1 MLB Offseason Mulligan Every Team Wishes It Had
Should've, would've and could've are three of the most painful words for a fan of a Major League Baseball franchise, but let's look back on the 2024-25 offseason to identify the one move (or non-move) where each team would like to have a do-over.
For some teams, it was a challenge to even pinpoint a clear misstep.
For a lot of teams, though, the challenge was choosing from the several mulligans they'd love to have, based on how things have played out through the first almost-one-third of this season.
Not every mulligan on this list was a move the team wishes it could take back. Rather, in some cases, choosing not to do more to address a problem area is the non-move they'd love to have back.
Teams are broken up by division and listed in alphabetical order within each division. Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current through the start of play Monday.
American League East
1 of 6
Baltimore Orioles: Thinking the pitching staff would be sufficient
In an ideal world, 41-year-old Charlie Morton would've had one more quality season left in the tank, Grayson Rodriguez wouldn't have missed the first 30 percent (and counting) of the year on the IL, one of Dean Kremer, Cade Povich or Albert Suárez would've held his own at No. 5 in the rotation until Kyle Bradish and/or Tyler Wells returned in August-ish from their Tommy John surgeries and an offense that ranked fourth in the majors in runs scored in 2024 would've been potent enough to take care of the rest.
However, this season has been anything but an ideal world for the Orioles, who may already be thinking about 2026 draft position. In particular, signing Morton less than a week after Corbin Burnes inked his monster deal with the Diamondbacks feels like the biggest blunder.
Boston Red Sox: Their handling of the Alex Bregman signing
The acquisition itself has been incredible. Were it not for Aaron Judge just completely running away with it already, Alex Bregman would be maybe the top candidate for AL MVP. And for all the hubbub surrounding his growing discontentment with the franchise, Rafael Devers has an OPS north of .900, thriving in his DH role.
But is that relationship with Devers irreparably damaged after the way Boston handled its offseason pursuit of another third baseman? And will it have been worth the trouble if and when Bregman opts out of the latter two years of his three-year deal in a few months?
New York Yankees: Trading for Devin Williams
The Airbender might have turned a corner. Over his last five appearances, Devin Williams has gone 4.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk with seven strikeouts. That's quite the 180 from opening the year with a line of 11.2 IP, 13 H, 13 ER, 10 BB, 13 K, but how long will it be before they truly trust him in a key late-inning spot again?
The silver lining is they didn't give up anything worthwhile to get him. Nestor Cortes made two appearances with a 9.00 ERA before landing on the 60-day IL, and Caleb Durbin is hitless in his last 24 ABs.
Tampa Bay Rays: Hanging on to Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe
Signing players to back-loaded contracts and trading them away before the expensive seasons hit has been Tampa Bay's M.O. for years. They did it with Tyler Glasnow two winters ago and with Jeffrey Springs this past offseason. We kept waiting for them to unload Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe in advance of their first seasons with an eight-figure salary.
It never happened, though, and now they are both struggling through barely-replacement-level campaigns as the Rays flounder below .500.
Toronto Blue Jays: Signing Anthony Santander
Throwing in the towel on a signee less than two months into a five-year deal would be wildly premature, but the fact remains that Toronto hasn't gotten anything close to what it paid for with Anthony Santander. His left-handed power was supposed to play well at the Rogers Centre, but he has a sub-.600 OPS both at home and on the road through 40 games played, not hitting well regardless of venue.
At least they managed to lock up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. basically for life, but that's minimal consolation at the moment, sitting two games below .500 with one of the five highest payrolls.
American League Central
2 of 6
Chicago White Sox: Picking all the wrong one-year free agents
Chicago's only big offseason move was shipping Garrett Crochet up to Boston for a platter of prospects, and it'll be a couple of years before we have a better sense of which side won that trade.
But the White Sox also loaded up on veterans on one-year deals—Josh Rojas, Michael A. Taylor, Bryse Wilson, Mike Tauchman, Austin Slater, Martín Pérez, Mike Clevinger, Bobby Dalbec, Joey Gallo, Travis Jankowski and probably a couple more—with the entirely transparent goal of turning them into prospects ahead of the trade deadline. However, pretty much all of those guys are either on the IL, no longer on the roster or producing at a below-replacement level, and they might not be able to fetch any return on any of them.
Cleveland Guardians: Effectively trading Josh Naylor and Myles Straw for Carlos Santana and Paul Sewald
The actual series of events here was trading Josh Naylor to Arizona for Slade Cecconi, signing Carlos Santana a few days later, trading Myles Straw to Toronto for a player to be named later and signing Paul Sewald a few days later. As far as the balance sheet is concerned, though, it might as well have been a straight two-for-two swap, the combined outgoing salaries ($17.3M) almost equal to the incoming costs ($18M).
For their trouble, Santana has given the Guardians an OPS 180 points below what Naylor is doing in Arizona, Sewald had a 6.14 ERA before landing on the IL and Straw has been worth 0.9 bWAR in Toronto while the Guardians outfield (save for Steven Kwan) has been a trainwreck. At least Cecconi pitched well in his season debut on Saturday?
Detroit Tigers: Investing $15M in Alex Cobb
Alex Cobb was on the IL three separate times last season, logging just 16.1 innings pitched during the regular season before making two ineffective starts in the postseason for what was a 7.94 ERA. MLB Trade Rumors didn't even have the 37-year-old among its top 50 free agents, leaving him off the list in favor of Spencer Turnbull, Michael Soroka, Kyle Gibson, NPB wild card Shinnosuke Ogasawara and even Shane Bieber, who we already knew was likely to be out until at least August.
Yet, Detroit threw $15M at Cobb, who has yet to pitch in 2025. Perhaps most frustrating for Tigers fans is that the rotation has been darn good without him, so they could have used that money instead to add an impact bat at third base.
Kansas City Royals: Not doing more to upgrade the offense
The Royals traded for Jonathan India early in the offseason and traded for Mark Canha just before Opening Day. They also took a flyer on Cavan Biggio. So, they at least tried to do something.
Unfortunately, all three of those acquisitions had amounted to a negative bWAR at the start of play on Monday. 35-year-old Salvador Perez has also taken a huge step backward, posting a sub-.600 OPS for a team that almost ranks dead last in the majors in scoring at 3.31 runs per game.
Minnesota Twins: Trading for Diego Cartaya
Not much to choose from here, as the Twins both didn't do much this offseason and crushed it with most of the moves they did make, especially Harrison Bader and Danny Coulombe playing colossal roles for a team that is five games above .500. But they did trade a low-level pitching prospect (Jose Vasquez) to the Dodgers for former highly touted prospect Diego Cartaya.
Emphasis on 'former,' though, as Cartaya posted a sub-.700 OPS in each of the past two seasons. And before landing in his current spot on the IL, he was 2-for-32 with 23 strikeouts in Triple-A this year. We'll see if Vasquez amounts to anything down the line, though. The move won't sting much until then.
American League West
3 of 6
Athletics: Moving to Sutter Health Park
By all accounts, West Sacramento has adopted the Athletics as their own. They're last in the AL in attendance, but the average count is no worse than the previous four years in Oakland. And playing anywhere other than the dilapidated O.Co has to feel like a win for the players.
However, the A's are 8-13 with a minus-49 run differential in their temporary stomping grounds. Their "at home" OPS of .732 is slightly better than the league-average mark of .727, but their "at home" OPS against of .856 is abysmal. The only other teams north of .800 are Colorado with a rather typical mark of .822 at Coors Field and the woebegone Orioles allowing a .909 OPS at Camden Yards.
(As far as roster mulligans go, the A's are surely wishing they had locked up Jacob Wilson on a long-term deal while they were putting together their Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler extensions.)
Houston Astros: Signing Christian Walker
At this point, Houston's first base situation might just be cursed. Yuli Gurriel's final season there in 2022 was brutal. The José Abreu contract was a disaster of the highest order. Jon Singleton was only marginally better than Abreu after taking his spot as the regular last year. And now after three straight years in Arizona with an OPS north of .800, Christian Walker has been hovering at or below the Mendoza Line for the first eight weeks of his three-year, $60M deal.
They still owe Abreu $19.5M, too, so they're essentially paying $39.5M for Walker's 0.0 bWAR at first base.
Los Angeles Angels: Trading for Jorge Soler
The first of two spots on this list where a team wishes it could have a Griffin Canning mulligan, giving up that starting pitcher for Jorge Soler has aged horrendously for the Angels.
While Canning has been lights out on a $4.25M deal with the Mets, Soler is making more than triple that ($13M) for what is presently his worst OPS (.680) in a season with more than 110 plate appearances, providing virtually no ROI as the primary DH for the Halos.
Worse still, one week after the trade, they signed Kyle Hendricks to replace Canning in the rotation. He has a 5.18 ERA and a 1-5 record through eight starts.
Seattle Mariners: Signing Donovan Solano and Rowdy Tellez to play first base
Houston's first base situation may be cursed for 3+ years at this point, but Seattle has been a travesty there for about two decades now.
Since the end of Richie Sexson's prime in the early 2000s, Ty France has been the Mariners' most valuable first baseman. And even he dropped so far off a cliff over the past two years that they traded him away for basically nothing last summer. Adding Donovan Solano and Rowdy Tellez and having them hit a combined .175 while manning first base is just depressing business as usual, and it's inevitable they'll be looking for an upgrade at the trade deadline. (Shame they couldn't find the coin to go get Pete Alonso.)
Texas Rangers: Signing Joc Pederson
Ten different players made at least six starts at designated hitter for the Rangers last season, none of whom did it more than 25 times. It's little wonder they went searching for a more permanent DH solution this offseason, giving Joc Pederson a two-year, $37M deal after the dynamite 2024 campaign he had with Arizona.
Though he has made 33 starts at DH and has at least finally homered twice in the past 10 days, Pederson is batting .130 with a .503 OPS and is the biggest reason this offense has been such a disappointment thus far.
National League East
4 of 6
Atlanta Braves: Non-tendering Griffin Canning
In what was one of the first transactions of the entire MLB offseason, Atlanta traded Jorge Soler to the Angels for Griffin Canning. The Braves proceeded to non-tender Canning a few weeks later, as the initial move was purely a salary dump to get out from under the two years and $26M remaining on Soler's deal.
But while Atlanta has been stuck with Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder as "barely replacement level" options for a combined total of 17 starts, Canning is having the year of his life with the Mets, making it a double whammy for Atlanta.
('Honorable' mention for the decision to make Jurickson Profar by far their most noteworthy acquisition, but they could at least get some value out of him in the second half.)
Miami Marlins: Trading Jesús Luzardo to the Phillies
After a 2024 season in which he was both injured and ineffective, Jesús Luzardo has been maybe the most valuable pitcher in all of baseball thus far. Whether keeping him and getting that type of production would have been enough to salvage Miami's season is debatable, and they did get a highly touted prospect in the deal in Starlyn Caba.
However, Caba lasted just 11 games at Single-A Jupiter before suffering a thumb injury and landing on the 60-day IL, while Luzardo has become the driving force of a division rival.
New York Mets: Not locking up Pete Alonso for longer
In the end, New York won its game of chicken with the Polar Bear. After looking elsewhere for a few months and just not getting the type of lucrative long-term deal he was expecting, Pete Alonso ended up re-signing with the Mets on a one-year, $30M contract with a $24M player option for next season.
He was promptly named the NL Player of the Month in April for an incredible start that surely has the Mets wishing they had been willing to go a bit more long term on their 2024 wild card series hero.
Philadelphia Phillies: Keeping the status quo at third base
A month ago, the big do-over Philadelphia would have wanted was betting on Jordan Romano, given he allowed 14 earned runs in his first 9.1 innings. But he has turned quite a corner and is almost certainly their most trusted reliever at this point, with Jose Alvarado out of the picture for the next three months.
Alec Bohm has also turned a corner at the hot corner after an equally rough start to the year, but he's still batting eighth in a lineup with seven reliable bats, you know? They could have pursued a trade for a third baseman, but decided to just run it back again with a guy who hit .170 in September and even worse in October, and they have to be regretting it.
Washington Nationals: Not signing James Wood to a long-term deal while it might have been affordable
If there's one MLB franchise who ought to be able to appreciate the growing trend in recent years of signing top prospects to major contracts before they get too expensive, you would think it's the one presently forced to share a division with its former stars Bryce Harper, Juan Soto and Trea Turner.
But while Soto signed his $765M deal with the Mets, the Nationals opted against giving James Wood a Ronald Acuña Jr. type of long-term contract. Now, he's on the fast track to becoming the next superstar who leaves D.C. right as he's hitting his prime.
National League Central
5 of 6
Chicago Cubs: Third base in general
Acquiring Kyle Tucker for one year certainly hasn't been bad for the Cubs, but giving up Isaac Paredes and Cam Smith to make it happen was regrettable.
While that duo has combined for 2.6 bWAR while manning 3B and RF for the Astros, Chicago's third base situation has been maybe as disastrous as any spot in any lineup. Six different players have triple-slashed .184/.271/.222 with zero home runs while playing third base for the Cubs.
Cincinnati Reds: Trading for Brady Singer
For the most part, Cincinnati's starting rotation has been on point, the quartet of Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo and Nick Martinez entering play on Sunday with a cumulative 3.00 ERA through 180 innings pitched. But then there's Brady Singer, saddled with a 5.01 ERA in his first nine starts after Cincinnati gave up Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer to get him.
The offense tends to be awesome when he takes the mound, though, scoring at least five runs in eight of his nine starts, resulting in a 5-2 record. But his production has been replacement level to this point.
Milwaukee Brewers: Not protecting Shane Smith in the Rule 5 draft
After he had spent four years in the minors, Milwaukee had to decide whether to place Shane Smith on its 40-man roster or allow him to be taken in this winter's Rule 5 draft. They opted not to protect him, and the Chicago White Sox snagged him with the first pick. He has been their MVP with a 2.05 ERA through nine starts.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee also took a pitcher in the Rule 5 draft, selecting Connor Thomas from St. Louis. He made two appearances before landing on the IL, allowing 12 earned runs in 5.1 innings.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Lowballing Alex Verdugo
There wasn't a particular move or non-move that sealed Pittsburgh's fate as the NL Central's basement dweller, but there was one that symbolically reminded us where the Pirates stand as an organization in general. There were reports in February that they were willing to pay Alex Verdugo $8M to be their primary left fielder for this season. Instead, they ended up giving $4M to Tommy Pham while Verdugo later settled for a $1.5M minor-league deal with Atlanta.
Neither outfielder has been good, so they kind of dodged a bullet by saving $4M in a season going nowhere fast. All the same, opting for the 37-year-old who had been kicked around to five different teams in the past two seasons showed how unserious they are about trying to win right now.
St. Louis Cardinals: Never picking a lane
While the Baltimore Orioles have been the surprising disaster of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals have been the surprise success story, sitting one game back in both the NL Central and NL wild card pictures at the start of play on Sunday, despite entering the offseason looking like a team destined for a rebuild.
Instead, they had one of the most uneventful offseasons ever and could be headed for a difficult decision on how invested they are in winning in 2025, sort of stuck in no-man's land.
National League West
6 of 6
Arizona Diamondbacks: Not upgrading in the outfield
Though the team hasn't quite lived up to the hype, most of Arizona's offseason decisions—signing Corbin Burnes and Shelby Miller, trading for Josh Naylor, not re-signing Joc Pederson—have worked out wonderfully.
But rather than addressing what has been something of a "Corbin Carroll or Bust" outfield situation over the past two years, they chose to let it ride with two of Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. manning left and center on most nights. That trio has amounted to a negative-0.4 bWAR for a team that has a +3 run differential for the year.
Colorado Rockies: Spending anything on one-year deals
For a team going nowhere fast, there's at least some merit to the strategy of signing free agents to inexpensive one-year deals in the hope of trading them for a prospect or two at the deadline. The Washington Nationals have been doing it for a few years now, and the Chicago White Sox leaned into it in a big way this past offseason.
But the Rockies investing more than $12M total into Kyle Farmer, Jacob Stallings, Mickey Moniak, Thairo Estrada and Scott Alexander felt a bit like simply lighting that money on fire. We'll see if they can get anything for any of those five players, but early returns aren't looking great.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Making Michael Conforto Plan A in left field
In 2024 with the San Francisco Giants, Michael Conforto slugged .530 and hit 17 home runs on the road. Had he been able to hit like that at Oracle Park, too, he would've been a top 20 slugger in baseball. And the Dodgers made a $17M bet on him more consistently putting up good numbers by getting out of San Francisco.
That hasn't been the case, though, with Conforto batting .170 for the year and now mired in a 36-game homerless streak. With Tommy Edman back off the IL and Teoscar Hernández likely to return this week, too, Conforto probably won't be Plan A much longer if he doesn't snap out of his funk post haste.
San Diego Padres: Penny-pinching in left field
On the one hand, at least the Padres didn't re-sign Jurickson Profar to a massive raise in advance of his 80 games suspension for PEDs.
On the other hand, though, they never did anything to address his departure in free agency, unless you count signing Jason Heyward to a $1M deal as doing something. Heyward is one of seven Padres who has spent at least some length of time playing left field this season, which has been a black hole in the lineup with a cumulative OPS barely north of .500.
San Francisco Giants: Breaking the bank for Willy Adames
It has looked like a less regrettable move in recent weeks than it did one month into the season, but the Giants haven't exactly gotten immediate dividends on their seven-year, $182M investment in Willy Adames. The come-hell-or-high-water franchise shortstop is on pace for around 18 home runs and around 25 errors, and it's tough to say which of those data points is more troubling.
The glass half full perspective, though, is that they're somehow only a game back in the NL West race in spite of the early shortcomings of the former Brewer who historically does his best work in the second half of the season.
