Analyzing the impact of each team’s offseason decisions
It makes sense that some of your favorite teams’ moves went unnoticed given the attention-grabbing superstar signings and blockbuster trades that have dominated MLB’s offseason. Here is a list of every team’s offseason transactions for all 30 teams, broken down by departures and acquisitions.
Principal additions: Yariel Rodriguez, RHP, 3B DH, Isiah Kiner-Falefa CF Justin Turner Kevin Kiermaier
Principal departures: 3B LHP Hyun Jin Ryu, RHP Jordan Hicks, UTIL Whit Merrifield, DH Brandon Belt, and Matt Chapman
Toronto took an unusual approach to their offseason by focusing more on the internal than the external. The Blue Jays, who lost out on signing Shohei Ohtani in December, are placing a large bet on their own players to bounce back and get better. To that end, they have added a number of veteran players to their roster. To put it briefly, they are bringing back a similar roster in the hopes that it will perform better than it did a year ago.
The most important query is: Where is the upside coming from? While Alejandro Kirk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are obvious candidates, the Blue Jays must also weigh the other side of this. What happens if, following an incredible 2023, their pitching declines? Will that be supported by the improvements made to the internal offensive? Right now, the Blue Jays require a few significant breakthroughs from the dish.
Focus in the off-season: Baltimore desired an ace. During the GM Meetings in November, the Winter Meetings in December, and the Birdland Caravan in January, general manager Mike Elias stated as much multiple times. Then, on February 1, Elias acquired Burnes, the Brewers’ 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner and baseball’s No. 2 starter, as the top trade target on the Orioles’ board, according to MLB Network’s most recent positional rankings. The O’s rotation for 2024 was greatly improved by this enormous move.
The main concern is whether Baltimore’s bullpen can survive without All-Star closer Félix Bautista, who will miss 2024 due to Tommy John surgery, and still have multiple standout relievers. Originally signed as a one-year fill-in closer, Kimbrel has 417 career saves, which ranks eighth in AL/NL history, but he has also struggled recently. The Orioles will probably need Kimbrel to be consistent in addition to setup relievers Danny Coulombe, Yennier Cano (a 2023 All-Star), and others providing quality innings.
Important additions include OF Richie Palacios, OF Jonny DeLuca, INF José Caballero, and RHP Ryan Pepiot. LHP Tyler Alexander, RHP Phil Maton, and RHP Chris Devenski (resigned)
Notable exits include OF Tyler Glasnow, RHP OF/1B Manuel Margot RHP Andrew Kittredge, RHP Robert Stephenson, C. Luke Raley Jesus Bethancourt and Jake Diekman, LHP
Offseason focus: The Rays chose to do what they usually do in the face of a potentially enormous payroll increase to field a roster that still held a great deal of uncertainty, particularly because of Wander Franco’s status and the recovery timelines of several key injured pitchers. They let go of a number of seasoned, proven veterans and added youthful, manageable talent to their core group that remained. It’s interesting to note that a number of their agreements featured one-for-one replacements; most notably, Pepiot and DeLuca were brought in to replace Glasnow and Margot, indicating their determination to compete.
The most important query is: Do they have enough starting catchers and pitchers? After trading Glasnow, Shane McClanahan will recuperate from Tommy John surgery for the duration of the season. There will be a lot of pressure on Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, Zack Littell, Taj Bradley, Pepiot, and Shane Baz to be in the rotation since Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen won’t be back until later in the season. In the meantime, René Pinto, who has only played in 63 Major League Baseball games, was the only catcher on the Rays’ 40-man roster when they started Spring Training.
