MLB Free Agency: Best and Worst Moves By All 30 Teams This Offseason
This past off season in baseball has been one full of player movement, with Jayson Werth kicking off the big dollar December by signing a contract full of zeroes with the Washington Nationals. Many players followed suit soon after.
A lot of players have changed teams, and many teams have changed their fortunes for it, but it is hard to say what this will all amount to on the baseball field as of right now.
One thing we can do, however, is look at each team's signings and whittle down which were the best and worst signings for each.
So, here I spent hours to find out which signings were the best for each team, and which were the worst.
Without further ado, let us start off with the Arizona Diamondbacks...
Arizona Diamondbacks
1 of 30
Best Move: Signing JJ Putz.
The Diamondbacks did not make a huge splash in this year's free agency period, but they did take a bit of a gamble on the recently oft-injured Putz.
The 2007 Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, Putz, was traded to the New York Mets in 2009 where he only appeared in 29 games, posted an ERA of 5.22 and battled elbow problems all season.
He then signed with the White Sox for the 2010 season, where he had a nice bounce-back year with 60 appearances, 16 saves and an ERA of only 2.83.
If he can stay healthy for the Diamondbacks, they have themselves a solid closer.
Worst Move: Trading Mark Reynolds.
In exchange for their best home run hitter, the Diamondbacks got only a couple of decent relievers.
Reynolds may have only hit .198 a season ago (a number that makes me cringe) and may have struck out more than 600 times over the past three seasons, but it is hard to replace that kind of power.
Atlanta Braves
2 of 30
Best Move: Trading for Dan Uggla.
The Braves traded one of the league's best utility players from a year ago and a decent reliever for one of the best power hitting second basemen in baseball.
In exchange for Uggla, all Atlanta had to give up was Omar Infante, who did make the all-star game last year, but did so while never nailing down a position, and Michael Dunn.
Infante had a career year last season, and Atlanta is probably hoping that they are trading him at the peak of his value, which seems plausible.
Worst Move: Signing George Sherrill
There was a time when Sherrill was a monster of a closer for the Baltimore Orioles, and a great pitcher for the Dodgers, but now he seems to have the stink of a guy in decline.
Last year he had an ERA of 6.69 in 65 appearances, while refusing to be designated to the minors to work on his game.
Baltimore Orioles
3 of 30
Best Move: Trading for Mark Reynolds.
All Baltimore had to do to get a power hitting third baseman is give up a few relievers.
He may not be a great contact hitter, but he is a threat to go out of the park every time he goes to the plate, and if he continues a decline, it will not hurt Baltimore too much, considering how little they gave up.
Worst Move: Resigning Cesar Izturis
There was a time when Cesar Izturis' defense made up for his offense, but in the past few seasons, it may not have been enough.
Izturis hit only .230 a season ago, while drawing only 25 walks, giving him an OBP of just .277, and an embarrassing .268 slugging percentage.
At this point they may want to take their chances with a minor league, rather than suffer through watching Izturis bat for another full season.
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Boston Red Sox
4 of 30
Best Move: Signing Carl Crawford
With Crawford the Red Sox got a guy that can easily steal 50 bases, hit around 15 home runs, hit near .300 and play stellar defense.
This is easily their best move as long as you don't mind the money they spent on him, and I'm guessing the Red Sox fans out there don't.
Worst Move: Losing Victor Martinez
The Tigers offered Martinez more than the Red Sox were willing to spend, so they let him go quietly.
Nonetheless, they lost a catcher who could hit .300 and 20 home runs, and now they have to choose between Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Veritek to start for them.
Both are better defensively, but can't hit a lick.
Chicago Cubs
5 of 30
Best Move: Signing Carlos Pena
Carlos Pena is like Mark Reynolds, but he does not strike out as much.
Pena is going to hit home runs, and is going to walk quite a bit, other than that he is not going to do much, but that is enough to make him valuable to any team.
Worst Move: Signing Reed Johnson
Reed Johnson has only posted a positive offensive and defensive WAR in the same year once in his career.
Back in 2006 for Toronto he had a 2.8 oWAR and 0.8 dWar, in the four years since, combined he has a 1.1 oWAR and 0.2 dWar, which is just barely better than my wins over a replacement player.
Chicago White Sox
6 of 30
Best Move: Signing Adam Dunn
Adam Dunn was the Mark Reynolds before there was a Mark Reynolds, only he does not strike out as much (but still does it a ton).
He will always threaten to hit 40 home runs as long as he shows he has power, and he will walk a lot and hit for a decent average.
Worst Move: Losing Bobby Jenks
Bobby Jenks has been the closer for the White Sox for the past five years, and even with his recent decline, it is hard to see him go for Chicago.
They have a few guys that could replace him, but nobody stands out as the guy that could easily handle the pressure situation as good as Jenks did.
Cincinnati Reds
7 of 30
Best Move: Signing their young guys
This off season, the Reds did not make a huge splash like they did last year, signing Aroldis Chapman, but they did get extensions to Jay Bruce and Joey Votto.
Bruce and Votto look to be the cornerstone of the club in the coming years, and by resigning them they are able to keep hold of their young players while still committing to adding good pieces to convince them to stay down the road.
Worst Move: Signing Dontrelle Willis
The D-Train was amazing and exciting for the first four years of his career, but then he ran off the tracks, and piled up a laundry list of injuries against only 15 wins in the past four years for three different teams.
They are not throwing money away at him like the Tigers did, but still, it is hard to imagine a comeback from him at this point.
Cleveland Indians
8 of 30
Best Move: Really? Nothing.
The Indians are taking an approach of hiring from within, and with a AAA team that just won the Governers Cup and the Triple-A National Championship…that is right the Columbus Clippers, my boys...that might not be a bad idea.
They have a handful of young talent they are banking on to improve their season from it is miserable end last year.
Worst Move: Signing Anthony Reyes
I do not want to say that this man cannot handle the load, but seriously, he cannot handle the load.
Reyes is an ugly 13-26 with a lifetime 5.12 ERA, and went an improbable 2-14 back in 2007. I do not see the Indians turning his fortunes around.
Colorado Rockies
9 of 30
Best Move: Signing Ty Wigginton
Ty Wigginton is nothing special defensively, although he can fill in nearly anywhere, but he can be an offensive powerhouse.
He seems like one of those players who will thrive with the transition to Colorado, where the balls do not stop soaring.
Worst Move: Resigning Jason Giambi
I think it is finally time to give it a rest with the man with the golden thong.
Colorado signed Giambi thinking that he could go back to blasting the ball out of the park in the thin-aired Rockie's, when what he really needs is a syringe filled with some secret stuff (not to make any accusations or anything).
In exactly 200 at-bats for Colorado, Giambi has hit only eight home runs.
Detriot Tigers
10 of 30
Best Move: Signing Victor Martinez
Martinez may not be much to talk about defensively, but he can sure whack the ball around the park.
He will easily give the team 20 home runs and a .300 batting average from either the DH or catchers spot, production that any team would like.
Worst Move: Designating Armando Galarraga for assignment.
Okay, so maybe this was a legitimate move baseball-wise, but come on!
He was the feel good story of the year, give him another chance guys. He could pull out another near-perfect game.
It is unlikely, but can you imagine how awesome it would be if he did. How much to ask is one more year?
Florida Marlins
11 of 30
Best Move: Getting value out of Dan Uggla
It hurts to lose a guy like Uggla, but when you can get something good out of him when he was probably going to walk and leave the Marlins with a compensation draft pick then it is good for both sides.
In exchange for Uggla, Florida got Omar Infante coming off the best season of his career in hopes that he can continue that play, and Michael Dunn, a decent reliever.
Worst Move: Signing Randy Choate
The Marlins signed Randy Choate this winter, the 90-year-old reliever from the Tampa Bay Rays.
He is only 35 years old, but with injuries he is nearly 60. It is hard to imagine him putting in a good year for the Marlins this season.
Houston Astros
12 of 30
Best Move: Signing Bill Hall
Hall burst onto the scene for the Brewers a few years back, hitting 35 home runs and batting .270, but then he fell off a bit.
Hoping that he can return to his old form, they signed him for just $3 million, with an option for next season.
Worst Move: Signing Ryan Rowland-Smith
Some of you may remember Rowland-Smith as the big Aussie from the Mariners who went 1-10 a season ago.
Because of the Mariners horrendous offense, it is hard to say what he is capable of, so I may be flat-out wrong here, but it never looks good when you sign a guy who went 1-10 in any season.
Kansas City Roayals
13 of 30
Best Move: Signing Jeff Francoeur
In one of the quietest good moves of the off season, the Royals signed Francoeur, who had fallen victim of the New York Mets recent curse in the past few years, to a contract worth only $2.5 million.
If he can return to the form he was in in the beginning of his major league career, he will be a huge bargain.
Worst Move: Signing Melky Cabrera
Let me get this straight right off the bat, I loved Melky Cabrera back when he played minor league ball in Columbus, he is just a funny guy.
Besides that, he is a loaf. He has fun and does pretty good when the rest of the team is doing good, but when he is mired on a losing team, he seems depressed.
He is fun to watch in some unimportant games, but he is also a bonehead, and that can be contagious.
Los Angeles Angels
14 of 30
Best Move: Signing Hisanori Takahashi
Takahasi, also known as 高橋 尚成, is a finesse pitcher from Japan who made his major league debut with the Mets last season at the age of 34.
Despite his age, he has a great slider and a killer screwball.
They picked him up at the perfect time for a Japanese pitcher, before most of the league has had a chance to play him a few times and figure him out.
Worst Move: Resigning Jeff Mathis
In his six seasons in the majors, Mathis has racked up only 36 home runs and has a career average of .199.
That's all fine as long as his defense is solid right?
Well, it is far from solid, as he is only catching runners at a rate of 22 percent for his career, and has a lifetime negative defensive WAR.
Los Angeles Dodgers
15 of 30
Best Move: Signing Jon Garland
Jon Garland is not one of those guys who is going to go out and win 20 games suddenly, but he is a solid pickup for the Dodgers.
He is going to go out there, night in and night out, and if you score runs for him, he is going to bring home a win for your team.
Worst Move: Signing Juan Castro
Usually, when a team signs a guy who has been in the bigs for 15 seasons, it is for his veteran leadership and to squeeze the last bits of life out of his game like you do a tube of toothpaste.
Well, Castro's tube of toothpaste was only half full to begin with, and by this time it has been rolled down as far as it can go, cut open to get the last bits out, and now all that is left is the crusty bit of toothpaste left in the cap.
That is what the Dodgers are getting with Castro. Crusty toothpaste left in the cap.
Milwaukee Brewers
16 of 30
Best Move: Trading for Zach Greinke
A season ago, the Brewers had a great offense, but their pitching left much to be desired, so what did they do?
They went out and signed a former Cy Young Award winner, that's what.
Greinke will be moving from the American League to the National League, which has always been a boon to pitching statistics, and will be pitching in a park that is not terrible for pitchers, so it should all be good for Greinke.
Worst Move: Signing Will Nieves
Will Nieves showed promise early in his career, but it seems that he will not end up developing offensively as many in Washington hoped.
He is a decent defensive catcher, but offensively, he is just horrible.
Minnesota Twins
17 of 30
Best Move: Resigning Jim Thome
Thome has been mesmerizing to me over the past few years.
Although he only played in 108 games and had fewer than 300 at bats, at the age of 39 he was nothing less than amazing last season.
He had fewer at-bats per home run, with 11.04 trips to the plate for each dinger, than Albert Pujols, who led the league for all qualified hitters.
He has become an ageless wonder on the verge of 600 home runs.
Worst Move: Losing JJ Hardy
Yes, he was going to be a free agent next season, but it is going to be hard to make up for what he can do offensively at shortstop if Tsuyoshi Nishioka does not work out.
New York Mets
18 of 30
Best Move: Not trying too hard
Over the past few seasons, it seems like the Mets have been swinging for the fences in the off season, rather than during the season, and it has not worked out very good for them
This year they have been making small moves, picking up young players, and not spending themselves into oblivion for a change.
On second thought, maybe firing Omar Minaya was the best move.
Worst Move: Signing Boof Bonser
Whether or not he has potential, he has not shown much promise in the big leagues so far.
Plus, his name is Boof.
New York Yankees
19 of 30
Best Move: Signing Rafael Soriano
For all of last season, Yankee fans dreaded to think of what would happen if Mariano Rivera were to go down to an unexpected injury. Now they have last season's saves leader just in case.
Soriano will be the perfect eighth inning guy for New York, even if they are paying him closer money, and it will give him time to work with an all-time great, and possibly put him in line to take over for Rivera in a few years.
Worst Move: Releasing Jonathan Albaladejo
Albaladejo did a decent job in the majors when he was called up, and in the minors over the past few seasons he was miraculous.
He collected 43 saves for Scranton Wilkes-Barre with an ERA of 1.42, which made my brain think, "he'll be in the bullpen this season."
Wrong again brain.
Albaladejo is now a member of the Yomiuri Giants, of his own accord. Sometimes I just do not understand things.
Oakland A's
20 of 30
Best Move: Signing Brian Fuentes
Anytime you can pick up a guy with playoff experience who has saved over 100 games in his career it is a definite plus.
Fuentes seems to be one of the better closers in the game when his pitches are working for him, and it shows in his low ERA and tiny WHIP.
Worst Move: Trading Rajai Davis
This has nothing to do with his actual baseball worth, but Rajai Davis killed it for me in fantasy baseball last season.
He hit .284 while stealing 50 bases, and for that he got little to no recognition. He is also a decent fielder, not great, but he can hold his own out there.
Philadelphia Phillies
21 of 30
Best Move: Signing Rob Quinlann
Totally joking here, it is definitely snaking Cliff Lee away from the Yankees, I just want to see who is paying attention.
Cliff Lee is joining the Phillies to put together the best rotation since the Atlanta Braves in the mid-nineties.
Worst Move: Signing Delwyn Young
He is a decent utilityman who can't seem to hit anymore and is pretty good at fielding most positions.
Nothing really special about him.
Pittsburgh Pirates
22 of 30
Best Move: Signing Lyle Overbay
This is not a man that is going to come in and turn the franchise around, but it is a good pickup nonetheless.
Overbay cannot seem to hit much for average anymore, but he can still jack 20 balls out of the park a year for some good old fashioned fan entertainment.
Worst Move: Signing Garrett Atkins
There once was a time (in Colorado mind you) that Atkins was a threat to hit 30 home runs. That lasted about three years and that chance died when he left the Rocky Mountains.
A year ago with Baltimore he hit .214 and hit a home run every 140 at-bats, and considering he only had 140 at-bats on the season I think you can guess how many dingers he ended up hitting.
San Diego Padres
23 of 30
Best Move: Trading away Adrian Gonzalez
There was no way that Gonzalez was going to remain a Padre, it seems, so the fact they got a handful of promising young guys is a win for them.
Instead of being left with a few compensation draft picks, they ended up with Anthony Rizzo, Casey Kelley and Reymond Fuentes.
Worst Move: Signing Aaron Harang
My local FSN station broadcasts the Cincinnati Reds. Let me say that after watching him absolutely die game in and game out, I am sorry Padres fans if your club is thinking about using him as a starter this season.
Harang was once the ace of a bad Reds staff, and struck batters out with great consistency. Now he does not even try anymore.
It got so bad this season that my brother and I did not even need to watch the games to know what was going to happen; Harang was going to implode, get hurt or look lazy out on the mound.
San Francisco Giants
24 of 30
Best Move: Resigning Aubrey Huff
Huff was terrific for the Giants a season ago, batting .290 and hitting 26 home runs along with driving opposing pitchers nuts with his patience.
He should be able to do it again for the Giants with any luck, who look to get back to the pinnacle of baseball again next season.
Worst Move: Nothing
San Francisco just won a World Series, and with that they realized that there is not much to do to get better, so they mostly just resigned their own guys, and called up some young'uns.
Nothing bad ever came from not trying to go out on a limb with a free agent.
Seattle Mariners
25 of 30
Best Move: Signing Jack Cust
Hopefully, for the Mariners and for baseball historians who probably do not want to have to write another page in the history books about another historically bad Mariners offense, Jack Cust can keep hitting.
Seattle hit a miserable .236 as a team last season, something Cust should be able to help, as he hit .272 last year.
Worst Move: Resigning anyone who hit in the .210 range
Like I said seconds ago, the Mariners offense was (and this deserves one from Charles Barkley's dictionary) terrible last season.
Instead of looking to the minor league or elsewhere in free agency, Seattle resigned Josh Bard, who hit .214, and Ryan Langerhans, hitting .196.
St. Louis Cardinals
26 of 30
Best Move: Signing Lance Berkman
Berkman did not have a great season last year, but the Big Cat should still have some pop in his bat for the Cardinals.
He will be a good fill-in player and pinch-hitter from time to time, and should not do any worse than he did for the Yankees last season.
Worst Move: Signing Ian Snell
Whether it was due to the Mariners terrible offense or of his own accord, Snell went 0-5 with a 6.41 ERA in only 12 appearances a season ago.
He could turn things around, but those are some ugly numbers.
Tampa Bay Rays
27 of 30
Best Move: Getting value out of Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza
The Rays don't have money, we know that, but because of these two trades they are swimming in a wealth of prospects, and should be ready to do it all again in five years or so.
Worst Move: Losing their team
This off season, the Rays lost Carl Crawford, Bartlett, Garza, Dioner Navarro, Dan Wheeler, Carlos Pena, Randy Choate, Joaquin Benoit, Rafael Soriano and Willy Aybar (yet to be signed)
Yikes.
Texas Rangers
28 of 30
Best Move: Signed Adrian Beltre
After a .321 season with 28 home runs in Boston, Beltre should have no problem adjusting to the Rangers' ballpark, which is just as much of a hitters park as Fenway is.
He should add good defense to the left side of their infield and add another bat to their lineup.
Worst Move: Lost Cliff Lee
Even if they did not have a terrific chance of keeping him, as it seemed that he was bound for the Bronx, and ended up in Philly, it would have been terrific to keep Lee.
If Lee would have stayed and they would have continued with all of the moves they made this season, it would be hard to make an argument against them being the favorites in the American League.
Toronto Blue Jays
29 of 30
Best Move: Signing Jon Rauch
Rauch is a good up and coming pitcher who looks like he could have a good upside.
Last season with the Twins he had a 3.12 ERA and saved 21 games.
Worst Move: Signing Corey Patterson
If ever there was an up and down player in baseball, it is Corey Patterson.
Patterson was up last season, but is such an unpredictable player that it would not be surprising to see him flirt with the Mendoza Line this season.
Washington Nationals
30 of 30
Best Move: Signing Jayson Werth
They may have payed out the nose for Werth, but they got a man that can anchor their offense for a few years while their young players come up and take over.
Werth should do fine in Washington as their marquee offensive player.
Worst Move: Losing Adam Dunn
Adam Dunn was the marquee player of their offense for the past few seasons, and teaming him with Werth would have been huge for this team.
They are losing some of the best power numbers in the league, but they should be able to replace it eventually with some of their younger players.
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