Which Team Had The Best Offseason?
Image credit: Max Scherzer (Getty Images)
This is one of nine burning questions comprising Baseball America’s 2022 MLB Season Preview. To see the full preview, click here.
Ben Badler—Blue Jays. Take a 91-win team from 2021 and add Kevin Gausman, Matt Chapman and Yusei Kikuchi. All without giving up a Top 100 prospect? The Blue Jays are showing how a team supplements a homegrown core and capitalize on the opportunity to be a playoff contender for the next half decade.
Carlos Collazo—Blue Jays. I think the Blue Jays have done a nice job trading from depth—shortstop prospects, notably—to help fill obvious holes for a team that just barely missed the playoffs a year ago. They’ve added pitching depth, acquired a Gold Glove defender in Matt Chapman for a reasonable prospect package that didn’t include away high-upside players who could impact the team this year like catcher Gabriel Moreno and righthander Nate Pearson.
Geoff Pontes—Blue Jays. They’ve added pitching in Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi, and a Gold Glove third baseman with impact power in Matt Chapman. This was a 91-win team in 2021 with one of the most exciting young cores in baseball. Now, they’ve added reinforcements and boast not only one of the top pitching staffs in the game but one of its best lineups as well.
Matt Eddy—Blue Jays. The Blue Jays won 91 games last year and just missed the playoffs. They don’t intend to sit on the sidelines again this October as they attempt to capitalize on the peak seasons of a tremendous young core led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Despite losing key players from last year’s squad—Marcus Semien, Robbie Ray, Steven Matz—Toronto extended the contract of Jose Berrios, signed free agents Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi and traded for Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman. A healthy season from George Springer would go a long way.
Josh Norris—Mets. Max Scherzer and Starling Marte are fantastic additions on their face, but also signals the continued willingness of owner Steve Cohen to spend, spend and spend some more, even if it means having a tax threshold named after him. — JN
Chris Hilburn-Trenkle—Mets. The Mariners and Blue Jays deserve serious consideration here, but the Mets significantly improved their pitching staff, added Starling Marte a year after he posted the best OPS+ of his career and added a solid infielder in Eduardo Escobar.
Kyle Glaser—Mariners: The Mariners added reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray to their rotation and shored up their biggest holes by trading for Jesse Winker (left field), Eugenio Suarez (third base) and Adam Frazier (second base), all of whom were acquired at very reasonable cost. The moves give them a balanced lineup, deep rotation and improved defense, all of which will help them end their 21-year playoff drought.
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