Grading Every AL Team's Off-Season
A Blog By Dean
The Alex Bregman signing marks the end of the 2025 offseason in many ways. Pitchers and catchers have reported to Spring Training, and many other players have followed them. Sorry, but no one is staying up late to see where Alex Verdugo lands.
So, I decided to give a grade to every team in the MLB. I broke it up into two blogs for simpler reading.
Enjoy.
American League East
Baltimore Orioles
Grade: C-
Key Additions:
Tyler O’Neill, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, Andrew Kittredge, Gary Sanchez
Key Departures:
Corbin Burnes, Anthony Santander, Jacob Webb
Strengthened Areas:
None…
Remaining Concerns:
Pitching was a concern last year and only deepened with the loss of Corbin Burnes.
Boston Red Sox
Grade: A
Key Additions:
Alex Bregman – Third Baseman – Signed a 3-year, $120 million contract.
Walker Buehler – Starting Pitcher – Signed a 1-year, $21.05 million contract.
Garrett Crochet – Pitcher – Acquired via trade from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for prospects.
Aroldis Chapman – Relief Pitcher – Signed a 1-year contract.
Patrick Sandoval- Pitcher- injured.
Key Departures:
Nick Pivetta – Pitcher – Signed with the San Diego Padres.
Tyler O’Neill- Signed with Baltimore Orioles
Strengthened Areas:
Infield depth and offensive production with the addition of Bregman.
The rotation was bolstered by acquiring Buehler and Crochet.
Bullpen experience enhanced with Chapman.
Remaining Concerns:
Rotation: Crochet’s second half was eh… Buehler was terrible during the regular season. Both should be good, but I need to see it first.
Finding the right spots for the top prospects.
New York Yankees
Grade: C+
Key Additions:
Max Fried – Starting Pitcher
Cody Bellinger – Outfielder
Devin Williams- Closing Pitcher
Paul Goldschmidt- First Base
Key Departures:
Juan Soto….
Gleyber Torres
Clay Holmes
Nestor Cortes
Strengthened Areas:
Starting rotation depth with the addition of Max Fried.
Outfield versatility and defense with Cody Bellinger.
Remaining Concerns:
Bellinger's recent offensive inconsistency.
Replacing Soto.
Stanton and Judge aging. Jasson Dominguez needs to be good.
Tampa Bay Rays
Grade: D-
Key Additions:
Ha-Seong Kim – Infielder
Key Departures:
Jeffrey Springs
Strengthened Areas:
Infield versatility and depth with the addition of Kim.
Remaining Concerns:
Lack of major offensive acquisitions to boost run production.
Pitchers actually staying healthy….
Toronto Blue Jays
Grade: B (An A+ for effort)
Key Additions:
Max Scherzer
Anthony Santander
Andres Gimenez
Yimi Garcia
Key Departures:
Jordan Romano
Strengthened Areas:
Outfield power with Santander
Remaining Concerns:
Age and durability of Scherzer.
Extending Vladdy Jr.
What is Bo Bichette going to be this year?
American League Central
Chicago White Sox
Grade: C+ (Curved grade here. Lower expectations)
Key Additions:
Austin Slater – Outfielder – Signed a 1-year, $1.75 million contract.
Mike Tauchman – Outfielder – Signed a 1-year, $1.95 million deal.
Josh Rojas – Infielder – Signed a 1-year, $3.5 million contract.
Martín Pérez – Starting Pitcher – Signed a 1-year, $5 million deal.
Joey Gallo – Outfielder/First Baseman – Signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
Key Departures:
Yoán Moncada
Notable Moves:
Hired Will Venable as the new manager, aiming to bring a fresh perspective to the team.
Strengthened Areas:
They filled their roster!
Remaining Concerns:
Pretty much everything.
Cleveland Guardians
Grade: B
Key Additions:
Shane Bieber – Starting Pitcher
Carlos Santana – First Baseman
Paul Sewald – Relief Pitcher
Key Departures:
Josh Naylor – First Baseman
Andrés Giménez – Second Baseman
Strengthened Areas:
Bullpen depth with the addition of Sewald. Will be a good anchor to Clase.
Remaining Concerns:
Reliance on aging veterans to fill critical roles.
Detroit Tigers
Grade: B
Key Additions:
Jack Flaherty – Starting Pitcher – Signed a 2-year, $35 million contract.
Gleyber Torres – Second Baseman – Signed a 1-year, $15 million deal.
Alex Cobb – Starting Pitcher – Signed a 1-year contract.
Key Departures:
None.
Strengthened Areas:
Starting rotation depth with the additions of Flaherty and Cobb.
Love the fact that Flaherty just left, got the Tigers some pieces, and came back.
Remaining Concerns:
Development of young core. While the team exceeded expectations last year, they are still very young. Players like Jobe, if developed right, could propel this team to the World Series,
Kansas City Royals
Grade: C+
Key Additions:
Jonathan India – Second Baseman – Acquired via trade from the Cincinnati Reds.
Key Departures:
Brady Singer – Starting Pitcher – Traded to the Cincinnati Reds.
Strengthened Areas:
Brought back Wacha and Lorenzen which will soften the blow of trading Singer. I loved Singer, hate to see him go.
Remaining Concerns:
Other players need to step up around Bobby Witt Jr.
Vinny P. needs to be his Robin. He will need to be healthy to do that.
Minnesota Twins
Grade: F- (Not even sure if that is a thing)
Notable Additions: NONE
Key Departures:
Max Kepler
Carlos Santana
Strengthened Areas:
None
Remaining Concerns:
The team needs to be sold. Until then, they will not spend money and unable to compete.
American League West
Houston Astros
Grade: D
Key Additions:
Christian Walker – First Baseman – Signed a 3-year, $60 million contract.
Isaac Paredes – Infielder – Acquired via trade from the Chicago Cubs.
Key Departures:
Kyle Tucker – Outfielder – Traded to the Chicago Cubs.
Alex Bregman – Third Baseman – Signed with the Boston Red Sox.
Strengthened Areas:
They were able to somewhat replace the loss of Bregman with Paredes.
Remaining Concerns:
Significant loss of offensive production and leadership with the departures of Tucker and Bregman.
Is it time to rebuild?
Los Angeles Angels
Grade: B (Kind of a curved grade, but you do that for your lower students.)
Key Additions:
Kenley Jansen – Relief Pitcher – Signed a 1-year, $10 million contract.
Yoán Moncada – Third Baseman – Signed a 1-year, $5 million deal.
Yusei Kikuchi – Starting Pitcher – Signed a 3-year, $63 million contract.
Jorge Soler – Outfielder – Acquired via trade.
Key Departures:
Patrick Sandoval- Not really, but they didn’t lose much.
Strengthened Areas:
Bullpen experience with the addition of Jansen.
Infield versatility and potential offensive upside with Moncada.
The acquisition of Soler bolstered power hitting.
Remaining Concerns:
Mike Trout being healthy, and Anthony Rendon being anywhere near the team.
Oakland Athletics
Grade: B+
Key Additions:
Luis Severino
Jeffrey Springs
Gio Urshela
Key Departures:
Nada.
Notable Moves:
Extended Brent Rooker to a five-year deal.
Strengthened Areas:
PITCHING
Remaining Concerns:
Being the A’s
Seattle Mariners
Grade: F
Key Additions:
No significant signings.
Key Departures:
No one is noteworthy.
Strengthened Areas:
NONE
Remaining Concerns:
Dependence on unproven talent to make immediate contributions.
Need for additional pitching depth to support the rotation and bullpen.
Analysis: I was going to put a little paragraph for every team, but it seemed like a lot, and no one cared about my opinion necessarily. However, I feel bad for Mariners fans. You have an absolutely sick rotation, and the team did nothing to bolster the lineup.
Texas Rangers
Grade: A-
Key Additions:
Joc Pederson – Outfielder
Kyle Higashioka – Catcher
Jake Burger- Third Base
Key Departures:
Nathaniel Lowe
Kirby Yates
Strengthened Areas:
Burger brings a lot of needed power to the team.
Catching depth and defense improved with Higashioka.
Remaining Concerns:
What will DeGrom, Carter, and Jung look like this year?
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As an A’s fan, Mariners analysis is so real. Great piece