Through free agency and trades, teams spent the winter upgrading. Who helped themselves the most?
Through free agency and trades, teams spent the winter upgrading. Who helped themselves the most?
Let’s face it: a lot has happened, both on and off the field, since we last saw a meaningful baseball game — back on Oct. 30, when the Los Angeles Dodgers closed out the New York Yankees to win the World Series. Thankfully, a new Major League Baseball season is now just around the corner, with the Dodgers and Cubs slated to kick off the year with the Tokyo Series, a two-game set in Japan on March 18-19. MLB’s traditional Opening Day will follow on March 27.
With precious time to spare, we here at CBS Sports thought it would be prudent to provide a refresher course on the offseason’s biggest moves. Below, we’ve done just that by ranking and analyzing the 10 best players who changed MLB teams over the offseason — be it through free agency or trades. Do note that we’ve omitted Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki from this exercise since the focus is only on players who were already with an MLB organization.
Got it? Good, let’s get down to business.
Soto, a fixture on everyone’s shortlist for the title of “best hitter,” changed New York teams over the winter after signing the richest contract in the sport’s history (15 years, $765 million). His generational wealth is merited. He’s a 26-year-old who is very much on a Hall of Fame trajectory thanks to the interplay between his discerning eye, his elite strength, and his feel for the barrel. Soto isn’t as blessed defensively, but the Mets will live with that component of his game provided he keeps stacking up 30-homer, .400-OBP seasons. Spoiler alert: He will.
The Diamondbacks improved their chances of returning to the postseason for the second time in three years by inking Burnes, a former NL Cy Young Award winner, to a six-year pact worth $210 million. He’ll round out a rotation that now looks significantly stronger and deeper on paper than Arizona’s recent iterations. To wit, Burnes compiled at least 190 innings and a 125 ERA+ in each of the last three campaigns. His odds of running that to four were fortified late last season, when he made some corrections to his cutter that boosted the pitch’s effectiveness.
The Cubs traded for Tucker from the Astros ahead of his walk year. Who knows what the long-term future holds here, but in the short run, he could help deliver Chicago’s first NL Central title since 2020. Based on statistical output alone, Tucker is one of the dozen or so best players in the sport. He’s a well-rounded talent who contributes across the board — notching quality triple-slash marks; hitting 25 to 30 homers a year; swiping nearly as many bags; and playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in a corner — albeit without necessarily topping any leaderboards.
Crochet enjoyed one of the sport’s biggest breakout seasons in 2024, posting a 115 ERA+ and a 6.33 strikeout-to-walk across 32 appearances in what served as his first year as a big-league starter. Credit his ascent to both a rare clean bill of health and an improved arsenal (he added a cutter). The Red Sox acquired him from the White Sox in exchange for a prospect package to fortify the front of their rotation. If Crochet can stay healthy, that gambit should pay off.
The Red Sox started the offseason with one splash (Crochet) and ended it with another, in the form of Bregman’s three-year pact worth $120 million. (The deal includes opt-outs and deferrals and all that fun stuff.) Bregman’s position is still to be determined, with incumbent third baseman Rafael Devers publicly stating his unwillingness to move to DH to accommodate Boston’s new star. Bregman, for his part, seems open to playing at second base, and in our estimation he should possess the athleticism to make that work in due time. Offensively, he seems to have found one of the few optimal fits that exist for his game outside of Houston.
6. Blake Snell, LHP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, continued his tour of the National League West by joining the defending World Series champions on a five-year contract worth $182 million. Everyone knows his deal by now. Snell racks up a ton of strikeouts and misses oodles of bats and barrels, all the while handing out his fair share of walks and averaging just over five innings per pop. It’s not a recipe that everyone will enjoy, but it is one that has resulted in a career 128 ERA+ all the same.
7. Max Fried, LHP, New York Yankees
Another talented left-handed starter, Fried (and his eight-year, $218 million contract) was part of the Yankees’ pivot after losing out on Juan Soto. He’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball for a while now, amassing the highest ERA+ among left-handed starters since 2020 (min. 200 innings). Fried’s game is based around limiting the quality of contact he surrenders and generating tons of ground balls. That combination served him well during his eight years in Atlanta, and there’s no reason to think he’ll find anything but success now that he’s moved to New York.
Adames served as the first big free-agent of the Buster Posey Era in San Francisco, with the two parties agreeing to a seven-year deal worth $182 million. He’s coming off a season that saw him set career highs in both home runs (32) and stolen bases (21). The Giants can only hope that he continues to feature that kind of dynamic offensive skill set moving forward. Alas, there is some real risk here since Adames reliably punches out more than 25% of the time. Another risk factor worth monitoring: the public-facing defensive measures also disagree on how good his glove is anymore.
At one point this offseason, the Yankees found themselves with a glut of starters and in need of some late-inning help (closer Clay Holmes and setup man Tommy Kahnle left through free agency). Sensibly, they leveraged the former to address the latter, turning lefty Nestor Cortes (and a prospect) into Williams. When Williams has been healthy (and mind you, he was limited to 21 innings last year), he’s been one of the best relievers in the sport. He’s averaged more than 14 strikeouts per nine innings during his career, thanks in part to his signature “Airbender” changeup. Williams is entering his walk year, meaning that his production and his wellbeing this season could position him to challenge Josh Hader’s record (five years, $95 million) for reliever contracts.
As noted above, Cortes was the main return in the deal that sent Williams to the Bronx. (The Brewers also landed infielder Caleb Durbin, who has a chance to help them this season as a pull-happy right-handed batter with wheels.) Cortes, too, is embarking on his final campaign before free agency. He’s finished with a 105 ERA+ or better in three of the last four seasons, making him a nifty and valuable addition to the Brewers rotation.