7 MLB Teams Already Looking Much Improved After Offseason Moves
While the MLB offseason action isn't over, the most significant free-agent signing happened in Los Angeles, and a handful of teams already improved significantly.
Every club goes into the offseason with specific goals in mind to improve the roster, whether it be a managerial change, personnel moves or both.
Some teams look significantly different two months after the World Series and another two months before spring training.
Here, we've ranked the seven most improved MLB clubs through late December, considering talent added both on the field and in the dugout.
7. Kansas City Royals
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The Kansas City Royals' hiring of former Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as their new manager has been a popular decision in the baseball community.
He is being trusted with the Royals' young core because of his experience winning with a small-market franchise in Tampa. We will see what the impact ultimately is.
As for players, the Royals added starters Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo. They also signed outfielder Hunter Renfroe and reliever Chris Stratton.
Going from worst in the AL Central to first in short order is not the most radical idea, especially after the turnarounds we've seen from the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Royals have an interesting combination of a talented young core, savvy veteran free-agent signings and a young manager believed to be forward thinking enough to put it all together.
Can't forget about them signing lefty reliever Will Smith, who's pitched for the last three World Series champions. The Royals are totally going all the way.
6. St. Louis Cardinals
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The St. Louis Cardinals added three starters by signing Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.
Gray is the obvious headliner, since he will be the Cardinals' ace going into 2024. They now boast a rotation of Gray, Miles Mikolas, Gibson, Lynn and likely Steven Matz.
That is an encouraging start to an offseason that follows a disappointing 2023, which saw the Cardinals go from first to worst in the NL Central.
They could stand to make improvements overall after such a letdown, but it's not a bad idea to start with their below-average pitching. The Cardinals ranked 22nd in FIP and 19th in fWAR.
Adding an ace and some reliable depth on the back end of the rotation gives them some validity. St. Louis still needs to add a bat, though. It was a mediocre offensive team that ranked 19th in runs scored last season.
5. San Francisco Giants
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The San Francisco Giants landed their biggest free-agent acquisition in 17 years by signing Korean center fielder Jung Hoo Lee to a six-year, $113 million contract. It's the largest free-agent contract the Giants have handed out since their $126 million pact with Barry Zito in 2006 (not that they haven't tried).
More importantly, Lee should inject some life into a Giants outfield and lineup that left a lot to be desired last season. The 25-year-old is expected to bat leadoff for San Francisco, according to new manager Bob Melvin.
Speaking of Melvin, the change from Gabe Kapler could prove significant. While Kapler was an accomplished skipper in the Bay Area, winning the NL Manager of the Year just two years ago, Melvin's won the award three times and is considered to be among the elite in the profession.
Signing Lee is nowhere near the attention-grabber of signing Shohei Ohtani, trading for Juan Soto, or signing Aaron Judge or Carlos Correa as they tried to last year. But pair the Lee signing with bringing in Melvin, and the Giants already seem like a better ballclub.
They obviously still have work to do to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers and NL pennant-winning Arizona Diamondbacks. More on both of those two teams in a moment.
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4. Atlanta
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Atlanta already had a loaded team going into the offseason, even if 2023 ended in disappointing fashion. In fact, Atlanta was one of three teams to win 100 or more games last season, but none of them advanced past the Division Series.
To be sure, this should still be a contender next season even without significant moves. But Atlanta also managed to trade for outfielder Jarred Kelenic from the Seattle Mariners and then shed the contracts taken within the deal.
As part of the trade for Kelenic, Atlanta also acquired left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White. But Gonzales was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates, while Atlanta sent White to the Los Angeles Angels for infielder David Fletcher and catcher Max Stassi, who was also soon dealt to the Chicago White Sox.
All of that was a creative way to address a hole in the outfield with Kelenic and add some infield depth with Fletcher. Not bad at all.
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
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A team that went to the World Series unexpectedly just got better with the signing of left-handed starter Eduardo Rodríguez.
The Diamondbacks knew they needed another quality starter behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. Rodríguez provides exactly that.
As MLB.com's Mike Petriello put it, there might not have been a better fit in terms of player and team need than Rodríguez to the D-backs. His four-year, $80 million contract fits perfectly with the market Arizona was in for a mid-rotation starter.
Rodríguez had a 3.30 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 3.66 FIP for the Detroit Tigers last season. He should help Arizona throw fewer bullpen games in the postseason when the time arrives.
The D-backs also traded for third baseman Eugenio Suárez from the Seattle Mariners. While Suárez is a strikeout machine, he's almost a lock to hit 20 home runs and play elite defense at third base.
2. New York Yankees
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Trading for Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo addressed the Yankees' outfield concerns.
Aside from Aaron Judge, they saw minimal production from the outfield in 2023, as the position group ranked 22nd in fWAR.
They wasted almost no time upgrading this offseason. In early December, they sent right-handed pitchers Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert and Nicholas Judice to the Red Sox for Verdugo.
That deal between rivals was somewhat unexpected, but then came the moment we had all been waiting for. The Yankees' trade for Soto is massive, even if his season-and-a-half stint with the San Diego Padres mostly flopped.
This is a markedly better lineup with left-handed bats to balance it out, and New York will be all the better for it if the team can figure it out defensively.
Trent Grisham's defense allows for some flexibility in the corner outfield spots and designated hitter.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
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It's fair to say whoever won the Ohtani sweepstakes would win the offseason. The Los Angeles Dodgers were always the favorites and were able to sign the generational talent to an unprecedented contract worth $700 million over 10 years.
But they didn't stop there. Realizing the rotation needed some serious work, the Dodgers signed Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract. The move pushed their free-agent spending to over $1 billion, as the team is clearly shifting all of its chips to the center of the table.
The Dodgers also traded for Tyler Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays. Having Yamamoto, Glasnow, Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller at the top of the rotation should help tremendously on a perennial contender that won 100 games last season.
Starting pitching was a weakness for this team. Their starting pitching WAR ranked 21st in baseball, in large part due to bad injury luck. This offseason has been quite the response.
Advanced statistics via FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.
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