The 2025 Baseball season is here, but could what happens on the field be determined by what happened off the field? Let’s look at some of these MLB (Major League Baseball) teams’ best offseason moves. So, who did the best? It has to be the Los Angeles Dodgers, then the Cincinnati Reds and finally the New York Mets. So, what made their offseason acquisitions better than everyone else’s?
The Los Angeles Dodgers went into the offseason signing two starting pitchers, one being a two-time CY Young winner (award given to the best pitcher at the end of the season) Blake Snell to a five-year, $182,000,000 deal and the other to international star, Roki Sasaki, who they signed for six years under a rookie contract, but gave a 6.5 million dollar signing bonus. That would probably be enough for any team that just won a World Series right? Not for Dodgers’ general manager, Brandon Gomes. He went out and also signed outfielder Michael Conforto for one year and re-signed all-star, Teoscar Hernandez, to a three year deal. Veteran Clayton Kershaw agreed to a one-year extension with the team. Other acquisitions included signing all- around infielder and former division rival, Ha-Seong Kim, to a three-year contract and relief pitcher Tanner Scott to a four-year deal..
Next, we move to the Cincinnati Reds, a team that also had a very good offseason. After another losing season in 2024, the Reds knew they had to make some moves to help them make a playoff run in 2025. They started by signing a new manager: two-time world series champion, Terry Francona. To help out their starting pitcher rotation that struggled last year with a 4.09 ERA (earned run average) and put them in 18th place in that category out of 30 teams, they signed starting pitcher Brady Singer from the Kansas City Royals for one year and relief pitcher Taylor Rodgers for three years. To fill some spaces in their lineup, they signed outfielder Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles, former Yankees catcher Jose Trevino and Dodger second baseman Gavin Lux.
The final team is one that surprised everyone not only this offseason but overall in the 2024 season too: the New York Mets. The Mets found themselves near the bottom of the league at the all-star break with a 49-46 record last season. Somehow though, they turned it around and made the postseason. Unfortunately, they ended up losing in the National League Championship series to the Los Angeles Dodgers and were only two games from the World Series. If you’re a Mets fan though, you must be pretty happy because this offseason, the Mets signed one of the best young players in baseball. Former Yankees outfielder, Juan Soto. On December 11th 2024, Juan Soto, a 25 year old from the Dominican Republic, signed the biggest contract in MLB history. The contract stated that Soto will be a Met for the next 15 years and will make a total of $765 million which includes a 75 million dollar signing bonus. Not only will he be receiving an MLB record amount of money, Soto will also have a luxury suite for all home games, security for his family, and travel assistance.
This was, no doubt, an exciting offseason for MLB fans. As we wait to see who will come out on top in the 2025 season, we can look back at who the teams’ signed and find out who really won the battle of the off season.