This year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) offseason has been quite an eventful one so far. From $700 million deals to blockbuster trades, it’s been a hustle to bolster your team for the upcoming season. As with all off seasons, some fan bases are convinced this is the year they’re going to win it all, and some just want to get it over with. Every year around this time comes the big question: Who were the “winners of the offseason?”
The obvious answer to this question is the Los Angeles Dodgers who spent by far the most money this season. Their biggest splurge was on Shohei Ohtani, the hitting and pitching phenomenon, who is hailed by many as the greatest player to touch a baseball since Babe Ruth. Ohtani signed a 10-year $700 million contract with the Dodgers, the biggest contract in baseball history.
Some have questioned whether or not Ohtani will live up to his $700 million contract. Joaquin Moffat, a junior and baseball player at Franklin as well as a Dodger fan, believes Ohtani will live up to the deal. “Yeah, he’s [going to] produce no doubt in my mind.” The Dodgers also went out and snagged another former Nippon Professional Baseball player, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Yamamoto signed a 12-year $325 million contract, which is the biggest contract given to a player with no prior MLB experience.
And the Dodgers weren’t just active in the free agent market; they also traded for Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot, and proceeded to sign Glasnow to a five-year $135 million deal. Over a billion dollars in free agents and a couple trades later and the Dodgers have had one of the most memorable off seasons in MLB history. They now face the 2024 season hoping for nothing less than a World Series.
The Dodgers weren’t the only big market team making spendy moves this offseason, however. The New York Yankees, on the other side of the country, also had an eventful off season. The biggest move they made was a blockbuster trade for 25 year old outfielder Juan Soto. Soto is coming off a season in which he finished sixth in National League MVP voting and was an All Star with the San Diego Padres. Along with an all star hitter, they also signed pitcher Marcus Stroman to a two-year $37 million contract. The Yankees, who are coming off a disappointing 82 win season, hope to challenge for the American League (AL) East title and earn a playoff spot this season. Once again, it looks like the East will be one of the most challenging divisions.
A lot of pitchers were on the move in the rest of the league as free agents as well. Josh Hader, Sonny Gray, Eduardo Rodrìguez and Lucas Giolito all found new homes during the offseason. Hader landed in Houston with the Astros, Gray headed to the St. Louis Cardinals, Rodrìguez joined the Arizona Diamondbacks and finally, Lucas Giolito joined the Cleveland Guardians. Some of these moves have been called questionable though, especially Gray going to the Cardinals. The Cardinals are coming off a massively disappointing 2023 season, as they finished last in the National League (NL) Central. And some are questioning if signing an aging pitcher to a team that is not projected to do well next year is a smart decision. These pitchers aren’t even the end of the big signings, as the winner of last year’s NL Cy Young award, Blake Snell, is still a free agent even as spring training goes underway.
Some teams that were on the fence of contention have doubled down on their playoff hopes this fall. The Baltimore Orioles, who are coming off a great season, traded top prospects DL Hall and Joey Ortiz to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes. Burnes had a 3.39 earned run average in 32 games last season and the Orioles are hoping he can lead a young and unproven pitching staff this season. A lot of people said that the Orioles performed their true talent and they are hoping to put that to rest this season.
The San Francisco Giants had an underwhelming season last year but with the acquisitions of Robbie Ray from the Seattle Mariners and outfielder Lee Jung-hoo from the Korea Baseball Organization, they look to compete for a playoff spot this year. The Mariners narrowly missed out on the postseason last year and had an active offseason, but nothing that makes them much better or worse than the season prior. They traded away Eugenio Suàrez, Jarred Kelenic, and Robbie Ray but in return got Mitch Haniger, Anthony DeSclafani Luis Urìas, and Jorge Polanco in a series of trades.
One of the biggest surprises of the offseason was the relative silence from the Yankees fellow New York team, the Mets. Since being bought by multi billionaire Steve Cohen in 2020, the Mets have grown a reputation for signing big players to big contracts. This year, aside from some smaller deals, the Mets surprisingly didn’t really do so much of anything. Rhys Johnson, a senior and baseball player at Franklin and big Mets fan, shared his thoughts. “To be completely honest, it’s kind of been disappointing. It certainly seems like we won’t be overly competitive this season,” Johnson says. It appears as though the team is moving towards relying on younger players. In the last two seasons, the Mets prospects like Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty have made their major league debuts and they traded older players like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander for prospects.
During the offseason, some teams decided to go for it and spend whatever it took to turn their team into contenders like the Dodgers, whereas others decided to enter a rebuilding phase like the Brewers and Mets. Whether or not you’re happy about what your team did to prepare for the season, this offseason was quite a memorable one with many record deals, some of which are not likely to be broken any time soon.
