Poll: Baseball’s Most Improved Team
This past offseason was a historic one, at least in terms of the contracts signed. We saw two players change teams thanks to $200MM+ contracts and a total of eight deals worth $100MM+ handed out. A number of young pitchers changed addresses in blockbuster trades, and the new collective bargaining agreement drastically changed free agent compensation and the amateur talent markets.
Now that all 30 clubs have officially opened their season, let’s take a second to look back at the offseason to see which teams helped themselves the most. Our various trackers – Transactions, Free Agents, Extensions, Arbitration — are at your disposable with all sorts of filters to help narrow your search.
Which team improved the most this offseason?
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Angels 29% (3,748)
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Marlins 15% (1,953)
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Another team not listed 14% (1,834)
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Nationals 11% (1,429)
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Reds 8% (1,045)
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Tigers 7% (953)
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Cardinals 4% (509)
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Yankees 3% (392)
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Rangers 1% (189)
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Phillies 1% (188)
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Diamondbacks 1% (179)
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Brewers 1% (167)
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Rays 1% (166)
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Red Sox 1% (109)
Total votes: 12,861
Poll: Which Team Will End Its Playoff Drought First?
In the past decade, 80% of baseball’s 30 teams have made it to the playoffs at least once. That leaves six franchises that haven’t appeared in a postseason game in the last ten years: the Mariners, Orioles, Blue Jays, Pirates, Royals and Nationals/Expos.
It’d be a surprise if the Mariners, Orioles, Pirates or Royals made a postseason appearance this year, but the Nationals and Blue Jays could contend, especially now that there’s a second Wild Card berth in each league. That said, the NL East and AL East project as tough divisions, so you could make a case for a number of teams (most recent postseason appearance in parentheses).
Which of the six clubs below will end its playoff drought first?
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Nationals (1981 NLCS as Expos) 49% (8,471)
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Blue Jays (1993 World Series) 26% (4,479)
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Royals (1985 World Series) 11% (1,893)
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Pirates (1992 NLCS) 7% (1,202)
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Mariners (2001 ALCS) 5% (818)
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Orioles (1997 ALCS) 2% (384)
Total votes: 17,247
Poll: Best Trade Package For A Young Pitcher
When the offseason started, we figured it would be headlined by a pair of MVP caliber bats (Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder) and a Japanese import (Yu Darvish). While those three certainly garnered their fair share of attention, the winter was mostly dominated by trades involving young, high-upside pitchers with multiple years of team control remaining.
The Doug Fister trade seemed to get it all started. The Mariners sent him and David Pauley to the Tigers for Francisco Martinez, Casper Wells, Charlie Furbush, and Chance Ruffin at the trade deadline. Four similar young, high-upside starters with multiple years of contractual control remaining were traded this offseason. Here are those deals, presented chronologically…
- Athletics trade Trevor Cahill (and Craig Breslow) to the Diamondbacks for Jarrod Parker, Collin Cowgill, and Ryan Cook.
- Padres trade Mat Latos to the Reds for Edinson Volquez, Yasmani Grandal, Yonder Alonso, and Brad Boxberger.
- Athletics trade Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals for Brad Peacock, A.J. Cole, Tom Milone, and Derek Norris.
- Mariners trade Michael Pineda (and Jose Campos) to the Yankees for Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi.
Each trade involved multiple young players going the other way, including at least one top 100 prospect according to Baseball America. Which team got the best return for their young hurler?
Which team received the best return for their young pitcher?
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Padres for Latos 44% (8,892)
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Mariners for Pineda 30% (6,046)
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Athletics for Gonzalez 20% (4,090)
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Athletics for Cahill 6% (1,255)
Total votes: 20,283
Poll: The 2014 Yankees Payroll
The new Collective Bargaining Agreement changed the game for large payroll clubs, raising the luxury tax rate and offering partial revenue sharing refunds for remaining under the luxury tax threshold. Yankees GM Brian Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner have both come out and said the club’s goal is to get under the $189MM luxury tax threshold by 2014, just two years from now.
At the moment, the Yankees have just three players under contract for 2014: Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and CC Sabathia. Those three combine for $75.125MM in salary, giving the team roughly $113MM for the remaining 37 spots on its 40-man roster plus benefits and bonuses. Both Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson are scheduled to become free agents after 2013, and both could command $20MM+ annual salaries if they maintain last year’s production. Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova will both be in their first arbitration years, potentially giving the club two cost effective rotation options behind Sabathia.
Building a World Series contender for $189MM or less is obviously doable, but getting from where the Yankees are now to where they want to be in 2014 may prove difficult. Cashman and everyone else in the front office will have to come up with creative solutions at certain positions and also make some very difficult decisions about whether to retain productive players or allow them to leave as a free agents.
Will the Yankees get under the $189MM luxury tax threshold by 2014?
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No 72% (10,113)
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Yes 28% (4,023)
Total votes: 14,136
The Biggest Surprise Of The Offseason
The 2011-12 offseason was one for the ages, with five $100MM+ commitments and plenty of big trades. Please vote below on the biggest surprise of the offseason.
What was the biggest surprise of the 2011-12 offseason?
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Angels sign Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson 36% (8,617)
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Tigers sign Prince Fielder 20% (4,823)
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Yankees acquire Michael Pineda 10% (2,315)
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Athletics sign Yoenis Cespedes 7% (1,650)
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Roy Oswalt does not sign 6% (1,482)
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Marlins sign Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Heath Bell 6% (1,359)
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Reds acquire Mat Latos 3% (688)
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Athletics sign Manny Ramirez 3% (662)
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Pirates acquire A.J. Burnett 3% (650)
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Blue Jays acquire Sergio Santos 2% (436)
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Ryan Madson receives one-year deal 2% (411)
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Marlins acquire Carlos Zambrano 1% (159)
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White Sox extend John Danks 1% (131)
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Rays extend Matt Moore 0% (88)
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Edwin Jackson receives one-year deal 0% (85)
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David Ortiz, Francisco Rodriguez, and Kelly Johnson accept arbitration 0% (71)
Total votes: 23,626
Poll: Which AL Team Will Have Biggest Turnaround?
The postseason is expanding by a total of just two games, but ten teams will now qualify for playoff berths each year, so pennant races should continue deep into the summer. Though Spring Training camps are generally optimistic, there’s even more reason for hope this year, and many teams are looking to turn things around.
MLBTR readers suggested over the weekend that the Nationals, Marlins and Reds are strong contenders for 2012 turnarounds in the National League. Let's turn our focus to the ten American League teams that missed the playoffs in 2011 and determine which of those clubs might be poised for a significant turnaround this coming season.
Which AL team will have the biggest turnaround?
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Angels 26% (5,295)
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Blue Jays 15% (3,009)
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Royals 14% (2,798)
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Red Sox 13% (2,520)
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Twins 8% (1,570)
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Mariners 7% (1,422)
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Orioles 5% (991)
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White Sox 4% (884)
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Athletics 4% (884)
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Indians 3% (677)
Total votes: 20,050
Poll: Which NL Team Will Have Biggest Turnaround?
With the MLB playoffs expanding to ten teams, clubs have even more reason to be hopeful about their prospects in 2012. While some fans are questioning the wisdom change, it seems likely that it will result in an even more exciting chase down the wire.
Yesterday, we asked MLBTR readers which 90-win team is most likely to disappoint in 2012. The three top vote getters – the Brewers (27.23%), Cardinals (17.39%), and Diamondbacks (15.89%) – all came out of the National League. Now, it's time to look at last year's non-playoff NL teams. Which club do you see having the biggest turnaround this season?
Which NL Team Will Have Biggest Turnaround?
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Nationals 22% (5,545)
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Marlins 19% (4,764)
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Reds 13% (3,209)
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Cubs 9% (2,378)
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Pirates 6% (1,517)
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Giants 6% (1,465)
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Braves 6% (1,450)
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Dodgers 6% (1,442)
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Mets 5% (1,296)
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Padres 3% (783)
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Rockies 3% (748)
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Astros 2% (541)
Total votes: 25,138
Poll: Which 90-Win Team Will Disappoint?
One third of MLB teams won 90 regular season games in 2011, and all but one of them –the Red Sox — made the playoffs. Each of last year's 90-win teams enters the 2012 season with hopes of repeating or building on their success, but at least one or two of those nine clubs will probably regress this year.
Some of last year's contenders, such as the Phillies and Yankees, have room for error. They will contend in 2012 even if their win total drops by five or ten games, especially since the MLB playoffs are expanding this year. Which of these 2011 contenders is most likely to struggle in 2012:
Which 90-win team will disappoint?
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Brewers 27% (7,789)
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Cardinals 17% (4,979)
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Diamondbacks 16% (4,558)
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Red Sox 15% (4,206)
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Phillies 7% (1,912)
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Yankees 6% (1,755)
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Tigers 4% (1,164)
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Rays 3% (903)
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Rangers 3% (897)
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None of these teams 2% (483)
Total votes: 28,646
Poll: The Yankees’ Next DH
The Yankees freed up some money yesterday by agreeing to trade A.J. Burnett to the Pirates for two minor leaguers and a total of $13MM in salary relief. They’ll save $5MM in 2012 and $8MM in 2013. Reports indicate that they’re expected to sign both Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez once the trade becomes official.
Chavez will fill out the bench like last year, but Ibanez would step in as the left-handed half of a DH platoon with Andruw Jones. Even though Spring Training is right around the corner, there is no shortage of DH-type bats on the open market as our Free Agent Tracker shows. If the Yankees were to decide to pass on Ibanez, they could always turn to Vladimir Guerrero or former Yankees Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui. Guerrero is a right-handed hitter, however. They also signed Russell Branyan to a minor league contract recently.
Given Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch and the presence of Jones, it makes sense for the Yankees to pursue a left-handed bat. Ibanez hit .245/.289/.419 overall last year but .256/.307/.440 against righties, which is good but not great. Damon (.255/.314/.401) and Matsui (.242/.318/.336) weren’t any better against righties, and in fact Guerrero outperformed all three of those guys against northpaws (.291/.315/.428). The Yankees have no shortage of DH options, but which one is the best?
Who is the best DH option for the Yankees?
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Raul Ibanez 31% (5,561)
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Vladimir Guerrero 30% (5,304)
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Johnny Damon 20% (3,524)
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Hideki Matsui 7% (1,326)
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Someone not listed 6% (1,110)
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Russell Branyan 6% (1,017)
Total votes: 17,842
Poll: Who Had The Better Offseason, Marlins Or Nats?
The NL East was the most improved division in baseball this winter and it was almost entirely due to the efforts of just two teams. The Marlins and Nationals both made big strides towards joining the Phillies and Braves in what could be a spirited pennant race this season. (Sorry, Mets fans.)
With their new ballpark opening this April, the Marlins decided to take the opportunity to overhaul the entire franchise, debuting new uniforms, a new logo and even a new name, as the Florida Marlins made way for the Miami Marlins. The first major move came when Ozzie Guillen was hired as the team's new manager and then the Fish took the free agent market by storm. Miami signed Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell for a combined $191MM — a stunning outlay for traditional small-payroll club. The starting rotation was further bolstered by trades for Wade LeBlanc and the controversial Carlos Zambrano. Between these moves and Josh Johnson and Hanley Ramirez looking to rebound from injury and a poor season, respectively, it's easy to see why some pundits have picked the Marlins to reach the playoffs this year.
The Nationals are also getting some love from the preseason analysts. Washington's offseason was a bit more low-key to start with, as the club focused on bolstering their minor league depth, re-signing Chien-Ming Wang and adding Ryan Perry to the bullpen. January, however, was much busier, as the Nats dealt four of their best prospects in order to acquire Gio Gonzalez from the A's and then promptly locked the left-hander up in a five-year extension. GM Mike Rizzo then completed his search for starting pitching by signing Edwin Jackson to a one-year contract, thus pairing Jackson and Gonzalez along with Wang, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann in what could be one of the strongest rotations in baseball.
The Marlins are clearly trying to win now. The Nationals may still be looking to 2013 as their true "go for it" year, but with Strasburg recovered from Tommy John surgery and other impact players like Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse on board, it wouldn't be surprising to see Washington contend right now. With all this in mind, which team's offseason do you think was the most impressive?
Who Had The Better Offseason?
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Marlins 46% (4,785)
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Nationals 41% (4,297)
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About equal 13% (1,374)
Total votes: 10,456