Busy MLB offseason coming to a close

 

The Major League Baseball offseason is well underway, and more dollars are being thrown left and right than ever before.

In early December, left-handed ace David Price signed a record-breaking seven year, $217 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, the highest total contract value ever handed out to a pitcher. The average annual value of the contract – $31 million a year – was also tied for the highest yearly salary in Major League history.

Not to be outdone, fellow ace Zack Greinke shocked the baseball world just a few days later, signing a six year, $206.5 million dollar contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The $34.42 million average annual value topped Price’s record.

The Diamondbacks blindsided two of their division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, by coming out of nowhere to swipe the right-hander.

The Giants, however, didn’t give up. They managed to snag two of the top righties on the market after missing out on Greinke, picking up Jeff Samardzija (five years, $90 million) and Johnny Cueto (six years, $130 million). In a smaller move, San Francisco also solidified its outfield, inking 30-year-old Denard Span to a three year, $31 million deal.

The Dodgers have made some splashes of their own. After backing out of a deal with righty Hisashi Iwakuma because of health concerns, Los Angeles picked up lefty Scott Kazmir (three years, $48 million) and former Japanese star Kenta Maeda (eight years, $25 million with large incentive bonuses).

While these two have legitimate upside and make the Dodgers rotation deeper, both have notable injury concerns and are somewhat underwhelming compared to Greinke and Price. One would think Los Angeles, with their bottomless wallets, could do better.

The offensive market has been much slower to develop. Two of the top hitters to have signed so far have both gone to the powerhouse Chicago Cubs. Twenty-six-year-old outfielder Jason Heyward, considered by many to be the best offensive player on the market, was signed to an eight year, $184 million contract.

Super-utility man Ben Zobrist also joined Chicago, as the 34-year-old signed a four year, $56 million deal. Both players reportedly had higher offers on the table from other clubs, but opted to take less money to join the up-and-coming Cubs.

In the American League, the Oakland A’s have been busy at work improving what was their biggest weakness in 2015, their bullpen. Oakland signed free agent righties Ryan Madson and John Axford, while also trading for righty Liam Hendriks and lefty Marc Rzepczynski. The four, along with closer Sean Doolittle, should do an excellent job of closing out games.

The A’s also juggled their infield, bringing in Yonder Alonso and Jed Lowrie while saying goodbye to Ike Davis and Brett Lawrie. Their rotation was also bolstered with two buy-low additions in righties Rich Hill and Henderson Alvarez.

While the A’s may lack the offensive firepower needed to make the playoffs, they should be much improved over their dreadful 2015.

The trade market has been active as well. The Atlanta Braves have gone into full rebuild mode, dealing veterans Andrelton Simmons (to the Angels) and Shelby Miller (to the Diamondbacks) for a plethora of young talent, including the first overall pick in the 2015 draft, shortstop Dansby Swanson.

Three of the best closers in the game have been traded as well. Craig Kimbrel was sent from San Diego to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for four talented prospects, while left-handed fireballer Aroldis Chapman was sent to the New York Yankees.

A package of four underwhelming prospects went back to the Reds in that deal, as Chapman is in the midst of a sticky domestic abuse situation.

Finally, young stud Ken Giles was sent from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Houston Astros in exchange for five pitchers, including Bay Area native and 2013 first overall draft pick Mark Appel.

Many huge names still remained on the free agent market deep into January. Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes re-signed with the New York Mets for three years, $75 million. A similar player in Justin Upton signed a six year, $132 million deal with the Detroit Tigers eight days earlier on Jan. 18. Also notable in the outfield was Alex Gordon’s return to the World Champion Royals (four years, $72 million), which seemed to have gotten the outfield market going.

Righty Yovani Gallardo remains on the market. He will look to follow in the footsteps of two other mid-rotation arms in Wei-Yin Chen (five years, $80 million with the Miami Marlins) and Ian Kennedy (five years, $70 million with the Royals) and sign his own huge contract. Other notable names on the market include outfielder Dexter Fowler, starter Cliff Lee, reliever Tyler Clippard, and infielders Ian Desmond and Howie Kendrick.

This January has been one of the busiest in a long time for the free agent market. Many large-market teams have made their final additions, hoping to round out contending rosters. Surely, many moves are still to come.