Now that the Super Bowl has come and gone, it's time to start thinking about baseball season! In fact, most teams begin Spring Training next week (even though the Red Sox still don't have a manager). And, while Yankees-Dodgers seems to be the consensus preseason World Series pick, a number of teams besides those two Goliaths have, on paper at least, vastly improved heading into 2020.
While they might not be World Series-ready just yet, I'm looking for teams like the White Sox, Rangers and Reds to be much more competitive this season than they've been recently. On the flip side, the Red Sox, Astros and Braves aren't exactly "better" as they head for camp.
"Improved" is a relative term, of course. No one will argue that the Yankees aren't a better team right now than they were last season. But matching (or topping) last year's 103 wins will be a challenge. Same thing with the Twins, who could easily win the AL Central again and are in many ways "better" than last season, even though another 100-win season seems unlikely in a division that figures to be much more competitive.
With that in mind, here are the 10 teams that certainly appear to have gotten better during the offseason. We'll have to wait and see how many of those big moves pay off. Because for every J.D. Martinez to the Red Sox, you've got a Bryce Harper to the Phillies. And the Phillies, last year's big offseason spenders, didn't even make the playoffs.
Yankees: This one comes as no surprise to anybody. Their top priority was Gerrit Cole, and they landed their big fish to the tune of nine years and $324 million. They finally have that stud No. 1 pitcher for the first time since landing CC Sabathia as a free agent in 2009. And suddenly, the one weakness the Yankees had (which wasn't nearly as bad as people were making it out to be) is arguably their biggest strength.
Dodgers: First off, I think it's absolutely crazy that the Red Sox were even considering trading Mookie Betts! It's even crazier that the Dodgers took on his entire contract for what's essentially a one-year rental before he hits free agency. But the addition of Betts makes the Dodgers' lineup that much more ridiculous, and David Price, who was merely a throw-in, could be reborn in LA. He also gives the Dodgers a solid third starter to replace Hyun-Jin Ryu, who signed with Toronto.
Angels: LA's other team made the full-court press for Cole, but didn't get him. In fact, they fell short in their pursuit of a starting pitcher--any starting pitcher--entirely. And that figures to be their glaring weakness again. So how are they "improved"? Because they finally got Mike Trout some help and could very easily win a bunch of games 10-8! They threw a lot of money at Anthony Rendon and added Joc Pederson, who's coming from across town. Plus, Joe Maddon's calling the shots now, so you know he'll come up with some sort of crazy plan that'll end up working.
White Sox: The White Sox evidently had a lot of money to spend and decided to spend it. But it sure paid off for Dallas Keuchel. And Gio Gonzalez. And Yasmani Grandal. And Edwin Encarnacion. The White Sox are the prime candidate to be this year's version of the 2019 Phillies. But I can also see them making a lot of noise in what figures to be a much more competitive AL Central.
Twins: Even with the Indians and an improved White Sox team in the mix, it's hard to go against the Twins in the AL Central. Because Minnesota got better, too. I must say, it was a surprise that Josh Donaldson chose Minnesota as his new home, but the offense didn't exactly need much help after setting a Major League record for home runs last season. Where they needed to improve was on the pitching staff. And they did that with the additions of Homer Bailey and Rich Hill, giving them four quality, veteran starters including 2019 All-Stars Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi.
Phillies: Last year didn't go exactly as the Phillies had planned. So they went for a bit of a do-over, signing Didi Gregorius to bolster the lineup even more and Zack Wheeler, who makes the rotation that much deeper. You can never have too much starting pitching, especially in the NL East. And Wheeler was a bit of a double-bonus because they got him away from the Mets. Plus, in Joe Girardi, they'll actually have a manager who knows what he's doing instead of Gabe Kapler (who somehow got the Giants job!).
Mets: I repeat--you can never have too much starting pitching. And the Mets now have like seven legitimate Major League starters. It's going to be quite a battle between Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha for that fourth spot in the rotation behind Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman. Their bullpen also got better with the addition of Dellin Betances. They'll need to figure out a place for all the bats to play, and the NL East is always tough, so I can easily see the Mets winning 78 games. Or winning 95.
Braves: It's easy to forget that Atlanta won the NL East last season. And, on paper, they'll have the hardest time repeating of any 2019 division winner. But, the addition of Marcel Ozuna more than makes up for the loss of Josh Donaldson. Dallas Keuchel for Cole Hamels is basically a 1-for-1 swap on the mound. And Travis d'Arnaud is back in the NL East after reviving his career in Tampa.
Reds: Cincinnati was going so crazy with its offseason moves that it was enough to give you whiplash. But the Reds think this is the time to strike in the NL Central, so they're going for it. They went big on Mike Moustakas, went big again on Nicholas Castellanos, and, in the biggest surprise of all, ended up snagging Japanese outfielder Shogo Akiyama. The lineup wasn't the problem, either. And it only got that much better.
Rangers: Everyone knew that, with their new park opening, the Rangers were going to be major players this offseason. They didn't land either Donaldson or Rendon, which frankly was a surprise, so they had to settle for Todd Frazier as their new third baseman. But their improved pitching will be the biggest difference. It'll be weird to see Corey Kluber in something other than an Indians uniform, but he's got plenty left in that right arm. And, don't forget, Yasiel Puig is still unsigned, so don't be surprised to see him end up in Texas.
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