By Jonah Drew

This offseason has truly been one for the ages. It had everything you could ask for as a fan, drama, great under the radar moves, and best of all, a pair of sweepstakes that were truly unlike anything we’ve ever seen. I think I speak for all baseball fans when I say as much as I love watching the actual games, I am not above some offseason drama and boy did this offseason have it in abundance. From the record breaking deal signed by Juan Soto, to the oddity of the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes, we were kept entertained in the absence of our beautiful sport. With the off-season all but finished, it’s time to take a look back and see who came out better for it, and those who didn’t…

Winners:

1. New York Mets

Notable Acquisitions Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Clay Holmes, Frankie Montas, A.J. Minter, Ryne Stanek, Drew Smith, Jesse Winker, Jose Siri, Sean Manaea, and Nick Madrigal

Notable Departures: Luis Severino, Harrison Bader, and J.D. Martinez

I mean this is about as good of an offseason as you could possibly have, hedge fund money or not. The buck starts and stops with the 765 million dollar man, Juan Soto, whom they landed in a historic sweepstakes with their crosstown rival. Then you go to their beloved homegrown slugger, Pete Alonso. This was a patented Scott Boras stalemate, ending in a 1+1 deal where Alonso returns to the place he has hit 226 home runs. However, despite the exciting additions to the starting rotation of Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas, the Mets could still benefit from one more move in that department with the recent injuries to Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, that is my only real concern with this off-season. Other than that, I like the bullpen additions and the depth signings, with Jose Siri really exciting me as a potential breakout. These past months have showcased the genius of David Stearns and Steve Cohen.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

Notable Acquisitions: Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Blake Treinen, Teoscar Hernandez, Hyeseong Kim, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Kike Hernandez, and Clayton Kershaw

Notable Departures: Walker Buehler, Ryan Brasier, and Gavin Lux

While I do not subscribe to the “Just cancel the season” discourse, I do understand where it comes from. Every Dodgers signing this offseason continually just felt like more and more of a gut punch to baseball fans who love parody. Andrew Friedman was essentially able to recruit Roki Sasaki to come to Los Angeles for relative pennies. He was also able to keep Blake Snell and Clayton Kershaw in state, making this rotation just laughably good. This is also a complete super pen, adding Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, on top of returning Blake Treinen. Michael Conforto and international free agent, Hyeseong Kim should round out this lineup nicely. This offseason was so comically prolific that it had fans questioning their fandom of baseball, that alone should speak volumes about the job Andrew Friedman and this front office have done.

3. Boston Red Sox

Notable Acquisitions: Garrett Crochet, Alex Bregman, Walker Buehler, Aroldis Chapman, Patrick Sandoval, Blake Sabol, and Abraham Toro

Notable Departures: Tyler O’Neill, Nick Pivetta, and Emmanuel Valdez

Red Sox owner, John Henry has caught a significant amount of flack for his frugal spending over the years but it seems with his new GM hire Craig Breslow, he is more willing to go deep into his pockets. The flagship move of this offseason though, came in the form of a trade. When the up and coming super star southpaw, Garrett Crochet was acquired for a slew of mid to high level prospects, headlined by Kyle Teel. Just recently though, the Red Sox made a move that gives them the look of a potent lineup, signing Alex Bregman to a 3 year, 120 million dollar deal. Bregaman is a great fit for this ball park and has the Red Sox looking scary. Walker Buehler also rounds out this rotation nicely, he showed flashes of his former self in the Postseason and hopefully this Breslow pitching lab can help unlock him.

Losers:

Toronto Blue Jays

Notable Acquisitions: Max Scherzer, Anthony Santander, Ryan Yarbrough, and Jeff Hoffman

Notable Departures: Santiago Espinal and Spencer Horwitz

My gripes with this offseason for Ross Atkins come less from who he did sign this off-season rather it is who he didn’t. The Blue Jays were reportedly “in” on just about every big time free agent that hit the open market this off-season. They were finalists for Roki Sasaki, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, etc., but yet, they came away with Anthony Santander on a long term contract and 40 year old Max Scherzer. I do however love the signing of Jeff Hoffman but I don’t know how many save situations he will actually have. On top of all this, they were unable to sign their franchise player, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., to a long term deal, making it almost inevitable they lose him next offseason. For the amount of money the Blue Jays have at their disposal, this has been some of the worst mismanagement I’ve seen.

2. Seattle Mariners

Notable Acquisitions: Donovan Solano

Notable Departures:

Can anyone confirm if Jerry Dipoto has awoken from his 4 month hibernation? It sure seems like he has fallen asleep because the Mariners have been all but dormant in this crucial offseason. On a serious note though, The Mariners have a starting rotation that goes 5 deep of front line caliber arms. That is a rarity in today’s baseball landscape. It is a shame though that they’re offense is absolutely anemic. The worst part of it all is that they have shown zero urgency to sure up the lineup, despite the raw truth that an improved lineup could make this team World Series caliber.

3. San Diego Padres

Notable Acquisitions: Nick Pivetta, Kyle Hart, Jason Heyward, and Connor Joe

Notable Departures: Jurickson Profar and Kyle Higashioka

I do feel for the San Diego Padres, the organization was stable and on the up and up until their beloved owner, Peter Seidler, sadly passed away at the age of 63. Ever since then, there has been much turmoil, ranging from regional sports network disputes to power stuggles. This has made San Diego a very unattractive destination for potential free agents. This is why they were forced to settle for Nick Pivetta and eat the comp pick, rather than landing Roki Sasaki. They also have a gaping hole at the bottom of their lineup which they were unable to sure up due to their instability and budgetary constraints. All of a sudden, the San Diego Padres are on the down turn as an organization.

Sources

Baseball Reference

Fangraphs