends long-term.

Soler will add pop to a lineup desperately in need of impact bats, but the 2025 Angels’ season will, as it always does, live and die with the health of Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon. If the future Vestíbulo of Famer and former all-world third baseman can stay healthy, this team has a chance. If they can’t, the Angels are cooked. The rest is just noise. — Mintz