Well, I can’t say the off-season moved at a dizzying pace. More like ambled. But there was churn and I found myself wanting to do a 360 around the league and get a sense of who did what as the dust settles right before teams’ head to Florida or Arizona. I worked to keep the article short and digestible, just under 1,500 words (a 7-minute read?), so a few details might have dropped off, but I think I got the essence.
Some writers like to grade out the teams on the traditional high school A-F scale.
Personally, I never thought much of that scale even when I was in high school (graduated Parkway West out in fashionable West County, for those that are curious). In my class, everyone graduated. Somehow the distribution was abnormal, like in Lake Wobegon, where all the children were above average. I did however categorize the teams by how they went about the off-season. There actions tell us how they evaluate themselves. You guys can do the grading. The categories describe teams that are:
- Extending the Competitive Window
- Standing Pat
- Attempting to Make the Next Step
- Retooling
- Indiscernible
- Starting Over
At the end, I’ll go a bit deeper into the NL Central. Just a bit, because we care a bit more about this cadre.
Teams Extending the Competitive Window
Dodgers, Blue Jays, Phillies, Tigers
Common features of teams that are looking to remain in their competitive window:
- They were good last season
- They are in a good spot relative to the rest of their division
- They tend to have few but very specific needs
The Phillies re-signed Schwarber and Realmuto and added Adolis Garcia, seegmingly with the intent of moving Castellanos. Does Keller replace Suarez? The Blue Jays added Okomoto, Cease and Ponce. Gimenez was added last year, but the impetus behind the move becomes more obvious with the departure of Bichette. The Dodgers add a closer (Diaz) and an outfielder (Tucker). The Tigers added Valdez and Verlander late but have Skubal drama hanging over their heads (self-inflicted, no less).
Teams Standing Pat
Guardians, Brewers, Astros, Mariners, Yankees, Diamondbacks
Common features of teams that are competing with what they have on their roster:
- They were good (enough) last season
- They are in a good spot relative to the rest of their division
- Their approach to the off-season was mostly passive
All good teams, but far from perfect. These teams did little, sometimes to the great consternation of their fans. The Mariners re-signed Naylor and added Knizner. The Astros added Iami. They have the look of a team where their run is nearing the end. The Brewers traded Peralta for two top prospects, plus Durbin and a host of other players for pitching. Churn is their game, like the Rays. The Diamondbacks were probably good enough last year, but health really derailed their best laid plan. They will run it back and hope for better medical reports.
Everything else represented depth moves, in my view.
Teams Seeking to take the Next Step
Red Sox, Pirates, Reds
Common features of teams that seek to take the next step:
- Young, and adding core veterans
- Currently a step behind the good teams
- Appear to have an opportunity within their division to rise
The Red Sox have made the most noise, acquiring Contreras, Gray, Oviedo and Suarez to add to a heralded core of young players. That the Pirates are actually doing something is notable. They have endeavored to add offense to their young pitching core with Magnum, Lowe, O’Hearn, Garcia (he of the alphabet challenged first name Jhostynxon). Will they raise the Jolly Roger this year at PNC? I might consider a trip to Pittsburgh this year. Never been.
The Reds are unique in this case. Are they good? Well, they made the playoffs, albeit with 83 wins (not a typical measure of good). They re-signed Pagan to close for them has been their most significant move. Late in the off-season they added Suarez. Does this move the needle? What happens to Hayes?
Retooling Teams
Braves, Mets, Cubs, Padres, Orioles
Common features of teams I consider to be retooling tend to be:
- Need to make up for the loss of key players, such as Cubs losing Tucker.
- Intent to be competitive this next season
- These teams usually have marked disappointment in how the last season turned out
The Braves signed multiple pitchers to close (Iglesias, Suarez) and acquired multiple SS (Dubon, Kim). David Stearns appears to be doing a top-down rebuild of the Mets roster (Bichette, Robert, Semien, Polanco, Williams, Peralta) to go along with Soto from last year. The Cubs re-signed (after a fashion) Imanaga and added Cabrera to a fringy staff. Bregman effectively replaces Tucker. The Orioles have added Trevor Rodgers (starter), Alonso and Ward to the line-up and Helsley and Kittredge to the back-end. The Padres focused on pitching, having re-signed King, acquired Mckenzie and Hart to go with Miller (acquired at the deadline). They took a shot at acquiring Arenado to play 1B. Given the seemingly odd fit of that, what does that tell us?
Indiscernible
Rays, Angels, Marlins, A’s, Twins, Royals, Rangers, Giants
Common features: None
These teams aren’t easy to classify, so we look at their story individually. The Rays are in a state of perpetual churn, so they are really in their own class. Their moves are usually value moves for players no one has ever heard of, as their focus is building the minor league pipeline.
The Angels? Who knows. The Marlins? A team that looked on the rise late last year, but they are standing pat (except for shedding Cabrera) with a team that isn’t really good enough to stand pat with. The Royals? Drifting might be the right term for them? Their outfield is worse than the Cardinals and they don’t appear able to address. They have strong pitching and Witt, Jr. but that isn’t enough, even in the AL Central.
The A’s appear still be in limbo a bit, caught between Oakland and Las Vegas for another year. They have good young position players, but little else. The Twins are embroiled in ownership drama, with a sale that fell through. Their core talent isn’t bad, but they don’t have the resources to add.
The Rangers might be in the same drifting category, or perhaps a term we’ve heard in St. Louis far too much – “caught in the middle”. Does adding Nimmo and Jansen move the needle? Gore was a nice get, though. Some in the Ranger’s constellation see their actions as trying to extend their competitive window, but I’m having trouble seeing the flukey 2023 World Series outcome as a “window”. They get to keep their trophy, though. That never hurts.
The Giants? I dunno. They weren’t good enough, but they also didn’t quite stand pat. They didn’t lose a lot, but they didn’t really retool, unless you view Arraez, House, Mahle as re-tooling. Perhaps. I suspect they are caught in the middle vortex that recently plagued the Cardinals.
Starting Over
Nationals, Cardinals, Rockies, White Sox
Common features of rebuilding teams:
- Not enough talent to be competitive
- Focusing on the long-term
The White Sox are deep into their rebuilding, having shown some incremental progress in 2025. The Nationals are effectively starting over on a rebuild that really started in 2020. They cleaned out the front office late last season. The Rockies are in the same boat, with a recently hired new front office. The Cardinals probably don’t quite fit the “starting over” moniker as there were some pieces to work with and the front office part of the rebuild really occurred over the last year plus and folks are pretty settled in now. I used “starting over” because “rebuilding” seems such a loaded term. But this year, that is clearly what they are doing. It beats standing pat with a mediocre team (insert side eye toward Royals).
A quick take on the NL Central
The Brewers came into the off-season a good team and will depart the off-season same, in spite of unloading Peralta a year before he departs as a free agent. The Cubs? They got older. Did they get better? I liked their acquisition of Cabrera, but swapping Tucker for Bregman? Will Suzuki back in right make them better? ZIPs sees both teams in the low 90’s.
The Reds were remarkably passive. They appear up-and-coming but did little to add. I wonder if they are primed to step back. The Pirates added offense (theoretically), which could make them scary with their pitching. For fun, imagine a division that includes the 2nd place Pirates.
The Cardinals subtracted veteran talent and added prospects, primarily to the pitching staff. 2026 results will likely be highly variable. With 4 teams above them that could all finish at or above .500, someone will pay for that in losses. Can the Cardinals keep up? Baseball Prospectus is least optimistic, forecasting 96 losses. Expect a similar housecleaning next off-season (or earlier) on the position player side.
