MLB Free Agency – Moves so far
MLB Free Agency has been nothing short of spectacular this time round. Unless you have been living under a rock you will have seen or heard about Shohei Ohtani signing a $700 million deal with the LA Dodgers.
But plenty of MLB stars have made their move and some are still on the market. We decided to look at what moves we liked and what we didn’t like this offseason.
What’s Hot
LA Dodgers
L.A. has had the best offseason I can remember an MLB team making in recent times. The biggest move by any other team throughout the offseason, aside from the Yankees (who traded for Juan Soto) and possibly the Phillies (who re-signed Aaron Nola), would have been to acquire and extend Tyler Glasnow. Regarding the Dodgers?
The Glasnow move no one is even talking about. LA made not one but two historic moves this offseason in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with some monster deals. The Dodgers also have Teoscar Hernández, Jason Heyward, Joe Kelly, James Paxton, and two promising young prospects from the Cubs in the Michael Busch deal.
Embed from Getty ImagesArizona Diamondbacks
Instead of resting on their laurels the Arizona front office chose to make their team better with the acquisition of multiple key players after their unexpected World Series run. When considering the eventual prices that Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery fetch, Eduardo Rodríguez might turn out to be one of the better bargain additions.
With Lourdes Gurriel Jr. back and improvements at DH (Joc Pederson) and third base (Eugenio Suárez), this line-up appears significantly more formidable than the one we saw during the World Series.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs started the Pre-season slow, appointing Craig Counsell as manager from the rival Brewers was massive. On the player front, the Cubs watched how the sweepstakes for Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto played out before adding Michael Busch as their first baseman of the future, Hector Neris to strengthen the bullpen, and Shōta Imanaga to add depth to the rotation.
Despite the otherwise impressive batch of acquisitions, the Cubs are still in play for either Cody Bellinger or Matt Chapman. With one of those two arriving it would create a formidable defensive infield and help the Cubs become a legitimate postseason contender.
Embed from Getty ImagesAtlanta Braves
Atlanta’s team is staked and it didn’t require much for them to solve the few gaps that the team did have. They made major trades for Aaron Bummer and signed Reynaldo López and Joe Jiménez to bolster the bullpen, swung a major deal to add Chris Sale to strengthen the rotation, and acquired Jarred Kelenic, a possible long-term left field option. Everybody expects this team to be one of the best in the regular season and make a postseason run. I think that’s what will happen too.
MLB Free Agency: What’s Not?
Cincinnati Red
The Cincinnati Reds signed Jeimer Candelario, Frankie Montas, Nick Martinez, and Emilio Pagan for a total of $53 million in salary in 2024. Everyone berates small-market teams like the Reds for never making a major move, but now that they have signed some free agents, we’re complaining about the moves. I don’t understand the signings.
The four players combined for barely 2.4 WAR in 2022, but 5.8 WAR in 2023 (with Montas out for all but one bullpen appearance due to injury). Candelario’s batted-ball statistics in 2023 weren’t too great (estimated batting average of.236), it is rather a strange choice for a team that already had depth in the infield. Expect mediocrity in Cincinnati.
Colorado Rockies
Following a heart-wrenching 103 defeats, and an embarrassing new franchise record, general manager Bill Schmidt stated at the winter meetings that the team’s two main offseason objectives were to add depth to the bench and acquire a backup catcher. Colorado did sign Jacob Stallings to back up Elias Díaz. How that can be your objective is baffling.
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To be honest it feels like the rookies are just happy to accept existing rather than rebuilding and trying to compete. Although Nolan Jones’ incredible breakout and a farm system full of some interesting prospects at-bat, there are not enough encouraging signs in Colorado.
Boston Red Sox
Boston has made some solid signings in Lucas Giolito, trading Chris Sale for Vaughn Grissom, and replacing Alex Verdugo with Tyler O’Neill. However, this off-season was supposed to be an explosive one when in reality it’s been average. Following back-to-back losing seasons these deals aren’t enough to make a difference, much less inspire a fan base that is desperate for their team to return to playing like the Boston Red Sox’s of old.
Oakland Athletics
The A’s are moving to Las Vegas and the owner hates spending money on the team so I don’t think anyone was expecting anything from the front office’s fault. The team has some good young talent on both sides of the ball so they will at least be watchable this time round, unlike last season.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith the season fast approaching, get ready for an exciting new season to get underway.
Photo by Dez Hester @DezHester on Unsplash
