As we say hello to spring training, we say goodbye to something else: the Major League Baseball offseason.
As fun as it always is to welcome the start of a new season, I suspect we're going to miss this particular winter. It was more action-packed than the climax of a Marvel movie, complete with huge signings, big trades and even a coronation...of sorts.
Did you miss any of it and need to get caught up? Did you catch all of it but still need a summary?
Well, either way, you came to the right place. Behold: the major takeaways and fallout of the 2014-2015 offseason.
The Major Takeaways
As it happens, it was only about three weeks ago that I took my most recent look at the winter's major takeaways. I'll quickly recap those before throwing a few new ones on the pile.
Parity is the Name of the Game: In a welcome change of pace, the 2014-2015 offseason was not ruled by the usual suspects. A lot of noise was made in places like San Diego, both sides of Chicago, Miami and even Houston, and the baseball landscape looks much more competitive for it.
You can point to a number of reasons for the widespread action, but probably the two biggest motivators were the insane amount of money in the game today and the appeal of the second wild card. It's almost as if teams have money to spend and reasons to spend it. Cool concept, don't you think?
The Qualifying Offer Conundrum Wasn't Very Conundrum-y: The qualifying offer system was a real drag in its first two years, as ties to draft-pick compensation led to well-below-market deals for guys who deserved better. But not this year. All 12 qualifying-offer players found lucrative multiyear deals.
And intentionally or not, they may have figured out the trick to beating the qualifying offer. All but two of the qualifying-offer guys signed sooner rather than later. They may have sacrificed a few million bucks in doing so, but that's better than the tens of millions we know can be sacrificed when a qualifying-offer player tries to play the waiting game.
The Cuban Market is Still Bonkers...For Now: Following in the footsteps of recent Cuban stars, Yasmany Tomas got a $68.5 million contract from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Also, Cuban prospects Roberto Baldoquin and Yoan Lopez set records for amateur signing bonuses. Before long, Cuban super-prospect Yoan Moncada will raise the bar to a ridiculous new height.
But while this goes to show that MLB's obsession with Cuban talent is alive and well, the days of big spending on it could be numbered. With diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba restored, it likely won't be long before spending on Cuban ballplayers is regulated.
The AL Has the Hitting Market Cornered: There were 16 hitters who signed for at least eight figures this winter, and 13 landed in the American League. And with some of the best—Victor Martinez, Nelson Cruz, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Adam LaRoche—you can point to the designated hitter position as a deal-maker.
That's a bummer for National League clubs. In these offensively challenged times, they need offense even more than American League clubs do. That they're at a disadvantage in acquiring it thanks in large part to the DH pretty well highlights the silliness of having two leagues play by two different rules.
But on the bright side...
The NL Can Do Quite Well on the Pitching Market: It wasn't all bad for the National League in free agency this winter. Max Scherzer, James Shields, Jon Lester, Brandon McCarthy and Francisco Liriano were arguably the top pitchers available, and all of them landed in the Senior Circuit.
Money certainly had a lot to do with this, but the NL's lack of a DH is a certain factor as well. Where AL clubs can use the DH as justification to sign hitters to longer, more expensive deals, the NL can essentially use its lack of the DH to do the same thing with pitchers.
Is it nice that there's a balance? Yes. But is it still silly that each league has a disadvantage to fight against thanks to the DH? Also yes.
Scott Boras is Still 'Mr. January': Speaking of pitchers...seemingly every year, mega-agent Scott Boras allows one of his high-profile clients to enter January without a contact. And in response, there's always oddly gleeful talk of Boras possibly overplaying his hand.
This year, Boras did it with Scherzer. And just like with Matt Holliday, Adrian Beltre and Prince Fielder, he eventually got his price: seven years and $210 million. As Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com noted:
Some thought Boras would be stuck with an under-market deal for Scherzer since it took into January, but despite a similar ledger as Lester save for Lester's eye-popping 0.43 World Series ERA -- they have identical 3.58 ERAs and were both 30 when they signed -- Scherzer wound up getting 35.4 percent more money.
So yeah, don't ever doubt Boras' ability to get what he wants when the calendar turns to January. It's a thing he does.
First-Time Managers Are Still In Vogue: By far the most headline-worthy managerial hiring of the winter was former Tampa Bay Rays skipper Joe Maddon's joining the Cubs. Also interesting, however, was how this winter made like the previous winter and produced four first-time manager hirings: Chip Hale in Arizona, Kevin Cash in Tampa Bay, Paul Molitor in Minnesota and Jeff Banister in Texas.
This could just be one of those things, but perhaps not. Jack Moore wrote at Sports on Earth last year about how free agency and the internationalization of baseball have complicated clubhouse politics, and how the rise of analytics has changed the way games are played.
Clubs need managers who understand these things, so it's out with the old guard and in with the new.
Rob Manfred Will Make His Own Way: If you missed it, yes, Major League Baseball does have a new commissioner. Bud Selig's gig has passed to his former right-hand man, Rob Manfred. But lest you thought that things would be staying the same for, well, ever, it doesn't look that way.
Manfred hasn't even been in charge a month yet, and Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of Fox Sports report that new pace-of-play rules have already been decided on. Manfred also wants to increase offense, possibly by altering the strike zone or eliminating shifts. He's also keen on an international draft, and possibly even international expansion.
Behold your new MLB commissioner. Based on our first impression, he's an ambitious type.
The Major Fallout
Up above, we discussed cool lessons, trends and messages of the 2014-2015 offseason. This is where we discuss what the offseason actually changed, which is otherwise known as "the important part."
No More Giancarlo Stanton Trade Rumors: Hey, remember when we all thought that the Marlins were inevitably going to trade Giancarlo Stanton? Yeah, well, instead they signed him to a record-sized 12-year, $325 million contract that'll keep him in Miami through at least his buyout year in 2020.
And so, it's now highly unlikely that we'll ever see Stanton traded. No big revelation or anything. Just a friendly PSA to remind that things that seem inevitable can indeed turn out to be the opposite (evitable?).
But if you must have trade rumors...
The Summer Pitching Market Should Be Nuts: From Rick Porcello to Wade Miley to Mat Latos to Jeff Samardzija, we saw a handful of notable pitchers get swapped this winter. Who didn't get swapped, however, were other potential trade targets like Johnny Cueto and Cole Hamels.
Consider that to be your cue to watch out for them on the summer trade market. And next to Cueto, you can also keep an eye on fellow free-agents-to-be like Porcello, Samardzija, David Price and Hisashi Iwakuma. That's a fine collection of pitchers, which is welcome news for clubs that might need pitching.
And even in this pitching-rich age, that's usually all of them.
The NL East is the Nationals' Plaything: The Nationals ran away with the NL East in 2014, winning 96 games and outpacing their closest pursuers by 17 games. Those teams now know what dust tastes like.
And they're probably going to be tasting it again in 2015. With Scherzer joining a rotation that has the potential to be an all-timer and a lineup that includes studs like Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper, the Nationals don't have any major weaknesses.
With the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies rebuilding, it's up to the New York Mets and Miami Marlins to take down the Nationals in 2015. And according to Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs, there's a simple answer there: Nah.
The Dodgers Front Office Isn't Messing Around: The Los Angeles Dodgers' first order of business this winter was to craft a brand-new front office around former Tampa Bay Rays maestro Andrew Friedman. But because he was inheriting a 94-win roster, maybe you figured there would be few changes.
But there were many changes. Gone are Hanley Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Dee Gordon, and in are guys like Howie Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins, Yasmani Grandal, Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson and Joel Peralta. They'll help three areas where the Dodgers were severely lacking in 2014: up-the-middle defense, the back end of the rotation and the bullpen.
Though in a much different way, the results should be the same as the results in the last two years: an NL West title.
San Diego and Chicago Are Baseball Towns Again: As active as the Dodgers were this winter, it's weird to think that they didn't lead the NL West in headlines.
That honor belongs to the Padres, who took an offense that was the worst in baseball in 2014 and got some major upgrades in Kemp, Justin Upton, Wil Myers and Derek Norris. Then came James Shields to head the top of San Diego's rotation, resulting in the most star-studded Padres team we've seen in some time. Maybe it won't work in the end, but at least San Diego fans have reasons to be interested, for a change.
Meanwhile in Chicago, however, Nick Offerman and Craig Robinson have much to talk about.
On the North Side, the Cubs followed their hiring of Maddon by throwing $175 million at Jon Lester and Jason Hammel, and adding Miguel Montero and Dexter Fowler to a collection of hitters that features more youthful talent than the Jackson 5. Not to be outdone, the White Sox loaded up by trading Samardzija and dropping big bucks on David Robertson, Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche.
They'll be talkin' baseball in San Diego and Chicago all summer long. As they should be.
The American League is an Ugly, Beautiful Mess: Though it looks a little different, the National League still seems pretty easy to call. But the American League?
Well, shoot, have you tried it?
Thanks to all the movement that occurred throughout the winter, the competition in the Junior Circuit projects to be as level as it's been in some time. Each division has at least three potential contenders, and even the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros (my pick) can't be overlooked.
This is what happens not just when there's a lot of money to spend and five playoff spots to chase, but also when the New York Yankees fall from grace, the Detroit Tigers get old and rickety, and the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A's take different paths to not getting better. In a word: chaos.
With that, there's your offseason recap. Appreciate it for the blockbuster that it was, and then say goodbye one last time.
It's time for actual baseball now.
Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted/linked.
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