3 MLB teams that get an A grade for their offseason moves
Yesterday, we looked at the five MLB teams that will get an F for their offseason moves, or lack thereof in some cases. Today, we will do the exact opposite as we will look at three MLB teams that should get an A for their offseason moves.
As we did with the list of teams that get an F, we will also give a preface for this that spending a lot of money does not mean that a team gets an A this offseason.
Case in point: the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have spent the most money of any of the 30 MLB teams this offseason. As of the publication of this article, the Rangers have spent $580.7 million in free agent signings. But they still have one of the worst pitching staffs in the sport, finishing in the bottom three of the American League last season in numerous categories. Martín Pérez is listed as the Rangers second starter on their depth chart and he has an ERA of 5.05 since 2017 in over 600 innings. That’s a long reliever, not a second starter so they are not on our list.
Additionally, you may be surprised that there aren’t more teams on here. That’s because they had some significant losses too.
For example, the Toronto Blue Jays added Matt Chapman, Yusei Kikuchi, and Kevin Gausman … but they also had to pay Colorado nearly half of Randal Grichuk’s salary to take him and missed out on Freddie Freeman, lost reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, Marcus Semien, and many others.
With that, let’s dive into our list of the three teams that should get an A for their offseason moves.
The Detroit Tigers get an A for their offseason moves
The Detroit Tigers haven’t done much since the lockout ended but they made a lot of good moves to start the offseason.
They made the first offseason free agent signing as they signed Eduardo Rodríguez to help their rotation, traded for catcher Tucker Barnhart from Cincinnati for essentially nothing, and signed Javíer Baez to play shortstop.
Since the lockout has ended, they signed starter Michael Pineda and reliever Andrew Chafin to help the back end of their rotation and the back end of their bullpen
The Tigers were a 77-win team in 2021 but they went 68-61 in their final 129 games so with those additions. With their top prospects Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, and others knocking on the door in Triple-A or in the majors to start the season, the Tigers could surprise some people.
The Detroit Tigers had a really good offseason and could be a sneaky team to make the playoffs in 2022, especially with the really weak AL Central. The Minnesota Twins (despite adding Carlos Correa) have a Triple-A pitching staff, Cleveland has done nothing and still has an awful offense, and the Royals are still an awful team. As things stand, the Detroit Tigers could be a second-place team.
The Philadelphia Phillies also get an A for the offseason
The Philadelphia Phillies have addressed a lot of their issues this offseason.
They have long had one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball and they signed a plethora of pitchers to try to address it. They signed former Dodgers reliever Corey Knebel to be their closer as well as Brad Hand and Jeurys Familia via free agency. They also traded for Nick Nelson from the Yankees and got Ryan Sherriff off waivers from the Rays.
They signed infielder Johan Camargo to shore up their bench and, most importantly, they signed outfielders Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber to combine for an excellent corner outfielder/DH combo along with reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper.
The Phillies went 82-80 but held the all-time MLB lead in blown saves so with these additions, they should be a playoff team in 2022 if the team plays to their potential.
But one other NL East team has had a better offseason.
The New York Mets have had the best offseason in MLB
The New York Mets have done a ton of great things this offseason.
They signed Max Scherzer to make a combo of him and Jacob deGrom at the top of their rotation. That makes them one of the best 1-2 starting rotation combinations in recent memory.
But they also signed outfielders Starling Marte and Mark Canha (both from Oakland) via free agency, infielder Eduardo Escobar to play third base, trade from Chris Bassitt (also from Oakland) to be, arguably, the best third starter in the league, and signed reliever Adam Ottavino for their bullpen.
Next. 5 teams that get an F grade in the 2021-22 offseason. dark
They went 77-85 in 2021 but now, they are significant favorites in the NL East and, perhaps, the second-best team in the NL.