MLB Offseason Recap and Preseason Preview

By Ben Simon, Staff Writer

As the weather gets warmer and Punxsutawney Phil peeks his head out to predict the arrival of spring, the crack of the bat draws ever closer to the public eye. Indeed, baseball is set to wake up from its seasonal hibernation to bless us with its many signature moments and gifted athletes. But just because no games were played in the winter does not mean that there was no action to be seen; in fact, this offseason has seen some of the biggest moves of the last several decades!

After their World Series loss, the Philadelphia Phillies wasted no time in refining their team, committing to a flurry of moves that amounted to a serious overhaul of their bullpen and a new addition to their rotation via former New York Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker. By far the most noteworthy offseason signing came when the Phillies landed the most coveted free agent shortstop within the game, Trea Turner, who committed to a contract that may well keep him in Philadelphia for the rest of his career. 

After the best season in his career and one of the greatest offensive seasons in history, Aaron Judge bucked many people’s expectations by not signing with the San Francisco Giants from his home state of California but instead committing to a long-term deal with his current team, the New York Yankees. But General Manager Brian Cashman didn’t stop there, also nabbing coveted young pitcher Carlos Rodon from the free agent pool. With this, the Yankees look to continue building on the incredibly hot streak that propelled them into the playoffs last year.  

The Texas Rangers are hungry to win. A year after signing Marcus Semien and Corey Seager, the Rangers landed a trio of heavily talented pitchers, with Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi nicely filling out the middle of their rotation, and Jacob deGrom, arguably the most dominant arm in the game, becoming the team’s new ace. The only question is whether these pitchers stay healthy enough to make a noticeable difference for the Rangers, who have disappointed their fanbase for over a decade. 

The San Diego Padres seem to have an affinity for acquiring talented shortstops, with new addition Xander Bogaerts sharing the same positional expertise as his teammates Fernando Tatis Jr., Ha-Seong Kim, and Jake Cronenworth to make for some nice positional depth in the infield. While Tatis, the usual shortstop for the team, serves his drug suspension, Bogaerts looks to take over the position and potentially push Tatis into the outfield permanently, a move the team has attempted to make several times already.  

Steve Cohen and his New York Mets continue to confound much of the rest of the league with their incredible spending ability. Cohen’s latest signing, veteran ace Justin Verlander, comes straight from the World Series-winning Houston Astros. Despite his age, Verlander has not slowed down and will continue to strike out opposing hitters with his plethora of pitches. However, one has to question if a rotation front-lined by two hurlers that are either near or above age 40 is sustainable, given the injury and the regression that tends to occur with such wear and tear. 

Without question, the quest to sign Carlos Correa was both the funniest and most intriguing saga of the offseason. By being an excellent player in every facet who’s only entering his age 28 season, everybody was curious to see who could nab him. And in December, we thought we had our answer. Indeed, all reporting seemed to indicate that Correa was only one successful physical away from signing with the San Francisco Giants. But he failed the physical, leaving the entire baseball world in chaos. 

Just a week later, Correa seemed to be heading to the opposite side of the country, destined to be the next of many big-money purchases set to join the Mets. Believe it or not, though, Correa failed his physical again. After weeks of negotiations went nowhere, he ended up where he had started the offseason, signing a massive contract to stay with his Minnesota Twins on a long-term basis. Although I have questions about how Correa’s surgically repaired leg will affect his play, which prompted the two failed physicals, it’s still a Cinderella-story deal that delighted fans around the league. After all, you rarely get to see a middle-market team like the Twins win one over juggernauts like the Mets and Giants.

To conclude, this offseason has been incredibly dense, full of moves that have radically changed the composition of many of the teams around the league, and will surely make for an interesting season with the great amount of parity present in the MLB. 

Author: Gettysburgian Staff

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