Which MLB Team Had The Best Offseason?
Image credit: Shohei Ohtani (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
In a series of MLB predictions and preview posts, BA’s editorial staff goes on record with their bold—and not so bold—thoughts about what’s to come in the 2024 season.
We ask the question: Which team had the best offseason?
Our nine prognosticators this year are Ben Badler (BB), Mark Chiarelli (MC), Carlos Collazo (CC), JJ Cooper (JJ), Matt Eddy (ME), Savannah McCann (SM), Josh Norris (JN), Geoff Pontes (GP) and Dylan White (DW).
MLB Predictions 2024: Baseball America’s Ultimate Season Preview
Baseball America is getting fans ready for the start of the 2024 MLB season.
Dodgers
The Dodgers. A year after the team ran out of healthy starting pitching in the postseason, Los Angeles decided to gorge on turning a problem into a strength. (JJ)
Let’s not overthink this one. The Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani, the most talented player on the planet, to a deal that ensures he’ll retire in Dodger Blue and also added one of the most impactful starting pitchers available on the market in Japanese righthander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The cherry on top is not allowing franchise icon Clayton Kershaw to sign elsewhere. (CC)
When a team signs Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and trades for Tyler Glasnow, it’s going to be hard to top that. The Dodgers arguably had one of the best offseasons of all time, pending the results on the field this season. (GP)
Hmmm . . . I’m going to go with the team that signed Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and traded for Tyler Glasnow. (BB)
They acquired the best players and still have a tremendous farm system. (JN)
Signing Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto—and trading for Tyler Glasnow—are arguably the three biggest stories of the offseason, notwithstanding Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes being traded. Add in signing slugger Teoscar Hernandez to replace the departing JD Martinez, and the juggernaut gets even stronger. (DW)
Braves
The Dodgers are an obvious, logical choice in this category after committing $1.2 billion to player acquisition. And yet, the Braves still emerged from the winter with a better lineup, added Chris Sale as their No. 4 starter—health permitting—and bought low on the chance to restore Jarred Kelenic, who is still just 24 years old. Those are the right gambles to take for a team with an otherwise loaded roster. Atlanta still has the best chance to win the World Series according to both FanGraphs and PECOTA, despite the Dodgers’ lavish winter. (MC)
Cubs
The Dodgers are the obvious answer here. They spent more than $1 billion to sign Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernandez and others. They traded for Tyler Glasnow. But in the next weight class down, the Cubs added several wins to their roster in an eminently winnable NL Central. Re-signing Cody Bellinger returns one of the best hitters to a Chicago core that missed a wild card by only one game last season. Additionally, the Cubs traded for Dodgers top prospect Michael Busch to play first base and signed Japanese lefthander Shota Imanaga for the rotation and veteran reliever Hector Neris to stabilize the bullpen. Those moves aren’t flashy, but they reinforce a roster that will see many homegrown players introduced in the next few seasons. Another key addition is in the dugout after the Cubs signed Craig Counsell away from the Brewers for five years and $40 million. (ME)
