The 162-game marathon is officially underway, bringing an end to another eventful offseason.
We saw Juan Soto sign the biggest contract in history, five other players land nine-figure deals, Roki Sasaki make the jump from Japan to Los Angeles and a number of other impactful moves that will help shape the 2025 Major League season.
Tabbing the winners and losers of the offseason can be a fun exercise for fans and pundits alike, but what do the people who run teams around the league think of the way the winter played out?
We posed a simple question to front-office executives this week: Which team did the most to improve itself this offseason?
We posed a simple question to front-office executives this week: Which team did the most to improve itself this offseason?
The query was certainly open to interpretation. Some pointed to the league¡¯s best teams that strengthened their chances of winning it all, while others looked at young clubs trying to make a leap into contention.
¡°I think you could probably make an argument for several teams,¡± one American League executive said.
Based on the results, others agreed with that sentiment.
Dodgers: 6 votes
Red Sox: 6 votes
Mets: 4 votes
Athletics: 2 votes
Astros: 1 vote
The defending World Series champion Dodgers received six votes for their active offseason, one that included the free-agent signings of Blake Snell (five years, $182 million), Tanner Scott (four years, $72 million), Teoscar Hernández (three years, $66 million), Blake Treinen (two years, $22 million), Michael Conforto (one year, $17 million) and Kirby Yates (one year, $13 million).
¡°Unfortunately for the rest of the league,¡± a National League executive said, ¡°the answer is probably L.A.¡±
In addition to the aforementioned moves, Los Angeles also won the sweepstakes for Sasaki, signing the 23-year-old right-hander to add another talented arm to its rotation.
¡°They added arguably the best starting pitcher and reliever on the market in Snell and Scott, landed the most coveted international player in years in Sasaki and brought in very good complementary pieces in Conforto and Yates to further optimize a World Series-winning club,¡± an AL executive said. ¡°They addressed their very few remaining weaknesses and elevated the roster to a level few contenders can match.¡±
The Dodgers won 98 games in 2024 before beating the Padres, Mets and Yankees to win their second World Series title in five years. Did Los Angeles need to make so many additions to take aim at a repeat? The 98 wins were actually the Dodgers¡¯ fewest in a 162-game season since 2018, but the flurry of moves this winter has many predicting another season of 100-plus victories.
¡°They flooded the roster with even more elite talent,¡± an AL exec said.
As impressed as executives were with the Dodgers¡¯ offseason, Los Angeles wasn¡¯t alone atop our poll.
The Red Sox tied the Dodgers for the most votes received, with a half-dozen executives tabbing Boston as the club that did the most to improve itself over the past five months.
Boston made a big splash on the final day of the Winter Meetings, trading four players -- including Top 100 prospects Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery -- to the White Sox for All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet.
The Red Sox also signed free agents Walker Buehler (one year, $21.05 million), Patrick Sandoval (two years, $18.25 million) and Aroldis Chapman (one year, $10.75 million) in December to strengthen their pitching staff, but the most notable free-agent move came in mid-February, when Boston signed Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman (three years, $120 million with opt-outs after 2025 and '26).
¡°They added All-Stars to their team in Crochet and Bregman, then added two others in Chapman and Buehler that could really give them a boost,¡± another AL exec said. ¡°Two good starting pitchers, a legit bat and a left-handed reliever that can be dominant; add that to the guys they already had and they may be the most improved team.¡±
Even after trading Teel and Montgomery, the Red Sox enter the season with four Top 100 Prospects -- including three of MLB Pipeline¡¯s top dozen (No. 2 Roman Anthony, No. 7 Kristian Campbell and No. 12 Marcelo Mayer).
¡°Adding Crochet and Bregman, among other moves, [was] a great way to enhance the roster with impact talent that can help them win in the postseason,¡± an AL executive said. ¡°They also protected their top prospect group who in turn will help them over the course of the year.¡±
¡°Given their current offensive core and the youth on the come, adding a frontline arm and impact closer made too much sense,¡± an AL executive said. ¡°I think Trevor Story could put together a Comeback Player of the Year campaign.¡±
One AL executive believes the Dodgers did the most to bolster their roster, but voted for the Red Sox based on how much better they can be compared to last season.
¡°If you go by marginal wins added or division win probability added, it¡¯s the Red Sox,¡± the exec said.
The Mets received four votes, most notably due to the addition of one historic $765 million contract.
¡°Juan Soto,¡± an NL executive said when asked why he chose the Mets. ¡°They added an MVP candidate to a playoff team.¡±
But New York¡¯s offseason was about much more than Soto. The Mets also signed Sean Manaea (three years, $75 million), Pete Alonso (two years, $54 million), Clay Holmes (three years, $38 million), Frankie Montas (two years, $34 million) and A.J. Minter (two years, $22 million).
¡°Adding Soto is a win on its own,¡± an NL executive said. ¡°But adding other pieces to that mix puts them in play to do lots of damage.¡±
Two AL West clubs also received votes, including one -- the Athletics -- not typically known for its offseason prowess.
The Athletics signed Luis Severino (three years, $67 million) to lead the rotation, then acquired Jeffrey Springs from the Rays to add another solid arm to that group. They also signed both Brent Rooker (five years, $60 million) and Lawrence Butler (seven years, $65.5 million) to extensions, keeping the pair in A¡¯s uniforms through at least 2029 and '31, respectively.
¡°Severino gives the A¡¯s a legitimate frontline starter, and I love the Springs acquisition,¡± an AL executive said. ¡°The thing that really stood out to me was the extensions. Locking up Rooker and Butler gives them a good foundation moving forward.¡±
The final vote went to the Astros, whose biggest move of the winter was trading away All-Star Kyle Tucker, who is slated to become a free agent at the end of the season.
Houston received Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski and Top 100 Prospect Cam Smith from the Cubs, and while many wondered why the Astros would deal their best player, Smith¡¯s impressive spring has some rethinking the initial reaction to the trade.
¡°I think they did well in the Tucker trade,¡± an AL executive said. ¡°They gave up a great player, but just for one year; I think they could have some strong contributors from the haul.¡±