MLB

Major League Baseball's offseason has been bananas, right? Perhaps the wildest and most active in recent memory—or maybe ever. At least, that's how it feels while we're right in the middle of it.

But how does this offseason stack up with hot stoves past?

Let's start with a quick table that ranks the past nine offseasons in terms of total spending on free-agent contracts, according to ESPN.com:

If case you haven’t been paying attention, the San Diego Padres and first-time general manager A.J. Preller have been busy this offseason.

Since the beginning of December, the Padres have added some of baseball’s premier right-handed power hitters through trades in outfielders Justin Upton, Matt Kemp and Wil Myers, as well as catcher Derek Norris.

Here's a contrarian point of view: The New York Mets should be glad the National League East-rival Washington Nationals just splurged $210 million on Max Scherzer. But we'll get to that in a bit.

Over the past few years, the New York Mets have done a very good job developing a great minor league farm system to build upon for the future. Quite a few current Mets have come up through this system under current general manger Sandy Alderson, including Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, Jeurys Familia, Jenrry Mejia, Lucas Duda, Wilmer Flores, Juan Lagares and Travis d'Arnaud.

However, there are more young and talented prospects that could be coming up soon—some as soon as the 2015 season.

When you are the Chicago Cubs, maybe the most cursed, endearing and followed team in Major League Baseball, there is no hiding. When you are this popular and have lost this ugly for this long, you cannot duck great hope.

After missing the playoffs for the 21st straight season last year, the Toronto Blue Jays spent much of the offseason retooling their roster in an attempt to reverse their fortunes during the upcoming season.

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos began his overhaul by first electing to part ways with several notable players from last season, such as Adam Lind, Melky Cabrera and Brett Lawrie.

After starting the offseason with a bang and following it up with some active winter meetings, the Red Sox transaction wire has been practically dormant for over a month. The team is in solid shape but could use a few more moves to transition into a genuine title contender.

With the addition of Max Scherzer, the Washington Nationals will enter the 2015 season with one of the very best pitching staffs this league has ever seen. But the pitching party is not just in Washington, as multiple teams are equipped with elite rotations throughout MLB. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers have consistently fielded reliable starting pitching in recent years.

There has been no greater riddle this offseason than James Shields, the marquee free agent nobody wants.

OK, "nobody" is an overstatement. But while other elite arms—Jon Lester, Max Scherzer—have fallen off the board, the market for Shields remains a puzzling mess.

Add the Arizona Diamondbacks to the list of teams that say they're out on the 33-year-old right-hander.

Free-agent outfielder Jonny Gomes is the type of blue-collar, veteran player who can play a key role on the field and in the clubhouse. The Atlanta Braves coveted his valuable traits enough to sign Gomes on Thursday, Jan. 22.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports first reported Gomes' signing: