Every MLB Team's Biggest 2024 Question
From questions about whether top prospects will crack the Opening Day roster to trade candidates, closer options, tentative relocation plans and everything in between, we've got one big question about the current state of every MLB franchise heading into the 2024 campaign.
In most cases, it's a question related to how high the ceiling could get for a postseason hopeful.
However, in several cases, it's more so a question of what success would even look like in advance of what could be a rough season.
Either way, there aren't great answers to any of these questions right now.
Teams are presented in alphabetical order by location.
Arizona Diamondbacks
1 of 30
Biggest Question: Why Aren't We More Seriously Talking About a Return to the World Series?
Obviously, the answer to this question is: "Because the Dodgers exist." Those bottomless-pocketed NL West overlords make it feel like Arizona's best-case scenario is getting the NL's No. 4 seed in the playoffs.
But this reigning National League champion should be doggone good.
The Diamondbacks re-signed Lourdes Gurriel Jr. They replaced Evan Longoria with Eugenio Suárez, which is a fine swap, if not an upgrade, at least on offense. They signed Joc Pederson, who will take the place of Tommy Pham in the OF/DH mix. Most importantly, they added Eduardo Rodriguez to the starting rotation.
How is this team not better than last year? Aside from maybe some questions with the fifth spot in the starting rotation, where's the weakness?
Arizona at +3500 to win the World Series might be the best value bet on the board.
Atlanta Braves
2 of 30
Biggest Question: Will They Get Past the NLDS?
As hard as it is to find a weakness with Arizona's roster, it's five times as difficult to complain about anything Atlanta has brewing for 2024. A little positional depth would be nice, but the Braves should at least rival the Dodgers for the most impressive, complete, 26-man Opening Day roster in the majors.
But in their six-year run of NL East titles, they've had four immediate flame-outs in the NLDS, including back-to-back 3-1 losses to the Phillies.
Did the additions of Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Aaron Bummer and Jarred Kelenic—without subtracting anyone more consequential than Eddie Rosario or Brad Hand—make Atlanta better equipped for the postseason?
Probably?
Almost certainly?
But we'll see how it ultimately plays out.
Baltimore Orioles
3 of 30
Biggest Question: Does Jackson Holliday Crack the Opening Day Roster?
The Orioles are no stranger to the "Should we send this strong AL Rookie of the Year candidate to Baltimore or Norfolk?" pre-spring training dilemma.
They opted for the Triple-A route in each of the past two years with Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez.
This year's decision will be even tougher than usual with a strong infield situation, where they're already going to need to bench either Jorge Mateo or Jordan Westburg on Opening Day.
But Holliday has the potential to be immediately special, and Baltimore should probably be looking to trade either Mateo or Ramón Urías, both to make room for Holliday and to upgrade the back end of the rotation.
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Boston Red Sox
4 of 30
Boston Red Sox: Are They Even Trying to Win in 2024?
Dissatisfied with Chaim Bloom's ability to build a winning roster, the Red Sox brought in Craig Breslow to serve as Chief Baseball Officer...and seem to have gotten worse.
Aside from effectively swapping Alex Verdugo's final year before free agency for Tyler O'Neill's final year before free agency and effectively trading Chris Sale for Lucas Giolito and Vaughn Grissom, they've done a whole lot of nothing.
The prevailing sentiment these days is that they'll end up signing Jordan Montgomery. They have the money to spend and he lives in Boston.
But will that seemingly obvious marriage actually happen?
And would having Montgomery take what was James Paxton's spot in the rotation even be enough to get the Red Sox out of the AL East basement?
Chicago Cubs
5 of 30
Biggest Question: Are They Going to Re-Sign Cody Bellinger or What?
Thus far, Chicago's offseason has been...uninspiring.
The Cubs did land Shōta Imanaga, but they needed someone to take Marcus Stroman's spot in the starting rotation. Time will tell if that's even an upgrade.
Beyond that, all they've done is lose trade deadline acquisition Jeimer Candelario, gain a solid reliever in Hector Neris and play a dangerous game of chicken with Cody Bellinger.
If they ultimately bring Bellinger back, they should be in reasonably good shape to battle St. Louis for the NL Central crown. And at this stage in the offseason, it does look like this is the team best positioned/most desperate to give Belly a big payday.
But if they don't, Matt Mervis gets another shot at first base? Or they hope for the best in year No. 4 of the Patrick Wisdom experience?
Either way, the Cubs would be worse off than where they finished last season, when they went 11-17 down the stretch to blow a spot in the playoffs.
Chicago White Sox
6 of 30
Biggest Question: What Would You Say...Ya Do Here?
The Chicago White Sox are clearly in a rebuilding situation, but they are also somehow still loaded with short-term assets.
Of the 16 players making at least $1.5M in 2024, four are unrestricted free agents after this season, five have club/mutual options for 2025 (four of which are unlikely to be exercised) and four others will be unrestricted free agents after next season.
Provided they don't trade them away, they'll probably exercise their club options on Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert Jr. to keep those guys around through 2026 and 2027, respectively. However, the only ones locked in/arbitration-eligible through 2026 are Andrew Vaughn and Andrew Benintendi.
Notably: Not a pitcher on that list of four names.
It's not pretty, and most of those 16 players don't have much value on the trade block.
But there's a massive exception to that rule in Dylan Cease. They could get somewhat of a king's ransom and expedite that rebuild by trading away the ace with two years of team control remaining.
Instead, they seem to be somewhat set on carrying him into the regular season and hoping for an even bigger offer ahead of the trade deadline.
Cincinnati Reds
7 of 30
Biggest Question: Have the Arms Caught Up to the Bats?
Cincinnati was, hands down, the most surprising team to post a winning record in 2023.
Arizona was also a surprise, for sure, but you could've squinted in the preseason and seen the Diamondbacks winning at least 82 games.
But the Reds?
After going all-in on a rebuild ahead of the 2022 trade deadline and adding no one during the offseason more noteworthy than the artist formerly known as Wil Myers?
Not a chance.
But their young bats were awesome, finishing ninth in the majors in runs scored.
And they added a bunch of pitching this offseason to address what was still a negative-38 run differential in spite of all that hitting.
Frankie Montas, Nick Martínez, Emilio Pagán and Brent Suter were all significant additions who could help this team win 90 or more games—provided the bats continue to deliver.
Cleveland Guardians
8 of 30
Biggest Question: Did Anyone Tell Cleveland the Offseason Started Months Ago?
The Guardians did make a couple of moves, suggesting they most definitely got the memo here.
But aside from trading away Cal Quantrill and trading for Scott Barlow on the same day in mid-November, they've basically done nothing to change up a team that went 76-86 last season.
Considering the Guardians had one of the least productive lineups in the majors in 2023, opting to just run it back again with basically the same group of guys is certainly a bold decision.
To be fair, it's hard to blame them for not doing much when ponying up an atypical-for-Cleveland amount of money for Josh Bell went so poorly last year. And they are to some extent banking on full seasons from their mid-2023 call-ups Bo Naylor and Brayan Rocchio.
Still, it has been a mighty uneventful offseason for the Guardians.
Colorado Rockies
9 of 30
Biggest Question: Will the Transition to First Base Help Kris Bryant?
Breaking news: Colorado is not going to win the 2024 World Series.
In all likelihood, the Rockies won't even finish in the top 80 percent of the NL West standings.
But if moving their $182M man from the outfield to first base on a full-time basis helps him stay healthier and get more productive than he has been over his first two seasons with the franchise, well that's at least a big step in the right direction.
Kris Bryant has played in just 122 games thus far for the Rockies, who have gone from bad to worse to awful since making him the face of the franchise during the 2021-22 offseason. Getting him into the heart of the order as often as possible is a must, if only to figure out if it's even worth trying to build a contender at any point in the next half-decade.
Detroit Tigers
10 of 30
Biggest Question: Shouldn't Detroit Be Favored to Win the AL Central?
Kenta Maeda. Jack Flaherty. Mark Canha. Andrew Chafin. Shelby Miller. A massive contract to top prospect Colt Keith, who will presumably be an Opening Day starter in the infield. And Casey Mize returning from Tommy John surgery.
Suffice it to say, the Tigers look a bit different than they did five months ago. And it sure looks to be for the better, with Eduardo Rodriguez the only noteworthy subtraction from last year's roster.
So, with neither Cleveland nor Minnesota doing anything in particular to improve their roster situations, why exactly is Detroit (+350) so far behind Minnesota (-115) and tied with Cleveland (+350) in the 'Win the AL Central' odds?
Is it just because they're the Tigers and they haven't won the division since 2014?
Detroit flirted with finishing .500 last year and should get over that hump this year. And in this division, 84 wins might do the trick.
Houston Astros
11 of 30
Biggest Question: Will Jake Meyers Lock Down the CF Job?
In November, Houston reportedly put Jake Meyers on the trade block.
Less than a month later, Astros GM Dana Brown was telling reporters at the Winter Meetings that he views Meyers as their starting center fielder.
His value added on defense is undeniable. But if his bat doesn't improve, at what point does Meyers' career OPS of .675 become a deal-breaker for the Astros?
They do have other options if Meyers falls flat. Chas McCormick figures to be the primary left fielder, but he has played plenty of center over the past three seasons. Moreover, Gold Glove-winning utilityman Mauricio Dubón has also played nearly 1,000 innings in center in his career.
It's less of a question of what Houston does if Meyers struggles than a question of how long they wait to make a change if it's not working out.
Considering the reigning AL West champions were two losses away from missing the postseason altogether, patience might not be a virtue in this case.
Kansas City Royals
12 of 30
Biggest Question: Can Cole Ragans Do It Again?
Kansas City made a lot of noteworthy moves this offseason. The massive extension for Bobby Witt Jr. was biggest eyebrow raiser, but they also signed Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Chris Stratton, Will Smith, Hunter Renfroe, Adam Frazier and Garrett Hampson in the quest to dig themselves out of 106-loss hell in a single offseason. (They also traded for Kyle Wright, but he won't pitch in 2024.)
Aside from the Dodgers spending a literal billion dollars, the Royals invested the most to get better this winter.
But what might a full season of Cole Ragans look like for them?
After going to the Royals in the Aroldis Chapman trade, Ragans gave them a 2.64 ERA in 12 starts, becoming the undisputed ace of the staff. If he's able to do more of that over the course of 30 or so starts while both Wacha and Lugo pitch as well as they did for San Diego last season, Kansas City could be gearing up to make history.
The only active MLB franchises to make the postseason the year after suffering at least 100 losses were the Minnesota Twins (in 2017 after a 103-loss season) and the Miami Marlins (in 2020 after a 105-loss season). Going from 106 losses to the playoffs would be a record—and a feasible task in the AL Central.
Los Angeles Angels
13 of 30
Biggest Question: Is This Where Blake Snell Lands?
When it comes to marquee hitters, Angels owner Arte Moreno has historically spent like a kid with a credit card in a candy store.
For pitchers, however, it's a much different story. And that seems to be holding up the "Blake Snell to the Angels" news that we've been kind of, sort of expecting to see for a while now, as this is one of the only franchises that feasibly could still add a $200M pitcher.
If they do sign Snell, though, does it even change anything in the projected 2024 AL West hierarchy?
For now, the Shohei Ohtani-less Halos are in a tier of their own, well ahead of the hapless A's, but also well behind the Houston-Seattle-Texas triumvirate.
Adding a two-time Cy Young winner should, of course, help the Angels close that gap to some extent. But this would be more of a move for 2025 and beyond—which could explain why they've been every bit as patient as Snell has been with this process.
Los Angeles Dodgers
14 of 30
Biggest Question: Can They Make Regular-Season History?
After back-to-back unceremoniously early exits from the postseason, no amount of regular-season wins will make this year feel like a success for the Dodgers if it doesn't at least result in a trip to the NLCS.
Frankly, given all they've spent this offseason, anything shy of winning the World Series will be a letdown.
But Seattle's MLB record of 116 regular-season wins in 2001 is at least worth keeping in mind, right?
The Dodgers won 111 games two seasons ago, and that team wasn't this preposterously loaded.
If Walker Buehler is healthy and if Tyler Glasnow stays healthy, the starting rotation should rank among the best in the majors, especially once Clayton Kershaw is back in the mix at some point in the second half of the season.
But it's the lineup that is especially absurd, where James Outman—fresh off a rookie season with 23 home runs and 16 stolen bases—will probably bat eighth against righties and ride the pine against lefties. Put him in Cleveland and he's in the heart of the order on a daily basis. In L.A., though, he's a supplementary, part-time character.
Miami Marlins
15 of 30
Biggest Question: Is Jesús Luzardo Still on the Trade Block?
With Sandy Alcantara (Tommy John) on the shelf for 2024, Jesús Luzardo is probably going to be Miami's Opening Day starter. But there were rumblings two months ago that the 26-year-old southpaw—who is arbitration-eligible through 2026—might be on the trade block.
Nothing really came of it, though, so at this point, we almost have to assume he will open the season in the Marlins' rotation.
But if Miami's season unravels, could Luzardo be the biggest name on the move ahead of the trade deadline?
The only impending free agents on Miami's roster are Josh Bell and Tanner Scott, so they won't have a ton to offer in the two-month-rental department. But for two-and-a-half years of Luzardo, the Marlins could get quite the prospect haul—even more than what Cincinnati got for one-and-a-half years of Luis Castillo or Tyler Mahle two summers ago.
Then again, Miami could make another surprise run to the postseason and make this all a moot point.
Milwaukee Brewers
16 of 30
Biggest Question: What's the End Game Here?
Parts of Milwaukee's offseason—trading away Corbin Burnes, Mark Canha, Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor for a bunch of prospects/salary relief; non-tendering Rowdy Tellez—have made it look like this team has no intention of winning in 2024.
But the Brewers also invested more than $50 million in free agents, most notably signing Rhys Hoskins to a one-year deal with a player option for a second season, but more recently signing both Gary Sánchez and Jake Junis after trading away Burnes.
It's reminiscent of two trade deadlines ago when Boston couldn't decide if it was a buyer or a seller, half-heartedly going in both directions and ending up in roster purgatory.
When Burnes was dealt, it was assumed that fellow soon-to-be free agent Willy Adames wouldn't be far behind him. But maybe they'll hang onto their slugging shortstop and give this season the ol' college try after all?
It's just bizarre that they threw up the "rebuilding" bat signal in unloading Burnes before a bit of a change of heart.
Minnesota Twins
17 of 30
Biggest Question: Is There Any Money Here?
Of all the teams impacted by MLB's ongoing Regional Sports Networks mess, the small-market Minnesota Twins—one year after maybe over-stretching themselves with the Carlos Correa signing—have taken the biggest hit.
As a result, they are now a far cry from the team that won the AL Central in 2023.
The Twins lost all of Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, Tyler Mahle, Michael A. Taylor, Donovan Solano, Emilio Pagan, Joey Gallo and Dylan Floro to free agency—though Mahle played almost no part on last year's team.
Minnesota did finally sign a couple of free agents (1B/DH Carlos Santana and RP Jay Jackson) to small deals earlier this month, but not until after getting $8 million in cash and some salary relief by trading Jorge Polanco to the Mariners.
There is almost always one team that goes straight from the postseason one year to a sub-.500 record the next, and an inability to spend any money this offseason has made Minnesota one of the most likely candidates to fill that role this year.
New York Mets
18 of 30
Biggest Question: Are They All the Way Back in on Winning This Season?
At last year's trade deadline, it looked like the Mets were already throwing in the towel on 2024, not only trading away both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, but agreeing to retain a significant chunk of what was left on their contracts.
But they held onto Pete Alonso for his final year before hitting free agency. They signed each of Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Harrison Bader to eight-figure salaries. They traded for Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor. And they've recently added a few more bullpen arms in Shintaro Fujinami and Jake Diekman.
Does that sound to you like a team that has already waved the white flag on this season?
At this point, the Mets are on track to blow well past the luxury tax threshold once again. It probably won't be a $100-plus million tax payment this year, but it's not going to be an insignificant chunk of change by any means.
If they end up as sellers at the deadline, they'll have a whole lot to offer, not the least of which is a few months of Alonso. But if they end up buying, goodness knows Steve Cohen isn't afraid to spend money.
New York Yankees
19 of 30
Biggest Question: Will the Starting Rotation Stay Healthy? (And Effective?)
Between Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodón and Marcus Stroman, the Yankees have a trio of pitchers who each have at least one All-Star Game and at least one top-10 finish for a Cy Young at some point in their careers.
It's also a trio from which at least one pitcher was on the IL each and every day of the 2023 season, as well as a trio that had a cumulative ERA of 4.90 in 264.1 innings pitched last season.
Will it be a World Series-bound staff of four aces led by Gerrit Cole?
Or are the Yanks headed for another .500ish campaign with the likes of Clarke Schmidt, Yoendrys Gómez and Clayton Beeter forced to make a combined total of 60+ starts?
The Juan Soto addition helps the offense immensely, of course, but Cole can't pitch every day.
Oakland Athletics
20 of 30
Biggest Question: What's the Latest on the Relocation?
The A's are going to be irrelevant in the 2024 standings, but will they still be in Oakland beyond next season?
After a 2023 regular season with constant talk of relocation to Las Vegas, basically nothing has happened this offseason on that front. The owners voted to approve the move, but that only means that it can happen at some point, not that it is imminently on the horizon.
Funding for the proposed new stadium in Las Vegas has been an issue, perhaps in part because the plans for the ballpark that were supposed to come more than two months ago were never released.
Last week, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao spoke with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, saying "There was a thought that this plan [A's owner John Fisher] had in the beginning was viable. And now we're seeing that actually, maybe the plan isn't viable. The question becomes, are the plans not viable or is it that the ownership's not viable?"
Yikes.
The Oakland-to-Las Vegas move is nowhere near dead yet. It's probably still more likely to happen than not. But those "Sell the Team" chants and boycotts might get even louder and more frequent in 2024.
Philadelphia Phillies
21 of 30
Biggest Question: Who Is the Closer?
With Craig Kimbrel out of the picture, the assumption is that José Alvarado will assume the full-time role as Philadelphia's closer.
But will he?
Gregory Soto leads the roster with 53 career saves, 30 of which came in 2022 with Detroit. But he didn't pitch particularly well last season for the Phillies.
Seranthony Domínguez also has nearly as many career saves (27) as Alvarado (32) and could be the ninth-inning guy again if he stays healthy and gets his whiff rate back up to where it used to be.
Jeff Hoffman only has two career saves and Orion Kerkering doesn't have any, but the Phillies sure trusted those two relievers in pivotal roles often during their 2023 postseason run.
Or what about bringing in someone else with a lot of experience in the role?
There's been talk recently of Philadelphia possibly trading for Kenley Jansen. And if they are looking to trade for a closer, better at least give Milwaukee a call to see what it would take to acquire two years' worth of Devin Williams before he hits free agency.
Pittsburgh Pirates
22 of 30
Biggest Question: Why Did They Make Aroldis Chapman Their Highest-Paid Player?
Signing an established closer to a one-year, eight-figure deal is something you do when you think you're close to winning a World Series.
It's what the Orioles did with Craig Kimbrel a few months ago. It's also what the Phillies did with Kimbrel last year, and what the Mets did with David Robertson. And it was a sizable splash that Atlanta made with Kenley Jansen during the 2021-22 winter.
But the Pirates?
Signing Aroldis Chapman to a one-year, $10.5 million deal?
Paying him more in 2024 than any other player on the roster?
Say what?
Pittsburgh has definitely made some moves to improve this offseason, getting both Rowdy Tellez and Martín Pérez on one-year deals and trading for both Edward Olivares and Marco Gonzales. But particularly for a team that already had a really good closer in David Bednar, this was a major head-scratcher.
San Diego Padres
23 of 30
Biggest Question: Where Are the Outfielders?
It made a lot of long-term sense for the Padres to trade away Juan Soto. They almost certainly weren't going to be able to re-sign him beyond 2024, and they were able to get a solid haul of pitchers from the Yankees for Soto and Trent Grisham.
But in the short term, they do realize they should probably have at least three outfielders on the roster, right?
As things stand, San Diego has an outstanding right fielder in Fernando Tatis Jr., two gigantic question marks in José Azocar (who would be a backup on basically any other roster) and Jakob Marsee (a budding prospect who should probably start the year in the minors)...and that's it.
There definitely are still options in free agency.
Eddie Rosario is available. Michael A. Taylor is still out there. Randal Grichuk wouldn't be a bad pickup. Jorge Soler could play left. Could go a bit older with Whit Merrifield, Tommy Pham, Adam Duvall, A.J. Pollock or David Peralta. And, of course, there's Cody Bellinger, if the Padres have shed enough salary to the point where they can make another big investment.
But they've strangely done nothing about their outfield void for months.
Editor's Note: The Padres reportedly agreed to terms with Jurickson Profar on a one-year, $1M contract on Monday, per Robert Murray of FanSided.
San Francisco Giants
24 of 30
Biggest Question: Could/Would They Sign One of the Big Names Still Available?
From the outset, San Francisco has been the most logical landing spot for LHP Blake Snell.
If Snell is too expensive, LHP Jordan Montgomery would also fit well in the rotation alongside Logan Webb.
San Francisco also makes some sense as a long-term home for 1B/CF Cody Bellinger, if only because of how well he hit against the Dodgers last season (1.300 OPS in seven games).
And there are certainly worse fits for 3B Matt Chapman, who would be a substantial defensive upgrade from J.D. Davis, who could then become the primary DH.
Will the Giants actually pull one of those triggers, though?
Or are they content with letting Jung Hoo Lee and Jordan Hicks serve as their big splashes in an offseason they hoped would net them Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto?
Seattle Mariners
25 of 30
Biggest Question: What If Mitch Haniger and Luke Raley Struggle Again?
In Julio Rodríguez, the Seattle Mariners have perhaps the most valuable center fielder in the majors.
But in Mitch Haniger, Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone and Sam Haggerty, they also have maybe the most questionable corner-outfield situation in the bigs.
Haniger was great for the M's in 2021, but in four of the past five seasons, he was nothing special, if the oft-injured right fielder even played at all.
And while Raley had a stupendous first half of last season, he was unable to sustain that success beyond June and has modest career numbers.
Sure feels like Seattle has downgraded from having Jarred Kelenic and Teoscar Hernández as the primary LF/RF plan last season, but how much of a downgrade was it?
And did trading for Jorge Polanco to man second base do enough to offset that downgrade?
St. Louis Cardinals
26 of 30
Biggest Question: Did They Upgrade the Pitching Staff Enough?
Solely by signing Sonny Gray, St. Louis' starting rotation looks a whole lot better than it did by the end of last season, when Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, Drew Rom and Jake Woodford were laying a collective egg on a regular basis.
But beyond Gray and Miles Mikolas—who struggled last season in his own right—are we sure this starting rotation can win the NL Central?
Lance Lynn had one good month with the Dodgers after the trade deadline, but has a 5.04 ERA since the start of 2022. Kyle Gibson hasn't been much better with a 4.88 ERA over the past two years. They certainly haven't been committed to Steven Matz as a starter since signing him two years ago, either.
But each of those three has an eight-figure salary in 2024 and figures to make up three-fifths of the starting rotation, at least at the start of the season.
Tampa Bay Rays
27 of 30
Biggest Question: Are They Going to Sign Another Catcher?
There are plenty of question marks in Tampa Bay's rotation, with unproven-and-returning-from-injury Shane Baz maybe a big part of the plan and with both Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen returning at some TBD point from their elbow surgeries last spring.
But the pitching might actually be solid, even after trading away Tyler Glasnow.
Who the heck is receiving all this pitching, though?
The Rays still only have one catcher on the 40-man roster.
That lone catcher isn't even a sure thing, either, as René Pinto has made a grand total of 54 starts in his MLB career. And with Gary Sánchez recently snatched up by Milwaukee, it's slim pickens left in free agency.
Maybe a trade for San Francisco's Joey Bart?
Texas Rangers
28 of 30
Biggest Question: Who Pitches Until the All-Star Break?
In Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle, the Texas Rangers have a trio of starting pitchers who aren't expected to start any games until at least midway through the regular season.
Mahle had Tommy John surgery in late May. deGrom had his (second) TJ in mid-June. And while recovery times vary to some extent, 14 months is typically the baseline for that procedure, which would put both back in the mix somewhere around the trade deadline.
Meanwhile, Scherzer had surgery on a herniated disk in December and is expected to be out until "at least June or July."
They do still have solid options in Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray and Dane Dunning, but they went out and got deGrom, Scherzer and Mahle because they weren't exactly comfortable with that being the starting rotation.
Will be interesting to see what happens if the Rangers sputter out of the gate because of the pitching. Do they wait for the cavalry to arrive over the summer?
Toronto Blue Jays
29 of 30
Biggest Question: Who Gets the Fifth Spot in the Starting Rotation?
The projected Cavan Biggio/Davis Schneider platoon at second is bit questionable. And if Isiah Kiner-Falefa is the everyday plan at third base, that is a colossal drop off in slugging from what the Blue Jays had with Matt Chapman last season.
But, on the whole, the lineup/defense should be fine.
That last spot in the starting rotation is the big question mark, following both Alek Manoah's disastrous 2023 campaign and Toronto's signing of Yariel Rodríguez, who didn't pitch last season in Cuba.
It's possible both could be regulars in what would be a six-man rotation.
It's also possible that neither one makes the cut and they go with either Bowden Francis or top prospect Ricky Tiedemann.
Washington Nationals
30 of 30
Biggest Question: If/When to Call Up the Outfield Studs?
Realistically speaking, the Washington Nationals have no hope of contending in 2024. Some intriguing young pieces, for sure, especially if Cade Cavalli (Tommy John last spring) is able to make any sort of contributions. But they are projected to be the worst non-Rockies National League team for a reason.
So they should keep 21-year-old James Wood and soon-to-be 22-year-old Dylan Crews down in the minors, right?
Those are two of the best prospects in all of baseball, rated seventh and fifth, respectively, in Joel Reuter's updated prospect rankings from last month. But if there's any franchise that appreciates the impact of MLB's free agency service clock these days, it's the one that had to trade away both Trea Turner and Juan Soto while they could still get something good for them.
Neither Wood nor Crews even made it past Double-A Harrisburg last year, so they wouldn't exactly be stunting their growth by letting them hang out at Triple-A Rochester until September call-ups.
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