Phoenix – The weather is gorgeous with no clouds in the sky to open up spring training, but wherever you spin, there are orange traffic cones, holes and detours.
It has nothing to do with parties or traffic from Phoenix’s wild waste management. Rather, 29 other major league baseball teams are trying to navigate ways that could knock off the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers, the Defending World Series champion, are threatening to squeeze out the hopes of all their competitors with sexy stars, $380 million payroll and enough talent to split their team into two. They oppose each other in the World Series.
If the Dodgers can win the World Series by getting three healthy starters, Shoe Hei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman injured and forced to rely on the bullpen from the first inning to the ninth, how much more after spending it nearby Can you imagine it would be powerful? 5 billion dollars in winter?
After signing two Cy Young winners, Blake Snell, and perhaps Japan’s greatest young pitching talent, Rōki Sasaki, the 9th Cy Young winner and future Hall of Fame There’s a starter of people. history. Oh, and don’t forget that they, along with Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, signed two best closers on the market.
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It was no surprise that Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas was recently asked if the team could break the Seattle Mariners’ record of record with a 116 victory in 2001. That’s an expectation. ”
The Dodgers are simply loaded.
The Sportsbook has an over/under in a total of over 103 Dodgers’ victory, and the team is an overwhelming favorite to win it all.
How would you like to live in NL West, where the San Diego Padres had Dodgers on the ropes in last year’s Division Series? Then, seeing the Dodgers spend $461 million this winter, the Padres take home a backup catcher and sign the squad on the field on the left? Or will the Arizona Diamondbacks, who spent $210 million on the franchise record on Ace Corbin Burns, only improve the Dodgers rotation solely to improve further with Snell, Sasaki and Otani’s return? Or will the San Francisco giant, who spent $182 million on shortstop franchise record, just the Dodgers hook ace with an ace at Snell and an outfielder Michael Comfort?
Oh, that all 12 teams in two divisions are in NL Central or Al Central, where Sacramento’s athletics have had momentum.
Well, after the team has spent the whole winter trying to work their magic, they now report to spring training camps in Arizona and Florida over the next two days, making report cards for top six winners and losers in the offseason .
MLB offseason winners
Juan Soto: Come on, $765 million? Really? It’s daunting to see Soto being paid more than the Dodgers’ cash cow, Shohei ohtani. Soto is a powerful and great hitter, but he is also a one-dimensional player who could potentially start the Mets’ first baseman or DH in a few years. This is Alex Rodriguez’s record decade and the most incredible deal in baseball since his $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers almost a quarter century ago.
Los Angeles Dodgers: This team has such a deep pitching experience that they don’t need to pitch 150 innings this season. The most demanding task of the Dodgers spring is to make time to put fingers in the size of the 2025 World Series ring.
New York Yankees: The Yankees will tell you in hindsight that their losses at Soto’s sweepstakes could have been the highest $760 million they’ve ever spent. Certainly they wanted Soto, but I admit that if they landed him, they wouldn’t have been able to build the best team in the American League. They signed Ace Max to a $218 million contract, traded with Cordy Bellinger, Devin Williams, and former MVP Paul Goldschmidt. And for an additional bonus, it certainly helped most of the marquee free agents headed to the National League in the winter and cleared the Yankees’ return trip path to the World Series.
Willie Adams: If you think Adams will win a guaranteed contract $128 million more than free agent slugger Pete Alonso, raise your hand. Adames made the wise decision to sign early and earned seven years of fat payday from the San Francisco giants. If he was waiting, who knows, he might still be waiting for his contract like Alex Bregman.
The team previously known as the Oakland Athletics: Finally, pay was not reduced any further. There’s no more distraction. There is no further protest. Athletics, which has lost 307 games in the last three seasons, is suddenly justified. They improved in 19 games from the 2023 season, reaching 39-37 since July 1st, leading to the third-best record in the American League. They began acting like a major league team this winter, increasing their salary, signing starter Luis Severino a three-year $67 million contract, and outfielder Brent Rooker over 6,000 years. He locked himself up in a million-dollar contract and resisted all trade overtures for All-Star Closer Mason Miller. Certainly, they will play in minor league ballparks for the next three years, but the stands will be filled with 14,000-seat stadiums and cheered by the good people of Sacramento. The biggest bummer is dodging bad hops in the infield as there are 156 games scheduled between A and the cat on the Sacramento River.
Left-handed Starter: What a winter for left-handed players in the game. Max Fried, who was 11-10 with Atlanta and 3.25 ERA, signed the richest contract for the Yankees and the left-handed pitcher (8 years, $228 million) in baseball history. Blakesnell, whose ERA was 6.31 and 0-3 on the All-Star Break, has signed a five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers. Sean Mania, who has never won more than 12 games in the Career 4.00 ERA in a season, has signed a three-year, $75 million contract with the Mets. Yes, there was no more demand for left-handed starters.
MLB offseason loser
St. Louis Cardinals: This is a franchise we don’t recognize anymore. They have been in class in front of baseball’s biggest fans since the turn of the century, with 11 division titles, four World Series appearances and two championships. Now, for the first time in 30 years, they are calming down in mediocre while undergoing reconstruction. They had not signed a single free agent and made one deal for utility man Michael Helman, who was about to be designated for allocation by the Minnesota Twins, but still the third baseman, They are about to drop off Nolan Arenado and the remaining $74 million. It’ll be a long, hot summer in St. Louis.
San Diego Padres: They may be spending the next 20 years lamenting how close they were to defeating the Dodgers in the 2024 NLD. And when they thought they were closing the Dodgers’ gap, the Dodgers went out and spent almost $500 million while the Padres ran out of cash. They lost Closer (Tanner Scott), All-Star left fielder (Julicson Profer), infielders (Ha So Kim and Donovan Solano) and catcher (Kyle Higashioka). Most painfully, they lost Loki Sasaki to the Dodgers when they were sure he was on their way. All they did throughout the winter was to bring in reserve catcher Elias Diaz and sign Jason Hayward and Connor Joe’s outfield platoon. If it’s not difficult enough to swallow, they’ve been shopping for starter Dylan. Meanwhile, ownership is muddy in a family feud match with a nasty lawsuit exchanged between families, making you wonder if the team will eventually be sold to fellow owners .
Pete Alonso: No one had a stronger conflict than Alonso. It was two years ago that he declined the seven-year $158 million extension. It was four months ago that he was seeking a payday of nearly $200 million. He was left with a two-year, $54 million contract with the Mets, which he probably couldn’t have imagined. Certainly, if he wanted to play for the Toronto Blue Jays, he could have gotten a bigger payday. He rejected a three-year, $85 million contract from the Mets in January. The Mets were postponed significantly, and ultimately even handed over a three-year, $71 million proposal. Alonso has no choice but to bet on himself, and can only hope for a year from now, where he is likely to opt out.
Nick Pivetta: Remember when the baseball industry was surprised in November when the Boston Red Sox gave Pivetta a $21.05 million qualifying offer after just 6-12 in the 4.14 ERA? Pibetta never made more than $7.5 million in the season, but he refused. Well, here we are reporting to camp by pitcher and catcher, but Pibetta is still unemployed. No team is willing to hand him $21 million a year while confiscating draft picks. Pivetta can engulf his pride and accept a cheaper deal. Or, if he’s really thinking about skipping spring training, you might want to pick up the phone and talk to Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell. They willingly let him know what a mistake it is.
Stu Sternberg: After 20 years of negotiations, he settled the turmoil at the Tampa Bay Rays stadium when he looked like officials of Rays owners Stu Sternberg and St. Peterburg. Provisional deals for the new stadium. All the rays are that they will play the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training complex. Will the city fix the roof, allow the rays to return to the 2026-2028 season, delaying the new stadium for a year? Would the Rays want to get their contract back by March 31st and pursue a new ballpark instead in Tampa and Orlando? The trust between Sternberg and local politicians is now at breakpoints, and the team could eventually be sold.
Seattle Mariners: Now, have they not been learning lessons for a year now? It wasn’t painful enough to know that they have the best pitching staff in baseball. It could have carried them to the World Series quickly, but instead sat at home all winter, instead of spending money to bring offensive help, it was a free agent You’ll try to sign Alonso or Bregman, or Alecbaume’s deal in the Philadelphia Phillies, they’re basically going to do it again with the same attack.
This ranked 27th in the final five weeks of the season last ranked on hits (.216), strikeout percentage (27.7%), 28th in OPS (.666) and 27th in runs per game (3.93) It’s an attack that was done. And what to do to make up for Jorge Polanco, besides re-signing a one-year $7.75 million deal and signing free agent infielder Donovan Solano, a one-year $3.5 million deal It wasn’t. that’s it. Shame on the Mariners and their ownership if they waste another year. For teams who have never played in the World Series, I think there is an urgency similarity to take advantage of perhaps the most talented rotation in baseball.
X: Follow NightEngale at @BignyEngale
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