The MLB hot stove has begun to heat up, with numerous teams making big-time moves.Here are the big winners of the offseason so far.
METS:
It’s a new era in Queens, as Steve Cohen became the new owner of the New York Mets, and almost immediately started to make big time moves. First, he filled the teams lack of pitching depth, which is something the team thought they had filled out last offseason, when they signed Micheal Wacha, and Rick Porcello. However, opt outs, injuries, and bad play, across all aspects of the Mets game saw the team go from a playoff contender in 2019 at 89-76, o a team tied for the worst record in the NL East at 24-36. So what did Steve do? He led the charge, and signed reliver Trevor May on a three year deal, to bolster their bullpen, which badly needs a consistent, and reliable pitcher like may was in Minnesota for the Twins.
The organization also brought home young all-star catcher James Mcann on a 4-year deal, to replace the inconsistent Wilson Ramos.
Now all that was great, but Mets fans put their trust in him because he would “move the needle”, and make the Mets a championship contender, and had yet to make a big splashy move to justify that. However, early this January , the Mets made a trade for a top 10 player in all of baseball, superstar Fransisco Lindor! The Indians were shopping their franchise star, looking jumpstart a rebuild, and the Mets took full advantage, as they not only acquired Lindor, but also took on all-star starter Carlos Carrasco, adding him to what is now an officially stacked rotation. If you’re wondering what the Mets gave up for this, it wasn’t much, as the team dealt Amed Rosario, Andre Giminez, as well as prospects Isaih Greene, and Josh wolf to the Indians. Want a fun fact? Those guys aren’t even in the top 100 in the game, among this an absolute no-brainer for the Mets.
The team also acquired youngster Joey Lusetchi, in a trade minor trade with the Pirates as well, to fill out their starting rotation.
So with Noah Syndegard out until July with Tommy John surgery, the Mets are likely to open the season with a starting rotation of
Jacob Degrom
Carlos Carrasco
Marcus Stroman
David Pederson (rookie)
Joey Luuch
If you add Noah to the list, you put Joey in the bullpen, along with Steven Matz, Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman, Delinks Betances, Jeureys Familia Trevor May, and Edwin Diaz. The only downside with this team, is the inconsistency out of guys like Diaz, Betances, and Gsellman, but bottom line is, this team will be a force to reckoned with going forward, and if the cards align, should be a top six team in baseball in 2021.
2. BLUE JAYS
The big splash has finally arrived for the Jays, with star OF George Springer inking a 6 year $150 million deal to join a young squad, that finally broke through, and made the postseason, this past season. Short on pitching depth, they also inked reliver of the yearn Kirby Yates in free agency. Don’t look now, but the Blue Jays are coming for that AL East crowns and it can happen as soon as this season.
3. PADRES:
The most fun team in baseball, just got a whole lot more exciting. Using the best farm system in the game, they dealt away a combined 11 players to acquire two ace-quality starting pitchers, in Blake Snell from the Rays, and Yu Darvish from the Cubs. What this team needed was some starting pitching, after it failed them in the 2020 playoffs, where San Diego bested the Cardinale 2-1, but lost in three games to the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers, come the NLDS. The team also acquired some versatility out of the international pool, inking 3B Him-So-Sang from Japan. Baseball fans know about how stacked the Padres lineup is, so I won’t bore you with that, but now this rotations looking pretty good.
The San Diego rotation looks like this
Snell
Darvish
Chris Paddack
Garret Richards
James Morejan, with a bullpen loaded of high-end young talent to fill this slot until star rookie Dillon Lamet returns from injury. With these two additions to the rotation, the Padres are looking more, and more like the second best team in the talented NL West, and continue to inch closer to the tier the LA Dodgers are on now, as the reigning champions of baseball.
4. YANKEES
For those you that recall, I wrote last month, their were a couple mandatory things the Yankees needed to get done this offseason, with priority #1, being DJ LeMahieu, who they retained by bringing him back on a surprisingly team-friendly 6 year, $90 million deal, giving him $15 million a year up from his previous contrite, where he had an AAV $12 million.
One of the other things they needed to do was get starting pitching, since JA Happ(Twins), James Paxton, and Masahiro Tanaka all leave all become free agents. While the Yankees could fill two of those slots internally with Devi Garcia, and Clark Schmidt, they would need a starter on the open market, and moments of retaining DJ, that present came too.
Two time CY Young award winner Corey Kluber, and the Yankees agreed to a 1 year. $11 million deal, with CK betting on himself after an injury-filled last two seasons. This is a low-risk high-reward move for a Yankees team who badly needed a starting pitcher.
As for the bullpen, they lost Jonathan Holder, but signed Nestor Cortez JR. So this team will be very similar to 2021, but if they can stay healthy, and consistent, this team can go a long way.
5. BRAVES:
This team was one win short of the World Series last season despite only having two legitimate starters last postseason, in rookie Ian Andreson, and Max Fried. Especially when you consider the fact, they had no off days in between games during a series, and had to rely heavily on their young pitchers to push them through several games. Yes, this team blew a 3-1 series lead in the NLCS to the Dodgers, but this team still is young, and is expected to be good for years to come, with Ronald Acuna JR, and Ozzie Albies leading the way. This offseason, their pitching only got better with the addition of veteran Charlie Morton, from Tampa Bay.
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