ESPN: Successful Trade And A Huge Deal’ Braves Successfully Lands With A Classic Coach
The MLB offseason can be divided into three distinct categories:
1. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and then traded for Tyler Glasnow and gave him a big extension. The total future outlay: More than $1 billion, which if you stacked it up in $1 bills would reach 68 miles high.
2. The New York Yankees traded for Juan Soto — and they’re still looking to do more.
3. And then there’s most other teams, who appear to be looking for reasons not to spend money.
It’s been a slow burn of an offseason, with a lot of moves still on the way. More than half of Kiley McDaniel’s original top 50 free agents remain unsigned, plus we could still have a couple of significant trades. As we wait for all the dominoes to fall, however, let’s do mid-offseason grades for each team — and one thing each still needs to do.
We’re grading on a curve here, basing our scores on expectations heading into the offseason. (We expected the Dodgers to be big spenders; we did not expect the Colorado Rockies to do anything — and they haven’t.)
Remarkably, despite signing the two top free agents and trading for a starter with No. 1 potential in Glasnow, some are still calling for the Dodgers to do even more, like trading for Dylan Cease, because why not.
One thing to do: I think the Dodgers are fine in the rotation: Yamamoto, Glasnow, Bobby Miller, Walker Buehler and a slew of youngsters. They can still reunite with Clayton Kershaw in August. I was going to suggest adding another outfielder, but the Dodgers solved that depth issue with the Teoscar Hernandez signing on Sunday night. He adds a much-needed right-handed bat to the mix, pushing Chris Taylor into more of a utility role. I think the Dodgers are set. Right?
They signed Eduardo Rodriguez to a four-year contract, re-signed Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and traded for Eugenio Suarez to fill a hole at third base. They’ve improved a team that, while reaching the World Series, was still outscored during the regular season, so credit the front office for knowing they had to get better.
One thing to do: The obvious hole is DH, and the Diamondbacks have indicated they intend to fill that. The right-handed J.D. Martinez is a nice fit. Sign him and it’s an “A” of an offseason.
GM Alex Anthopoulos certainly earns an A+ for creativity. He essentially acquired Jarred Kelenic from the Seattle Mariners and hard-throwing lefty reliever Ray Kerr from the San Diego Padres by taking on some bad contracts. Before that, he traded five non-tender candidates to the Chicago White Sox for reliever Aaron Bummer, traded the injured Kyle Wright, re-signed Joe Jimenez and signed Reynaldo Lopez.
Then came the big move, trading Vaughn Grissom for Chris Sale, and then reworking Sale’s contract. All in all, it’s a unique approach that could pay big dividends if Kelenic reaches his potential and if Sale is healthy come October. I’m not giving this an “A,” however, because the Braves’ initial plan to improve the rotation was Aaron Nola or Sonny Gray.
One thing to do: Add a fourth outfielder. That could be a right-handed platoon partner for Kelenic, somebody like Adam Duvall or Tommy Pham on the high end, but I’d like to see Kelenic get the opportunity to play every day. Then check back in July if an addition needs to be made.
While much of the league is crying poor, the Royals — the ROYALS — have signed a bunch of free agents: Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Hunter Renfroe, Will Smith, Chris Stratton, Garrett Hampson. Hey, it’s something, which isn’t what we expected, and Lugo and Wacha were pretty good in 2023 (4.2 combined WAR). If Cole Ragans is indeed the real deal and Brady Singer finds his 2022 form, that could be a solid rotation. I’m less sanguine about the other three, although the bullpen was awful and they’re not paying Smith and Stratton that much.
