MLB: Is the NL Closing the Gap on the AL — Comparing Best Teams
National League teams have made several big moves this offseason, closing the gap between them and the American League for the best league in MLB.
While MLB free agency continues to sort itself out, a lot of dominoes have already fallen this offseason, and we have a pretty good idea where the rest will end up.
Bryce Harper seems destined to join the Philadelphia Phillies, while Manny Machado could end up with the San Diego Padres or Chicago Whites Sox unless another large market team decides to join the mix.
The Washington Nationals currently have the biggest free agent signing this offseason locking up Patrick Corbin for $140 million over six years.
In fact, the National League has three of the top four biggest free agent signings this offseason. And they have given out the top three AAV signings.
If Harper and Machado do sign with an NL team, that just closes the gap even more with the AL.
Last year we saw three AL teams win over 100 games, while not a single NL team met that mark. And the Red Sox cruised to a 4-1 World Series win over the Dodgers.
While the NL may have been a lot deeper last year, there was an obvious difference between the top teams in the AL versus the top teams in the NL.
A lot of moves being made this offseason could help close that gap a little bit. We’ll take a look at the five best teams from each league and compare them with their counterpart.
Red Sox – Dodgers
We have to start at the top with the two teams who made the World Series in 2018, and are likely favorites to get there again.
As we know, the two teams really weren’t that close last season with Boston taking the series 4-1. But if you actually watched each game of that series, it was a lot closer than it looked.
The Red Sox don’t really lose a lot from the lineup, so I expect them to be the same there. And they brought back Nathan Eovaldi, so the starting rotation should be the same.
Craig Kimbrel might be the only real loss for the Red Sox, and there is still a chance he resigns with them. Boston says they feel comfortable with their bullpen, and I hope so as it’s their only glaring weakness in my opinion.
The Dodgers have been active for the most part parting with Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, and Alex Wood through trades, while acquiring A.J. Pollock and Joe Kelly through free agent signings.
This team is pretty much the same as last year. I thought they had a real chance to improve if they could have traded for J.T. Realmuto. Catcher is currently their only obvious weakness at the moment.
With these two teams virtually being the same from a year ago, you have to give the AL an edge here.
Astors – Brewers
Next up would be the two who lost in the championship series last year in the Astros and Brewers.
In all honesty, I thought the Astros were the best team in baseball last year, but that was put to bed when the Red Sox destroyed them in the ALCS four games to one.
The Astros lose two big pieces this offseason with Marwin Gonzalez and Dallas Keuchel both being free agents. But, they are also both still available so it’s possible they come back.
They brought in Wade Miley to add depth in the starting rotation, which is still really solid without Keuchel. And they replace Marwin with Michael Brantley.
Their bullpen should still be really solid. Two weaknesses for this team right now are depth in the starting pitching and catcher.
Milwaukee, on the other hand, has significantly upgraded at catcher by signing Yasmani Grandal.
They do lose Gio Gonzalez from the starting rotation and Mike Moustakas from the lineup. But again, both of those players are still available and could return to Milwaukee.
Second base and starting pitcher are weaknesses for Milwaukee.
I don’t think the Brewers have done enough this offseason to overtake the Astros. The American League wins again.
Yankees – Nationals
This is the first team I’m adding in here that didn’t make the postseason last year, but I think the Washington Nationals could end up being the best team in the NL this season.
I don’t know what happened to the Nationals last year, but they weren’t as bad as their record indicated. The talent on this team is for real.
They have the best starting rotation in the NL, and maybe in baseball, with Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg at the top. This offseason they added to that with Corbin. They also signed Anibal Sanchez and Jeremy Hellickson to strengthen their rotation even more.
I would be a little concerned if one of those three at the top get injured, but when healthy this is the best rotation in the league.
You may think losing Bryce Harper is a big deal, but it won’t be for the Nationals who have two young, talented outfielders ready to take over in Juan Soto and Victor Robles.
They’ve also acquired Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki for a strong catching tandem. Brian Dozier should bounce back and deepen an already explosive lineup.
There really are no obvious weaknesses on this team right now.
The Yankees have pretty much made it a point to build the strongest bullpen ever by signing Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino this offseason to go along with Aroldis Chapman and Delin Betances.
They’ve also signed D.J. LeMahieu and Troy Tulowitzki to add depth to a young infield.
They also acquired James Paxton and re-signed CC Sabathia and J.A. Happ this offseason to fortify a solid rotation.
I think there are weaknesses and question marks across the infield. And they could use some depth behind Happ in the rotation in case of injuries. But if this team has a lead after five innings, it’s over.
Still, I think the Nationals could have an incredible 2019 season. The National League takes this one.
Indians – Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have literally done nothing all offseason, and they may not have to. The only team in their division who has gotten significantly better is the Cincinnati Reds.
They didn’t lose anyone of major significance, and they haven’t added anyone of significance.
A key for the Cubs this season will be the starting pitching. If Jon Lester, Cole Hamels, and Yu Darvish all stay healthy and pitch as they have in the past, this team should cruise to an NL Central title. But if they continue to decline, that could open up the door for others to take over.
The offense and bullpen should be fine. Honestly, on paper, there are no obvious weaknesses with this team.
Cleveland is losing a ton with the departures of Brantley, Andrew Miller, Josh Donaldson, Cody Allen, and several others.
And the biggest move they’ve made this offseason — the only move, really — was to bring back Carlos Santana.
The top of the rotation and back-end of the bullpen are really strong, and the infield is solid as well. There are questions all across the outfield that still need to be addressed.
The Indians have no pressure in the AL Central, and I think they look a lot different at the end of the MLB season, but I’ll go with the Cubs in this one right now.
Athletics – Braves
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The Atlanta Braves continue to develop and bring up young players to MLB and look to be a fixture in the National League for years to come.
Other than Suzuki going to the rival Nationals, almost the entire team from last year is coming back. They’ve replaced Suzuki with Brian McCann, and they made an upgrade at third base with Donaldson.
The biggest question mark for the Braves is their pitching — both starting and bullpen.
It looks like they are going to rely on some of their young guys taking the reigns this year. That’s always a scaring scenario, but if it works out the Braves should be back in the postseason.
I really don’t know what to think of the Athletics, and finding a fifth team for the AL wasn’t easy.
They lost Jeurys Familia and Jed Lowrie in free agency, but they replaced them with Joakim Soria and Jurickson Profar. They also resigned Michael Fiers and signed Marco Estrada to add depth to a suspect starting rotation.
The bullpen should be solid, and I’m not sure how, but the offense should be fine as well. It’s the same issue that everyone had last year about the Athletics, and that’s their starting pitching.
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I have to give the edge to the NL in this one as well, making them the winner of this exercise. While the AL still reigns at the top of MLB, the NL is much deeper and is catching up.